Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.33
Liaison Austin Eriksson
Submission Date Dec. 10, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

California State University, Northridge
OP-18: Support for Sustainable Transportation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Austin Eriksson
Sustainability Program Manager
FPDC
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution provide secure bicycle storage (not including office space), shower facilities, and lockers for bicycle commuters?:
Yes

A brief description of the facilities for bicycle commuters:

Bicycling- It is a great way to work-out on your way to and from the workplace. The campus has made adjustments to its infrastructure to accommodate bicycling as a commute option with the opening of the Matador Bicycle Compounds that offer a sheltered location to park bicycles. Employees may also be eligible to receive up to 4 "Rainy Day" permits per year for use during inclement weather. Students can use their free gym memberships to utilize the shower facilities in our LEED Gold Student Recreation Center.


Does the institution provide short-term bicycle parking for all occupied buildings and makes long-term bicycle storage available for students who live on-site (if applicable)?:
Yes

A brief description of the bicycle parking and storage facilities:

There are bike racks located throughout the campus, with new and upgraded racks being installed each year through a Campus Quality Fee Grant. This grant has provided not only bike racks but skateboard racks as well. There are also sheltered bike racks in our on campus student housing facilities.


Does the institution have a bicycle and pedestrian plan or policy (or adhere to a local community plan/policy) that sets standards and practices for campus streets to enable safe access for all users?:
No

A brief description of the bicycle and pedestrian plan or policy:
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Does the institution have a bicycle-sharing program or participate in a local bicycle-sharing program?:
Yes

A brief description of the bicycle sharing program:

CSUN has partnered with LimeBike who offers a bike share program to the campus.


Does the institution offer free or reduced price transit passes and/or operate a free campus shuttle for commuters?:
Yes

A brief description of the mass transit programs:

The campus is served by the AVTA Express bus, the Metro bus, and the Metrolink train system.

CSUN employees who opt to use the bus, rail, or train to campus may be eligible for a discount of up to 60% off the cost of the monthly transit pass. The total monthly discount will not exceed $100.

Eligible employees must first register to participate in this program. The deadline to submit a new registration for the upcoming selling period is the 15th of the month. For example: March 15 is the registration deadline to buy a discounted April pass.


Does the institution offer a guaranteed return trip program to regular users of alternative modes of transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the guaranteed return trip program:

The Guaranteed Emergency Ride program is designed to assist faculty or staff who are registered participants in the University's Rideshare Program for Employees. The intent of the Guaranteed Emergency Ride (GER) program is to provide free, emergency transportation to participating employees on an "as-needed" basis. Employees who need to make a single, 1-way trip to respond to a sudden personal emergency or to complete the home-bound commute after the rideshare partner of the registrant has had a sudden personal emergency.

Faculty and Staff registrants are eligible for the GER on any workday they commute to the University by registered carpool, vanpool, or public transit (bus/train). If the emergency arises on a day the registered employee drove alone to the campus, the Guaranteed Emergency Ride program may NOT be used. Only "sudden" emergencies will be considered. No GER will be granted for situations the employee was aware of prior to coming to the University that workday.

"Emergency" defined for this application: Sudden, personal crisis involving an employee's home, family, or health. This may also include the home, family, or health of the registered rideshare partner. Sudden, unexpected UNIVERSITY-RELATED overtime of a registered employee or his/her registered rideshare partner.


Does the institution participate in a car/vanpool or ride sharing program and/or offer reduced parking fees or preferential parking for car/vanpoolers?:
Yes

A brief description of the carpool/vanpool program:

The CSUN Vanpool Program is available for employees who meet the starting locations and work hours of an existing CSUN vanpool; or who meet the criteria for starting a new vanpool group. There is a registration process. Vanpool program participants pay a monthly cost to participate. That cost ranges from $78 to $92 per month and is affected by whether or not the employee is a vanpool passenger or a vanpool driver who meets the minimum monthly driving requirement.

To start up a new CSUN vanpool, the original group must have 9 persons who commit to the shared commute arrangement. Of the 9 employees, at least three must be approved to be vanpool drivers.

Employees may exercise their option to carpool to campus to help clean the air, reduce pollution, alleviate traffic congestion and become better stewards of our precious environment.

