Environmentally Sustainable Transportation at DePaul

In the 1940’s approximately 23.4 billion people used public transportation compared with only 9.4 billion today.  This is a large difference and in 1946 the population was a lot less then it is today!  With the increasing amount of people driving cars and less people using public transportation the amount of air pollution and impact on the environment is growing.

DePaul University is encouraging students and faculty to help eliminate air pollution by providing sustainable transportation programs.  They currently are getting a D grade in sustainability in the category of transportation which can be seen at the college sustainability report card.  From this website we can see that DePaul still has some work to do even though they have made a large impact already.

One program that has a large impact on air pollution and gas emissions is that all undergraduate students receive a free transit card for use on all Chicago Transit Authority bus, subway and elevated lines.  While this may come as a cost to DePaul, the environmental benefits are important to think about.  DePaul has a large undergraduate class and by providing free transit cards they are being encouraged to take public transportation instead of driving.  Students are given the change to eliminate pollution and gas emissions that they produce each day.  According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), “public transportation in the United States saves approximately 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline and about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Yet only 14 million Americans use public transportation daily while 88 percent of all trips in the United States are made by car—and many of those cars carry only one person.”  Each person can make a difference and become a more environmentally conscience traveler.  DePaul also offers financial incentives to graduate students who buy a CTA pass each month.

Members of the university community also participate in a car-sharing program.  By contracting with the “I-GO” program DePaul is allowing students and faculty the opportunity to rent a hybrid car to get around campus or around Chicago.  According to their website, one I-GO car replaces about 17 cars on the road, resulting in an estimated reduction of more than 3,200 vehicles in Chicago since I-GO opened for business in 2002. By offering I-GO, DePaul is encouraging people to not only do this while they are in school but in the future as well.  

DePaul is also encouraging students to ride their bikes instead of driving or taking public transportation.  This is an even more environmentally sustainable option.  By providing secure bike corrals on campus DePaul is making it accessible and easy for students to ride their bikes to class and around campus.  DePaul has even established a bike intern position which will promote biking to and around campus and is renting bikes to those that do not have one.  Creating an intern position that encourages students to ride bikes is a great way to engage students with a person that is in the same situation as them.  The intern will know the daily struggles of the students and be able to relate the benefits that riding a bike can have on them and the environment.  By riding a bike to and from class a student is able to do something positive for the environment and do something good for their health while saving money.  The sustainable practices that DePaul has put into place around transportation are having an impact on the environment and also helping to shape the future behavior of students, their families and friends when they are thinking about how they will get from one place to another.

Here are some websites that may be of interest on sustainable transportation:

http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org/transprt/trintro.shtml

http://www.itdp.org/

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/sustainable-public-transport-systems/

http://www.igocars.org/

http://www.zipcar.com/

http://www.carsharing.net/

http://www.environment.ucf.edu/bikepath/27%20Reasons%20to%20Bike.htm

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/bicycle-environmental-hero/

Posted by Julia Jolliff 
Photo credit ISE Corporation

Sustainable Transportation: University Bike-Sharing Program

The United States has been one of the largest polluters contributing to the current global climate change situation. It behooves the country to do everything it can to reduce carbon emissions and green its operations. Large cities harbor a concentration of traffic congestion and tailpipe emissions from motorized vehicles, and Chicago is not exempt. As transportation is a major carbon emitter, bicycle sharing programs will help reduce emissions. Bike-sharing can be a highly effective system in urban areas because of the compact nature of cities where most people travel short distances that are ideal for biking. DePaul University, with its two urban campuses, is a perfect candidate to implement such a program.

There are multiple benefits to bike-sharing programs. Environmentally, an increase of bike commuters reduces tailpipe emissions by taking cars off the road. Almost a pound of tailpipe emissions will be saved for every mile a member rides a bike instead of driving, according to the Zotwheels bike-sharing program and the University of California at Irvine. Bike- sharing reduces traffic congestion and conserves gas. Bikers also reduce their transportation costs and increase physical activity that promotes a healthy lifestyle. One can run errands during lunch and possibly even commute faster than public transportation in heavily congested urban areas. Bike-sharing also provides on-demand transportation and decreases theft of personal bikes. Bike-sharing requires staff to maintain, repair, redistribute bikes, and provide customer service, which produces green jobs. Another benefit to a bike-sharing program is speed and efficiency of the commute for those who have multiple legs in their trips. In addition, bike-sharing may produce more public transportation converts keeping cars off the road.

DePaul University would benefit greatly with a bicycle program within its urban campuses. In addition to the reasons listed in the last section, infrastructure for a bike-sharing program is ideal on DePaul’s urban campuses. Urban settings in general are ideal for bike-sharing programs because small-mileage commutes are very common. Fortunately for DePaul, the city of Chicago has taken the responsibility for the infrastructure for bike paths and some of the parking, which DePaul can take advantage of.

A lot of progress has already been made to make DePaul a very bike-friendly place through the Bike 2015 Plan by the City of Chicago. CTA buses are equipped with bike racks. Bikes are allowed on the CTA trains during non-rush hours. Bikes are also allowed on the Metra that goes out to the suburbs. There are bike parking racks at train stations and throughout the city. The goals here are to increase cycling for transportation and recreation to reduce tailpipe admissions, reduce traffic congestion, promote healthy lifestyle, conserve gas, and decrease transportation costs. These are ideal and realistic goals that DePaul can contribute to.

Over 90 universities offer some form of a bicycle program. The University of Colorado, American University, University of California at Irvine, Emory University, and Hampshire College are just a few universities that have implemented successful bike-sharing programs.

Many universities have already seen increase bicycle use after implementing programs. The University of Colorado has seen that the increase in bike-sharing use has increased public transit use, which has decreased the number of commuters by personal vehicle. At the University of New England, 75% of freshmen brought their cars to school in 2007. In 2008, the university handed out bikes to freshmen and only 25% brought their cars on campus. Washington DC has bike fleets on campuses at American University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Howard University. According to MetroBike, LLC, “bike-sharing pulled 16% of the respondents away from driving a personal car for their trip and 19% away from a taxi”. Survey results for Washington DC also showed that people who already own bikes still use the program and that bike-sharing is creating new trips that perhaps would’ve been made via vehicle.

Posted by Sylvia Chung

Photo courtesy of Sylvia Chung