Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.45
Liaison Keisha Payson
Submission Date May 8, 2024

STARS v2.2

Bowdoin College
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.67 / 5.00 Keisha Payson
Sustainability Director
Facilities Mgmt
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
1,911

Full-time equivalent of employees:
953

Part 1. Student commute modal split

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

Total percentage of students that use more sustainable commuting options as their primary mode of transportation:
97

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

To arrive at this number, we looked at the number of on-campus students versus the number of off-campus students. Due to the walkability of the Bowdoin campus, we inferred that the on-campus students walk or bike, while 50 percent of the students living off campus walk or bike as they live within a mile of campus. Student parking lots are designated at the edge of campus which encourages students who live off campus but close to campus to walk or use a bicycle for travel, since parking in the student lot for many is further away from the center of campus than much of the off campus housing utilized by students.


Part 2. Employee commute modal split

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

Total percentage of employees that use more sustainable commuting options as their primary mode of transportation:
26

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

We surveyed all faculty and staff in the fall of 2022. The results were consistent with the faculty and staff survey five years ago, which had a 50 percent response rate. The survey was anonymous; however, participants could opt to provide their name to enter a raffle (two $20 gift cards to a local bakery/deli).


Optional Fields 

Percentage of students and employees that use the following as their primary mode of transportation:
Percentage of students (0-100) Percentage of employees (0-100)
Single-occupancy vehicle 3 74
Zero-emissions vehicle --- 6
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 97 18
Vanpool or carpool --- 1
Public transport or campus shuttle --- 1
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped --- ---
Distance education / telecommute --- ---

Website URL where information about student or employee commuting is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.