Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 76.02
Liaison Megan Litke
Submission Date Sept. 17, 2024

STARS v3.0

American University
OP-14: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.99 / 6.00 Lucy Yearling
Sustainability Intern
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

14.1 Percentage of students and employees using more sustainable commuting options

Performance year for commute modal split:
2023

Full-time equivalent student enrollment:
11,199

Full-time equivalent of employees:
2,952

Has the institution gathered data about student commuting behavior?:
Yes

Percentage of students that use more sustainable commuting options:
88

Description of the methodology used to gather data about student commuting:

The survey was distributed to a significant sample of faculty, staff, and students via email from September 18th to the 22nd, 2023, and received 1802 student responses. The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) provided a representative sample of the campus population of faculty, students, and staff. OIRA checks the samples against the population on all of the characteristics included to ensure they are exceedingly close in terms of representativeness. The assessment was administered by the Office of Sustainability using Qualtrics. An email was sent to the representative sample, and a follow up reminder email was sent several days later to those who hadn't yet completed the survey. We excluded any students studying abroad or students that live on campus, as the students who live on campus do not commute to campus.


Has the institution gathered data about employee commuting behavior?:
Yes

Percentage of employees that use more sustainable commuting options:
65

Description of the methodology used to gather data about employee commuting:

The survey was distributed to a sample of faculty, staff, and students via email from September 18th to the 22nd, 2023, and received 1678 responses from faculty and staff. The sample was determined by the Institutional Research and Assessment Office.


The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:

Points earned for indicator OP 14.1:
4.99

Optional documentation

Notes about the information provided for this credit:
---

Additional documentation for this credit:
---

Student commuting data

The following 10 fields are included to provide additional context for interpreting the institution’s student modal split. Report either the percentage of students that use each option as their primary means of transportation or the percentage of trips for which students use each option (or avoided trips in the case of remote learning). The figures should total 100.

Percentage of students that commute using single-occupancy car, van, or truck:
11.63

Percentage of students that commute by walking or the equivalent:
25.74

Percentage of students that commute by cycling or another micro-mobility option:
3.71

Percentage of students that commute by carpool or vanpool:
2.72

Percentage of students that commute by bus, shuttle, or ferry:
30.86

Percentage of students that commute by rail:
22.85

Percentage of students that commute by light rail or tram:
0

Percentage of students that commute by motorcycle or moped:
---

Percentage of students that commute by zero emission vehicle:
0

Percentage of students that avail of remote learning:
2.48

Employee commuting data

The following 10 fields are included to provide additional context for interpreting the institution’s employee modal split. Report either the percentage of employees that use each option as their primary means of transportation or the percentage of trips for which employees use each option (or avoided trips in the case of remote work). The figures should total 100.

Percentage of employees that commute using single-occupancy car, van, or truck:
41.85

Percentage of employees that commute by walking or the equivalent:
3.02

Percentage of employees that commute by cycling or another micro-mobility option:
3.62

Percentage of employees that commute by carpool or vanpool:
1.98

Percentage of employees that commute by bus, shuttle, or ferry:
8.28

Percentage of employees that commute by rail:
10.27

Percentage of employees that commute by light rail or tram:
0

Percentage of employees that commute by motorcycle or moped:
---

Percentage of employees that commute by zero emission vehicle:
0

Percentage of employees that avail of remote work:
3.10

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.