Green Living

Bowdoin Commuter Survey - April 2007 - Results

343 people took the survey which gave us a 46.8% response rate.

While 67.8% of those surveyed have commuted another way to work at least once in the last year, only 1% carpool to work every day, 10% walk regularly and 3% bike. At the same time, more than 50% drive alone to work every day.

Many employees said that they would be more likely to carpool if they could easily identify other Bowdoin employees with whom to carpool. GoMaine, the statewide commuter services program, has a ride matching system so that you can easily find other Bowdoin employees that live near you and work the same hours. Go to http://www.gomaine.org/carpool/index.html to register for this service and to find a carpooling partner.

Over 30% said they would carpool if they could be reimbursed for renting a car or taxi in an emergency situation. An added benefit of registering as a Bowdoin employee through GoMaine is that you are eligible for reimibursement in an emergency up to 8 times a year. Go to the "Emergency Ride Home Program" page for more information. Anyone who carpools or bikes to work is eligible.

Twenty percent of the respondents said that they'd be more likely to walk or carpool to work if they had access to a bike or car to run errands during the day. Bowdoin's Yellow Bike Club may be your answer. By paying one dollar a year, you can use any available yellow bike on campus at any time. Please contact Yoni Ackerman for more information.

Half of you said that your inflexible schedule prevents you from carpooling to work. One strategy that might help is to pick the same day each week to carpool. If you mark this day in your calendar, you can schedule your other commitments around it.

The biggest motivator to Bowdoin employees to commute another way is the environment. Health benefits and saving money were also big incentives. In the future, our committee will try to highlight the environmental, health and economic benefits of commuting another way. Please check out the CAW website for more information and let us know if you'd like to join our committee.