Sustainability Plan

Out of necessity as an urban university and as part of our mission to advance the common good, St. Thomas is working to build a culture of multimodal transportation, promoting it for the sake of sustainability and living a healthy lifestyle. We will continue educating our students, faculty and staff about the impacts of transportation on the environment as we seek out and employ transportation best practices. Building a multimodal campus A long-standing goal of the university’s Parking and Transportation Services Office is decreasing traffic to and from our campuses. From discounted Metro Transit Metropass, increased bicycle access and support – even carsharing vehicle availability via HOURCAR, we continue to encourage a greater number of our community members to use alternative forms of transport. · 75% subsidies for the Metro Transit Metropass used by 131 employees. · 10% subsidies for the Metro Transit College Pass used by 762 students. · 39 bike rack locations across our campus with space to park over 1,000 bikes · Shower and changing facilities for cyclists available on the St. Paul campus · 6% of the university’s fleet of vehicles currently meets STARS sustainability criteria

Students’ and employees’ primary mode of commute to campus (April 2018):

MODE OF TRAVEL

EMPLOYEES

STUDENTS

Drive alone

79.20%

38.62%

Walk, bicycle or use other nonmotorized means

7.91% 3.65% 6.69% 0.36%

51.93% 3.35% 4.58% 0.06%

Van pool or car pool

Take a campus shuttle or public transportation

Use a motorcycle, scooter or moped

Note: Some minor responses left out, resulting in totals less than 100%.

1. Increase the percentage of commuters using sustainable modes of transportation Within the next five years, we will work to reduce single occupancy vehicle commutes to St. Thomas. Through increased awareness, assistance and access we will increase the number of students (by at least 7%), and employees (by at least 3%), using sustainable modes of transportation. We intend to create and communicate unique transportation enhancements, incentives, and resources for students and employees. We plan to promote active, sustainable transportation options to and from campus by: · Providing flexible parking passes for employees primarily utilizing the Metropass · Encouraging scooter and bike share programs · Exploring electric vehicle charging stations on campus · Improving bicycle infrastructure using Bicycle Friendly University best practices 2. Reduce carbon emissions from campus fleet by 2.5% By developing an inventory of all university-owned vehicles to assess energy use, technology and emissions, we will create a plan to increase the number of vehicles that use lower carbon fuels and energy efficient technologies. We will also adopt a no idling policy to reduce emissions on campus.

TRANSPORTATION