Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 70.62
Liaison Darcy Coughlan
Submission Date Dec. 22, 2022

STARS v2.2

Coastal Carolina University
OP-17: Support for Sustainable Transportation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Darcy Coughlan
Associate Director
Sustain Coastal
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

University Recreation has a free campus bike program, in order to offer an affordable and environmentally sustainable form of transportation to the CCU community. This program provides an alternative to driving. University Recreation has a fleet of approximately 150 cruiser bikes available for rent. All bikes come with a helmet and lock.

To check out a bike, one would have to visit the HTC Outdoor Center during hours of operation and present a valid University ID to check out a bicycle, free of charge. Students can rent a bike up to 30 days at a time. Coastal Carolina University was awarded Silver from the League of American Bicyclists which is valid from 2019-2023. It is one of only 63 to move to silver.

https://www.coastal.edu/recreation/outdoors/coastalre-cycles/


Does the institution participate in a car sharing program?:
Yes

A brief description of the car sharing program:

In Fall 2021, CCU Transportation Services launched its own On-Demand Ride Service. Similar to traditional app powered on-demand ride services (also called ride-sourcing or ride-hailing services) like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, this On-Demand Ride Service is university operated and free for CCU community members to use within 1½ miles of the Conway campus within a geofence zone along the HWY 501 & HWY 544 corridors.

The CCU On-Demand Ride Service Program provides CCU students living on-campus or in neighboring communities an option to access essential and non-essential services, such as health care providers, stores, restaurants, and possibly workplace locations within the On-Demand Ride Service zone. Not only does this program increase mobility and accessibility for our students, it helps to increase quality of life and safety for students needing to navigate the surrounding area. Other benefits of the program include providing on-campus employment for students.

According to WalkScore.com, Coastal Carolina University has a Walk Score of 32 out of 100. This location is a Car-Dependent neighborhood, which means most errands require a car. While bike infrastructure is in place on main campus for students to safely ride their bike, the surrounding neighborhoods lack the same infrastructure. Additionally, there is a significant number of CCU students residing on-and off-campus who do have access to a personal vehicle; university staff estimate that this number could be as high as 25% of CCU’s students residing near the University campus. While Transportation Services currently operates a fixed route shuttle service that efficiently transports over 640,000 riders a year (about 16,000 riders a week during an academic year), the fixed route shuttle service mainly provides students transportation from parking and residential areas to academic and event areas on campus.

Overall, the On-Demand Ride Service Program, alongside CCU’s bike infrastructure, free bike-sharing program and shuttle service promote another form of alternative transportation that reduces parking demands and the number of personal vehicles students bring to campus – all of which helps to create a healthier campus and minimize our environmental impact.


Does the institution offer preferential parking or other incentives for fuel efficient vehicles?:
Yes

A brief description of the incentives for fuel efficient vehicles:

The University offers preferential parking to fuel efficient vehicles at various buildings around campus. One example is the HTC Center, which gives preferential parking to compact vehicles.


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:

Electrical vehicle charging stations partners with Plug in Carolina, Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and Santee Cooper. They are located near the residence halls on township circle. The installation of the Plug in Carolina’s station is the latest in our ongoing efforts to promote a greener campus and to further our commitment to sustainability. These stations support the university’s strategic plan to serve as a role model to the community in our efforts to achieve a sustainable environment.


Does the institution have incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus?:
No

A brief description of the incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus:
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Does the institution have other programs or initiatives to encourage more sustainable modes of transportation and/or reduce the impact of student and employee commuting?:
Yes

A brief description of other programs or initiatives to encourage more sustainable modes of transportation and/or reduce the impact of student and employee commuting:

Coastal Carolina University provides a shuttle service for its students/faculty and staff around campus, including routes from University Housing at University Place, the main campus, and the east campus. Teal express runs to upper classmen housing (University Place) such as Sandhills, Blue Ridge and Low Country. Weekend express runs on weekends and student holidays. It goes to Walmart, housing, and main campus. Coastal Carolina University has an app that allows you to track each shuttle’s location. There are shuttles to Myrtle Beach Airport from CCU before thanksgiving break, winter break and spring break. Shuttles for Florence, SC Amtrack Station are also available before thanksgiving break, winter break and spring break. Taking the shuttle helps reduce our carbon footprint and conserve energy by eliminating travel that would have otherwise been made by a private vehicle. By taking public transportation instead of driving, you could have up to a 30% carbon dioxide emissions decrease.


Website URL where information about the institution’s support for sustainable transportation is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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