Eastern Michigan University
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

We estimate our commute modal split by tracking parking registration. Total full-time equivalent undergraduate and graduate student enrollment for Fall 2021 is 11,807. The university houses 2,354 undergraduate and graduate students on-campus (17% of the student body; 20% of Student FTE) (Housing and Residence Life, Fall 2021). Those students who register their vehicles for commuter parking on campus are assumed to commute by single occupancy vehicles. For the Fall 2021 semester, the university registered 3,671 commuter permits for undergraduate and graduate students (ParkEMU, Fall 2021 Data). In addition, there are 859 metered/pay parking spots on campus. While certainly not all of these are utilized by student commuters, if we assume that all of these spaces are indeed used by commuting students, then together with commuter registrations, we estimate that 38% of students commute via single occupancy vehicle (3671+859/11,807). This means that 62% of students use some form of more sustainable commuting options. We assume that those students residing on campus all walk to classes (17% of student body; 20% of Student FTE). We have anecdotal evidence that students carpool, but no reportable data. The university is surrounded on all sides by residential areas that contain numerous options for off-campus student housing, including apartment buildings and multiple family rental dwellings, from which students can walk to class. The university is served also by highly effective regional public transportation, offering students additional sustainable means of commuting to classes.

We estimate our commute modal split for faculty and staff by tracking parking registration. The number of Full-Time (1,455) and Part-Time (490) employees at the university totals 1,945. Those faculty and staff who register their vehicles for commuter parking on campus are assumed to commute by single occupancy vehicles. There were 1,547 staff/faculty permits registered for the Fall 2021 semester (ParkEMU, Fall 2021 Data), meaning that 80% of faculty/staff are estimated to commute by single occupancy vehicle. Therefore, 20% of faculty/staff use more sustainable commuting options. The university campus is surrounded on all four sides by residential areas that house some employees and from which some walk to campus. The university is well-served also by regional public transportation, offering faculty and staff more sustainable means of commuting. Rather than the Full-Time Equivalency number of employees, we use total number of employees in computing our ratio under the premise that the total number of employees divided by number of permits registered offers a more accurate depiction of commuting patterns. Since it might be expected that full time employees commute more frequently than do part-time employees, our parking registration data overestimate the frequency of part-time commuting because part-time employees have the same registration as full-time employees, but then do not commute as frequently.