Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.49
Liaison Krista Bailey
Submission Date Dec. 17, 2020

STARS v2.2

Pennsylvania State University
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.55 / 5.00 Shelley McKeague
Environmental Compliance Specialist
Engineering Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
45,798

Full-time equivalent of employees:
15,265

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:
83

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:

Student data is from Fall 2018 student headcounts and on-campus resident data (also reported in PRE-5 Academics and Demographics). Parking Permit data is FY18/19 data provided by Transportation Services.

The methodology for calculating the percentages reported is as follows:

45798 students
7676 students with parking permits for commuting (17%). 14,180 live on campus and walking/biking is the most convenient mode of transportation (31%). The remaining off-campus students that do not have permits and therefor cannot park on campus, must either walk/bike from housing close to campus or utilize CATA Bus\Shuttle Services to get to and around campus.(52%) CATA has contracts with 21 apartment complexes for route specific passes for rental incentives to service faculty, student, staff and other community members who live at these locations.

We do not have carpool/vanpool data for students so the assumption was made that each parking permit was for only one student and no carpool/vanpool data is reported.


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:
35

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:

Faculty / Staff totals are for Fall 2018, as reported in Credit PRE-5 Academics and Demographics. Parking Permit and CATA from 2018 was provided by Transportation Services.

Percentage was calculated as follows:
15972 faculty/staff
10446 faculty/staff permits issued (65%)
2505 RidePass - CATA Bus Program (16%)
436 Vanpool/Carpool (3%)

There are going to be overlaps in data. For example, members of a carpool may all keep individual parking passes and get counted in the drive-alone category.

The remaining faculty/staff were assigned to the bike/walk category because they do not have parking permits, do not participate in a carpool/vanpool nor use public transportation on a regular basis (RidePass).


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 17 65
Zero-emissions vehicle --- ---
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 31 16
Vanpool or carpool 0 3
Public transport or campus shuttle 52 16
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped 0 0
Distance education / telecommute --- 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:

There is limited parking available in the core campus area. The majority of the commuter parking is located on the periphery, encouraging less vehicle movement, fewer pedestrian/vehicular conflicts, and a more walkable environment. Penn State operates a Campus Shuttle that loops through campus. In partnership with CATA (Centre Area Transportation Authority) there is a Campus Service. CATA also offers a Community Service with 23 routes serving students/staff who live in neighboring communities. In a partnership with Penn State, CATA also offers four campus routes.


There is limited parking available in the core campus area. The majority of the commuter parking is located on the periphery, encouraging less vehicle movement, fewer pedestrian/vehicular conflicts, and a more walkable environment. Penn State operates a Campus Shuttle that loops through campus. In partnership with CATA (Centre Area Transportation Authority) there is a Campus Service. CATA also offers a Community Service with 23 routes serving students/staff who live in neighboring communities. In a partnership with Penn State, CATA also offers four campus routes.

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.