Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.88
Liaison Audrey McSain
Submission Date March 20, 2023

STARS v2.2

Lehigh University
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.27 / 5.00 Robert Bruneio
Manager, Transportation Services
Transportation Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
6,633

Full-time equivalent of employees:
1,801

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:
80

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:
A sustainability survey was distributed by the Office of Sustainability in the Fall of 2021 in which students were asked to anonymously respond to the following question: What is your primary mode of transportation to campus? All participants received a set of general sustainability culture survey items and then were randomly assigned to complete either additional culture items or the commuter items. Respondents had the option to elect to also complete whichever block they were not originally assigned to. The answers from which they could choose were the OP-16 answers listed above. The data was adjusted to more accurately reflect mode of transportation by housing location for the whole student population, based on mode of transportation by housing location reported by the surveyed population.

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:
12

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:
A sustainability survey was distributed by the Office of Sustainability in the Fall of 2021 in which faculty and staff were asked to anonymously respond to the following question: What is your primary mode of transportation to campus? All participants received a set of general sustainability culture survey items and then were randomly assigned to complete either additional culture items or the commuter items. Respondents had the option to elect to also complete whichever block they were not originally assigned to. The answers from which they could choose were the OP-16 answers listed above.

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 19 87
Zero-emissions vehicle 0 0
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 68 5
Vanpool or carpool 3 4
Public transport or campus shuttle 8 0
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped 0 1
Distance education / telecommute 0 0

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:
A Sustainability Culture Survey was sent out in Fall 2021. This falls outside of our normal reporting period because sending the survey was delayed due to COVID-19.

This survey included questions about commuting habits. The commuting modal split was determined using the percentages from this survey, applied to data for the number of students and employees estimated to be on campus in Fall 2019. Self-reported answers to the survey questions were analyzed to identify the primary mode of transportation taken by each respondent. This data was used to find the percentages above.

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.