Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.56
Liaison Georgeann Moss
Submission Date Dec. 22, 2021

STARS v2.2

Dallas College
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.87 / 5.00 Brandon Morton
Assistant Director of Sustainability
Office of Social Responsibility and Inclusion
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
50,451

Full-time equivalent of employees:
4,810

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:
40.80

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:
The student commuting data was collected for the OP-1 and OP-2 STARS credits for the greenhouse gas emissions inventory by sourcing the zip codes of students provided to Dallas College when students enroll in the college. The data includes fall, spring and summer semester of Sept 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019. Some students' home address reported is out of state or out-of-country and these zip codes were excluded from the analysis. The out-of-state or out-of-country zip codes are from online students or international students. The Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) was calculated by using Google Maps to determine the distance of the central point of the student zip code to the campus location the student reported as their main campus. An assumption was made based on the course schedule that the majority of students travel to campus at least three days per week to attend classes and to access to student services like computer labs, testing centers, tutoring centers, advising, and campus events.

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:
1.50

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:
The employee commuting data was collected for the OP-1 and OP-2 STARS credits for the greenhouse gas emissions inventory and the air pollution emissions inventory by sourcing the zip codes of employees provided to Dallas College employee profile system. The data includes fall, spring and summer semester of Sept 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019. The Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) was calculated by using Google Maps to determine the distance of the central point of the employee zip code to the campus location where the employee works. An assumption was made that all full-time employees commute to campus five days per week and part-time employees commute two days per week.

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 59.20 98.50
Zero-emissions vehicle 0 0.00
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 0 0
Vanpool or carpool 0 0
Public transport or campus shuttle 1.50 1.50
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped 0 0
Distance education / telecommute 39.30 0

Website URL where information about student or employee commuting is available:
https://www.nctcog.org/nctcg/media/Transportation/Images/graphics/TODTransitCommute_Infograph.jpg

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
In 2014, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) conducted a Regional On-Board Transit Survey in partnership with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Denton County Transit Authority (DCTA), and Trinity Metro. The data in the survey included only trips identified with workplace as a destination or origin. The NCTCOG also conducted an All Commuter Study utilizing data reported from the America Community Survey (ACS) to establish a 5-year estimate of commuters. The ACS data includes demographic data of persons 16 years or older, which includes the Dallas College student population.

The result of the 2014 NCTCOG Regional On-Board Transit Survey determined transportation behavior of North Texans. Approximately 1.5% of North Texans take public transit to work. This estimate was applied to Dallas College students and employees because DART ridership is not surveyed by Dallas College during this STARS reporting period of 2018-19. Thus, in 2018-19 it can be estimated that a minimum of 746 students and 72 employees ride public transit to campuses based on the 1.5% estimated from the NCTCOG study. Importantly, in 2018-19 there were 15,972 students that received a free DART GoPass to help students overcome transportation barriers, an estimated value of $288 per semester provided to each student. Dallas College plans to launch a transportation survey in fall 2021 that will help us better estimate transportation needs and behaviors of our students.

Dallas College now offers an online tutoring network through the course delivery platform eCampus. The online tutoring network provides students accessibility to tutoring for any discipline online regardless of what campus they attend classes, and the online tutoring network reduces number of trips to campuses and will be reflected in commuting data over time. https://www.dallascollege.edu/resources/tutoring

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.