Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 75.35
Liaison Megan Litke
Submission Date March 30, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

American University
OP-19: Student Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.81 / 2.00 Amit Paul
Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total percentage of students that use more sustainable commuting options:
90.37

The percentage of students that use each of the following modes as their primary means of transportation to get to and from campus::
Percentage (0-100)
Commute with only the driver in the vehicle (excluding motorcycles and scooters) 9.63
Walk, bicycle, or use other non-motorized means 63.74
Vanpool or carpool 2.20
Take a campus shuttle or public transportation 22.64
Use a motorcycle, scooter or moped 0.26

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:

The survey was initially distributed to all faculty, staff, and students (community members studying abroad, on sabbatical or on long term leave are excluded) on November 7th via email with two follow up emails sent to non-responders the following week. During that time, students went to buildings across campus (academic and administrative) to request that occupants complete paper versions of the survey. Respondents were required to include their email on paper copies so duplicate surveys could easily be removed. Following completion of the week, completed paper surveys were manually entered to capture data. The data entries were reviewed to remove incomplete entries, duplicate entries by one person, and entry errors.


The website URL where information about sustainable transportation for students is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

"More sustainable" options include alternatively fueled vehicles (ethanol, electric including hybrid), motorcycle or scooter, formal telecommuting (avoiding trips to campus), walking, biking, public transportation (bus, metro, train, AU shuttle), and carpool.

The non-required fields above do not equal the total sustainable commuting % because we also consider formal telecommuting (0.37%) and alternatively-fueled vehicle trips (1.17%) as more sustainable.


"More sustainable" options include alternatively fueled vehicles (ethanol, electric including hybrid), motorcycle or scooter, formal telecommuting (avoiding trips to campus), walking, biking, public transportation (bus, metro, train, AU shuttle), and carpool.

The non-required fields above do not equal the total sustainable commuting % because we also consider formal telecommuting (0.37%) and alternatively-fueled vehicle trips (1.17%) as more sustainable.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.