Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 83.37
Liaison Ruairi O'Mahony
Submission Date Feb. 11, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Massachusetts Lowell
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.35 / 5.00 Craig Thomas
Assistant Director
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
15,501

Full-time equivalent of employees:
1,707

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:
49.10

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:
UMass Lowell conducted a random sample survey of its students and employees as required by the Massachusetts Rideshare Regulation (310 CMR 7.16) and regulated by the Department of Environmental Protection. An online transportation survey of selected faculty, staff and students was conducted from October 18 to October 23, 2021 to collect the necessary data. Using the instructions provided by MassDEP, it was determined that UMass Lowell needed to gather data from at least 90 percent of 954 responses required based on an applicable population of 9,009 (1,637 applicable employees and 7,372 applicable off-campus students). The university followed DEP’s guidance on random sampling methodology and generated a list of applicable staff, faculty and students to be surveyed using a start number of 2 and a skip interval of 2. The survey was disseminated via e-mail to the selected applicable faculty, staff and students. A 100 percent response rate was achieved.

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:
28.20

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:
UMass Lowell conducted a random sample survey of its students and employees as required by the Massachusetts Rideshare Regulation (310 CMR 7.16) and regulated by the Department of Environmental Protection. An online transportation survey of selected faculty, staff and students was conducted from October 18 to October 23, 2021 to collect the necessary data. Using the instructions provided by MassDEP, it was determined that UMass Lowell needed to gather data from at least 90 percent of 954 responses required based on an applicable population of 9,009 (1,637 applicable employees and 7,372 applicable off-campus students). The university followed DEP’s guidance on random sampling methodology and generated a list of applicable staff, faculty and students to be surveyed using a start number of 2 and a skip interval of 2. The survey was disseminated via e-mail to the selected applicable faculty, staff and students. A 100 percent response rate was achieved.

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 50.90 71.80
Zero-emissions vehicle --- ---
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode 19.30 4.20
Vanpool or carpool 11.90 1.60
Public transport or campus shuttle 9.60 0.50
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped --- ---
Distance education / telecommute 8.10 21.90

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:
MassDEP Rideshare report is from Fall 2021. Our campus shifted to completely remote operations during the pandemic. Therefore, any data used from FY21 would not be a reliable source and would serve to artifically inflate this credit. The data used here is more indicative of normal campus operations.

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.