Yes, Penn State measures sustainable commuting by tracking the number of parking permits issued, the number of bicycles registered, and the number of campus bus rides and shuttle rides taken each semester and year. The University is working to sustainably manage its growing transportation demands by switching to alternative fuels, reducing oil consumption, increasing the fuel efficiency of and electrifying fleet vehicles, and encouraging the use of public transportation.

Faculty and staff can rent electric Nissan Leafs from Fleet Services. Two have been purchased and charging infrastructure installed at Fleet Services with assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program.

Many of University Park’s passenger and utility fleet vehicles operate on bio-diesel fuel, which helps reduce Penn State’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, biodiesel from soy oil results in an average emissions reduction of 57% when compared to traditional petroleum diesel. The Office of Physical Plant alone operates more than 130 bio-diesel vehicles, along with a host of electric vans, trucks, and segways. Efforts are underway to further reduce the environmental impact of Penn State vehicles through improvements in both fuel efficiency and fleet composition.

The Transportation Dashboard provides data on the total fleet vehicles by fuel type and a breakdown of commute modes for faculty, staff, and students.

Sustainable commuting is also tracked using the Commute Modal Split section of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) report which reflects that in academic year 2021-2022 a total of 89% of students and 8.1% of faculty and staff used more sustainable commuting options as their primary mode of transportation.

The STARS report also measures Support for Sustainable Transportation which guides target setting for bike and car sharing programs, EV charging stations, and fuel-efficient vehicles and reports on incentives for fuel efficient vehicles, bicycle sharing program, and programs or initiatives to encourage more sustainable modes of transportation and/or reduce the impact of student and employee commuting.

The University works to support more sustainable commuting to and visiting our campuses by providing ride share options, EV charging stations, encouraging bicycling and the use of public transportation.

 

Learn more about Penn State’s progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on the SDG Progress page HERE, and learn more about work on SDG 11 HERE.