Public Transportation...

Since Ithaca College signed on to The Presidents Climate Commitment Committee, part of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, everyone in the campus community has to figure out how to get our carbon emissions down in order to be carbon neutral. The Student Government Association (SGA) has proposed using a shuttle to take students from the Circle apartments to the campus for class. It's a 20-30 minute walk, so a shuttle would be very useful.

This would definitely benefit the traffic congrestion and reduce the college's carbon emissions. The shuttle might even use biodiesel instead of regular gasoline. In fact, current personal transport numbers would be cut in half if 100% of circles residents used it everyday instead of driving. University of Maryland has a free shuttle in that if you show your student I.D. you can ride the public bus for free. Penn State provides a free shuttle that travels all around campus. Penn State also facilitates carpooling to campus in making available interested parties and their schedules in the Student Affairs Office for students to check out. Even nearby Cornell has a shuttle and an online resource for carpooling students to connect.

If all of these schools can get a shuttle and/or a carpool parking option, IC can do the same. SGA sent out a survey to gauge how valuable a shuttle from the Circles would be and with these results we'll see if they can persuade the powers that be. If you read my previous blog entitled "Generation Quiet?"  you'd know that I was working on a proposal for a carpool lot on campus as well. And just so you know, Parking Services is looking into the carpool lot due to our call-in day, and two school newspapers have opinion peices about it. Thanks a bunch if you called! SGA was responsive to the carpool lot idea as well, but more keen on a shuttle because it would service so many people concretely. Either way works for me! But both the carpool lot and shuttle would be best. That way on and off campus students could participate in reduce the IC carbon footprint. And if all of those other schools can do it, we definitely can.