Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 79.54
Liaison Kelli O'Day
Submission Date June 20, 2023

STARS v2.2

University of California, Davis
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.98 / 5.00 Kelli O'Day
Assessment Program Manager
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
33,387

Full-time equivalent of employees:
9,532

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:
85.10

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:
The UC Davis Campus Travel Survey is a joint effort by the Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS) and the Sustainable Transportation Center, part of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. Since 2007 the survey has been administered each fall by a graduate student at the Institute of Transportation Studies. The main purpose of the survey is to collect annual data on how the UC Davis community travels to campus, including mode choice, vehicle occupancy, distances traveled, and carbon emissions. The annual travel survey results have been used to assess awareness and utilization of campus transportation services and estimate demand for new services designed to promote sustainable commuting at UC Davis. Data from the campus travel survey have also provided researchers with valuable insights about the effects of attitudes and perceptions of mobility options on commute mode choice.

The 2021-22 survey was administered online in October and November 2022, distributed by email to a stratified random sample of 20,169 students, faculty, and staff (out of an estimated total population of 49,159). Over 21 percent (4,265 individuals) of those contacted responded to this year’s survey, with 20.7 percent actually completing it.

For the statistics presented throughout this report, the responses are weighted by role (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, Master’s student, PhD student, faculty, and staff) and gender, so that the proportion of respondents in each group reflects their proportion in the campus population.

We generally use the survey responses for the previous year to report commuting share because the academic year generally has a larger overlap with the reporting year. For this STARS report, we elected to use the 2021-22 survey because survey responses in 2020 were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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:
60.60

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:
The UC Davis Campus Travel Survey includes academic and non-academic staff. See response above for more information about the annual survey.

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 15 39.40
Zero-emissions vehicle 0.40 1.60
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 41.30 13.40
Vanpool or carpool 3.90 3.80
Public transport or campus shuttle 14 2
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped 0.40 0.30
Distance education / telecommute 25.10 39.50

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:
Additional relevant websites with information about student and employee commuting options:

http://unitrans.ucdavis.edu/
https://taps.ucdavis.edu/causewayconnection


Alex Berk, Greenhouse Gas Inventory Analyst at UCD Sustainability, assisted in compiling this credit response.

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.