Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 76.32
Liaison Karen Oberer
Submission Date Dec. 11, 2020

STARS v2.2

McGill University
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.57 / 5.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
32,754

Full-time equivalent of employees:
7,293

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:
94

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:
The TRAM research group conducted a large-scale online survey during Fall 2017 and Winter 2018 in order to collect information on the travel behaviours, motivations, and perceptions of the McGill community. The target population was all McGill students, staff, and faculty. The goal was to obtain a representative sample for these different types of people, as well as for the different McGill campuses. The TRAM research group designed and conducted the survey with the collaboration of faculty specialists in transportation planning and travel behaviour, and members of the McGill Office of Sustainability.

According to a report analyzing the data obtained in the survey, "[a]ll McGill staff and faculty and a random sample of one third of the student population received e-mail invitations to complete the survey online. Various prizes were offered to encourage participation. Invitees received a single reminder email two weeks after receiving the initial invitation. To obtain a representative sample under various weather conditions, participants were invited in two waves:
one in fall 2017 and another in winter 2018. Over the course of both seasons, 16,930 invitations went out. We received 4,859 responses, representing a 33.4% response rate, which is comparable to previous research"

Source:
DeWeese, J., & El-Geneidy, A. (2020). 'Mind for mass transit: Commuters’
assessment of public transport as a “reasonable” option.' presented at the Transportation Research Board 99th Annual Meeting.
https://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/Mind_for_Mass_Transit.pdf

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:
80

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:
The TRAM research group conducted a large-scale online survey during Fall 2017 and Winter 2018 in order to collect information on the travel behaviours, motivations, and perceptions of the McGill community. The target population was all McGill students, staff, and faculty. The goal was to obtain a representative sample for these different types of people, as well as for the different McGill campuses. The TRAM research group designed and conducted the survey with the collaboration of faculty specialists in transportation planning and travel behaviour, and members of the McGill Office of Sustainability.

According to a report analyzing the data obtained in the survey, "[a]ll McGill staff and faculty and a random sample of one third of the student population received e-mail invitations to complete the survey online. Various prizes were offered to encourage participation. Invitees received a single reminder email two weeks after receiving the initial invitation. To obtain a representative sample under various weather conditions, participants were invited in two waves:
one in fall 2017 and another in winter 2018. Over the course of both seasons, 16,930 invitations went out. We received 4,859 responses, representing a 33.4% response rate, which is comparable to previous research"

Source:
DeWeese, J., & El-Geneidy, A. (2020). 'Mind for mass transit: Commuters’
assessment of public transport as a “reasonable” option.' presented at the Transportation Research Board 99th Annual Meeting.
https://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/Mind_for_Mass_Transit.pdf

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 6 20
Zero-emissions vehicle 0 0
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 49 19
Vanpool or carpool 0.50 2
Public transport or campus shuttle 44 58
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped 0.08 0.50
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:
Source: 2017-2018 McGill Travel Survey
Unfortunately, the survey results are not published publicly; however several interesting research papers have been produced using the results:

DeWeese, J., & El-Geneidy, A. (2020). 'Mind for mass transit: Commuters’
assessment of public transport as a “reasonable” option.' presented at the Transportation Research Board 99th Annual Meeting.
https://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/Mind_for_Mass_Transit.pdf

Grisé, E., Cui, B., Turim, A., Manaugh, K., & El‐Geneidy, A. (2019). The impacts of varying survey design on reported trip satisfaction. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 60, 761‐769.
https://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/varying_survey_design.pdf

Grisé, E., & El‐Geneidy, A. (2019). Transferring Matters: Analysis of the Influence of Transfers on Trip Satisfaction. Transportation Research Record
2019, 2673(9), 254–265.
https://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/Transferring_matters.pdf

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.