1. Transportation Michal Hyrc, Eric Tidquist, William Koury & Ryan Henderson

2. Objectives To better understand the carbon footprint of Washington University by: – Improving estimates from previous projects about ground transportation – Analyzing carbon intensive transportation that was not previously looked at, such as student air travel – Estimate emissions due to underground or surface parking on a per spot basis

3. Approach & Methodology Flying Based analysis on data about students’ home zip codes or countries from 1991 provided by the university Calculated distances flown by students annually using two methods – Distances to the actual zip codes – Distances to airports near particular zip codes Multiplying the students and distance per student, found the total passenger miles flown by students annually Converted passenger miles to a Carbon Footprint Since the data provided was very detailed, in depth analysis is possible Commuting Based analysis on data on student and faculty/staff school zip codes from a similar project conducted in 2009 Calculated distances commuted (either by walking/biking, using MetroLink, using MetroBus, driving alone, or carpooling), taking into account highway versus city driving differences Found total miles traveled by each mode of transportation Converted passenger miles to a Carbon Footprint – Found Upper Bound, Lower Bound, and Best Guess for total carbon emissions from commuting at Washington University

4. Results

5. 2009

6. Results

8. Parking Analysis

9. Summary & Conclusions The best estimate for Wash U transportation carbon footprint is ~29,000 metric tons of CO2 annually – This number is probably an underestimate, as it does not include faculty air travel The transportation footprint of Wash U has been steadily increasing over the last 20 years The increase of the aviation commute footprint is driven by less in-state students and more international, particularly Asian, students Underground parking emits more carbon dioxide than surface parking To reduce the transportation footprint, we recommend the University – Merging fall and thanksgiving break to reduce flight emissions – Trying to reduce the number of people that drive to work by themselves

10. References