Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.40
Liaison C Jane Hagen
Submission Date Aug. 27, 2021

STARS v2.2

Virginia Commonwealth University
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.23 / 5.00 Elias Frantz
Sustainability Assistant
VCU Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
27,474

Full-time equivalent of employees:
7,931

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:
70.19

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:
The Parking and Transportation survey was conducted during the fall semester of 2019 over roughly a three-week period, October 15th to November 5th. The initial invitation was sent out on October 15th, followed by two reminder emails (October 22nd and October 29th). To accurately represent the VCU community as a whole, a stratified random sample was created using five sub-populations. Monroe Park Campus students, MCV students, Monroe Park Campus faculty/staff, MCV faculty staff, and VCU Health Systems employees. Using historical response rates and assuming a margin of error of +- 4%, the participant sample was created of 12,481 invitees. In all, 1,912 VCU community members replied to the survey (a response rate of 15.3%). Response data were analyzed using SPSS and open-ended responses were analyzed using multi-coder qualitative analysis.

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:
44.93

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:
The Parking and Transportation survey was conducted during the fall semester of 2019 over roughly a three-week period, October 15th to November 5th. The initial invitation was sent out on October 15th, followed by two reminder emails (October 22nd and October 29th). To accurately represent the VCU community as a whole, a stratified random sample was created using five sub-populations. Monroe Park Campus students, MCV students, Monroe Park Campus faculty/staff, MCV faculty staff, and VCU Health Systems employees. Using historical response rates and assuming a margin of error of +- 4%, the participant sample was created of 12,481 invitees. In all, 1,912 VCU community members replied to the survey (a response rate of 15.3%). Response data were analyzed using SPSS and open-ended responses were analyzed using multi-coder qualitative analysis.

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 26.36 52.92
Zero-emissions vehicle --- ---
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 49.76 20.02
Vanpool or carpool 2.91 4.67
Public transport or campus shuttle 11.27 15.61
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped 0 0.50
Distance education / telecommute 6.25 4.15

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:
---

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.