2-Person Carpools:

One or more days per week, try sharing the ride with at least one other CSUN employee. There are limited parking spaces in faculty'staff lots designated as "Rideshare/Carpool" parking spaces. Not only will you contribute to the reduction of traffic congestion, but you will save on the number of miles you put on your own personal vehicle if your carpool group can share driving responsibilities.

HOV Parking Program:

CSUN employees can apply to have a specially-designated HOV Parking space assigned to them for use. The requirements are as follows:

All participants of the group must register with the Transportation Program, and
The registered carpool group is comprised of 3 or more CSUN employees, and
The registered carpool group does not qualify for other incentives provided by the University's Transportation Program (i.e., CSUN-sponsored vanpool group), and
The vehicle has at least three of the registered CSUN employees in it when it pulls into the space upon arrival at the beginning of the workday.

The Associated Students of CSUN provides a service exclusively for students who are searching for a carpool arrangement. Students looking to register to find a carpool partner may can go to the Associated Students web page to begin their search.


Does the institution participate in a car sharing program, such as a commercial car-sharing program, one administered by the institution, or one administered by a regional organization?:
Yes

A brief description of the car sharing program:

Associated Students introduced Zipcar, a program for Cal State Northridge campus community to rent cars on an hourly basis. Individuals can rent the cars for as long as they need them, from hours up to days at a time. Renters must be at least 18 years old with a valid driver’s license.

Cars used for the Zipcar program are all fuel-efficient vehicles and are all under three years old. Gas, insurance, maintenance and roadside assistance are all included in the hourly rate.


Does the institution have one or more Level 2 or Level 3 electric vehicle recharging stations that are accessible to student and employee commuters?:
Yes

A brief description of the electric vehicle recharging stations:

With the exception of the EV Charging Stations located in the F5 parking lot, all EV Charging stations on the CSUN campus are Level 2 chargers, which offer medium speed charging, adding 10-20 miles* per hour of charging—depending upon the vehicle. (*Source of information: Plug In America, 2nd Edition, 2011.) There is currently no cost to charge your electric vehicle on the CSUN campus, however, there
may be a requirement by the charging station operator to register before use. The registration (if required) is free.

The EV Charging Stations located in the F5 parking lot (near the Soccer Stadium) are DC Fast-Charge Stations.

California State University, Northridge is not responsible for damage caused by improper charging of an electric vehicle. All EV Charging Station users are expected to use the chargers properly.

Electric Vehicle Charging stations are located in the following parking lots:

• B2 has 4 chargers (northeast corner)
• B4 has 2 chargers (south side, near Information Booth)
• B5 surface lot has 2 chargers (outside the north wall of the B5 structure)
• B6 has 3 chargers (southwest corner)
• G3 surface lot has 4 chargers (southwest corner)
• G9 has 2 chargers (2nd level, west wall)
• F2 has 3 chargers (northeast corner)
• F5 has 2 chargers (DC Quick Chargers--northeast corner)

Here is a map showing where the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations are located on the CSUN campus.


Does the institution offer a telecommuting program for employees as a matter of policy or as standard practice?:
Yes

A brief description of the telecommuting program:

There are options available for employees that do not require registration through the University's Transportation Program. Some of these options (i.e., Compressed Workweek, Telecommuting) do require pre-approval through the employee's department or division.


Does the institution offer a condensed work week option that reduces employee commuting (as a matter of policy or standard practice)?:
Yes

A brief description of the condensed work week option:

There are options available for employees that do not require registration through the University's Transportation Program. Some of these options (i.e., Compressed Workweek, Telecommuting) do require pre-approval through the employee's department or division.


Does the institution have incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus:

The University Corporation (TUC) at CSUN offers several options for living on/nearby the campus in facilities operated by TUC. There are 5 single family home for rent as well as College Court Townhomes both are within walking distance to the CSUN campus.

The university also offers a vast resource list for employees to find local housing (http://www.csun.edu/tuc/resources).


Does the institution employ other strategies to reduce the impact of commuting (e.g. preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles, cash-out of parking programs)?:
Yes

A brief description of other strategies to reduce the impact of commuting:

There are three CSUN Shuttle Systems that serve the campus. They are: the Housing Shuttle, Metrolink Shuttle and VPAC Shuttle. in addition, campus departments can make arrangements to hire the shuttle contractor to provide shuttle services for special events they are sponsoring.

More information is available on the CSUN Shuttle Services webpage.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.