Brake-ing point
Last year, Don Wagner walked, kayaked, sailed and rode his bike to work.
This year, he’s riding his motorcycle to work every day from Blossvale, a town nearly 50 miles from campus.
The instructional technology analyst at Syracuse University is doing this to raise awareness for the Commuter Challenge.
The second annual Campus Commuter Challenge encourages faculty, staff and off-campus students to explore alternative ways of getting to campus. By leaving their cars at home, participants can save money on gas and reduce their contribution to global warming.
‘I think the Commuter Challenge is phase one of all this,’ Wagner said. ‘Phase one is raising consciousness. As you raise consciousness, you ask ‘What are the other ways to get to work?”
There are 3,630 faculty members working at the university, and an estimated 2,500 students who commute to classes each day. For every gallon of gas saved, 19.5 pounds of carbon dioxide stay out of the atmosphere. If everyone participated in the challenge, the university would keep 3,586,050 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Each week, gift certificates and prizes worth up to $55 will be awarded to a walker, carpooler, bus rider and cyclist who record their participation on the USAC Web site. Grand prizes include train tickets for two to New York City, an iPod, a CENTRO bus pass for one year and one month’s delivery of organic food.
‘Last year we had 576 people participate, which is pretty good for the first year,’ said Dr. Rachel May, director of the Office of Environment and Society and also the head of the Campus Commuter Challenge.
‘It takes a lot of effort to make the challenge happen,’ May said. ‘We don’t see our role as policing people or forcing them to change. It’s just giving them an incentive to try it.’
There are quite a few issues preventing the challenge from becoming a success, and Syracuse weather contributes to a lot of the problem recruiting commuters.
‘It’s just too easy to get back to the same old, same old, especially if the weather changes,’ Wagner said. ‘People aren’t going to ride in the cold or wait for the bus, unless they are forced to.’
Carpooling fails to take into consideration extenuating circumstances such as family emergencies and errands to run after work that make it difficult to coordinate schedules with a car full of people, he said.
Syracuse does not have bike-friendly lanes, either.
Marybeth Clare, a Schine Student Center Bookstore employee, and Dan Pauls, a junior at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry participate in the Commuter Challenge.
‘For me, I think it’s convenient,’ Clare said. ‘I don’t have to deal with traffic, rush hour, all the rebuilding on the highways. It’s 40 minutes in the morning and 40 minutes back, but it gives me time to relax.’
Pauls participates because of the benefits of carpooling.
‘I’m helping the environment as far as sustainability and conserving our resources,’ he said. ‘I don’t have to walk up from where I would have to park, I get dropped off right on campus. I’m saving money, too.’
Scot Vanderpool, a manager of Parking & Transit Services, is working hard to make transportation to the university less of a hassle.
Last year he worked to partner the university with CENTRO and started the One-Seat Ride Program, which encourages university employees to park their cars and ride a CENTRO bus directly to campus. A new carpool program allows individuals to share driving responsibilities by sharing a multi-car permit.
‘A lot of these programs are in its infancy stage,’ Vanderpool said. ‘But you gotta start somewhere, and eventually it will work out.’
More innovative steps include the Zipcar program, which comes to campus beginning this month.
The university has purchased a Honda Element and a Toyota Matrix that will be parked between the Carnegie Library and Archbold Gymnasium. They are available to anyone who pays an annual fee of $35 and signs up by phone or Internet.
‘We have to educate those people who are resistant,’ Vanderpool said. ‘It has to be an individual approach. I just had an individual motivation to do something different one time. From that came my commitment to what I do. With little challenges, I think people are going to get coerced to start thinking a little different.’
Published on October 28, 2008 at 12:00 pm
