Think there are a lot of bicycles around campus? Well, you’re right. According to Transportation Services, 8 percent of all students, 6 percent of staff, and 13 percent of faculty commute trips are made by bicycle. On any given day, it’s estimated that approximately 4,500 students, staff and faculty bike to campus.
...The UW received a silver designation from the league....
On May 18, 2011, Commuter Services was recognized by Commuter Challenge with a Diamond Ring Award! Commuter Challenge, a program of enterpriseSeattle to reduce commute trips in King County through education and partnerships, grants the prestigious Diamond Award to recognize innovative leaders that reduce commute trips for their employees.
Two days before the official July 1 start for the new UW student regent, Gov. Chris Gregoire chose graduate student Frances Youn to be the newest member of the council that makes some of the most important administrative decisions for the university.
Biofuels are increasingly popular, but also controversial. Ethanol from food crops has been criticized for raising food prices or displacing forests. In some cases, biofuel feedstocks must be transported many miles from where they are grown to where they are used, burning energy along the way.
For the past two and a half years researchers at the UW have been working with local Native American tribes on a different approach. They are developing locally produced bioenergy that makes sense for the Pacific Northwest.
While many on campus may not have noticed, four Transportation Services units -- Commuter Services, Transportation Improvement, Shared Services and Transportation Administration -- moved into a new home at the end of March. The new consolidated space, called the University Transportation Center (UTC), is located in the bottom of the new Portage Bay Parking Facility on NE Pacific Street and 15th Avenue Northeast.
Road construction is a more-than-$80 billion annual industry in the United States. Yet nothing comparable to the LEED rating system for buildings, or the Energy Star system for appliances, exists for highways and roads.
The UW has received a $283,400 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy via the Clean Cities Coalition to help it purchase hybrid vehicles and construct an electric charging station to support its electric fleet.
The University plans to replace five diesel stepvans with five hybrid models to be used in Mailing Services distribution operations and replace one diesel para-transit bus with one hybrid para-transit bus to be used to transport those with disabilities in the UW Shuttles program.
Commuter Challenge, a program of enterpriseSeattle that has for over 15 years assisted King County employers in reducing commute trips through education and partnership, today announced the winners of its prestigious Diamond Awards for 2009. Diamond Awards winners are innovative leaders in reducing commute trips for their employees. This year’s Diamond Ring Award winners were: CH2M HILL, Bellevue; Microsoft Corporation, Redmond; Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle; and the University of Washington, Seattle.
Fleet Services (formerly Motor Pool) has added some new features to its UCAR program, making car-sharing more convenient -- and green -- than ever for the UW community. Four UCARs are now available in the N22 parking lot, directly across from Hall Health. The site features a solar-assisted key manager, the electronic box where UCAR users retrieve vehicle keys after making reservations online. A solar panel on top of the key manager collects energy to supplement its battery, helping to extend the battery life, according to Fleet Services Program Coordinator Larissa Austin.
It's a question heard at countless bus stops: "Have you seen the number 48 go by?" Cold, impatient bus riders stamp their feet, check their watches and wonder if that bus is ever going to come. But in Seattle, a cell phone and the ingenuity of two UW students have come to the rescue. Brian Ferris, a UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering, spent too many many rainy nights waiting for the bus before deciding to take action. "I'm an avid bus rider," said Ferris.