Carpooling on Campus

Location

King Building 101

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-27-2019 3:00 PM

End Date

4-27-2019 4:20 PM

Abstract

Transportation is a significant contributor to carbon emissions - both globally, and locally. Currently, there are no organized carpooling systems in place at Oberlin College. This study aims to use gohiocommute.com as a feasible and functional carpooling platform for the Oberlin faculty and staff community. 457 email invitations were sent to Oberlin employees asking them to participate in a focus group, and ninety-four responses were collected. Three focus group sessions were being held, in which seven (1 faculty and 6 staff) in total attended. High response rates to participate in the focus groups and/or future carpool trial(s) showed that Oberlin employees are passionate about building an Oberlin carpool system. Top barriers to carpooling among faculty and staff are social concerns and inconvenience. Some salient benefits include financial and environmental concerns. Several incentives, including gas cards as lottery prizes, priority parking spots, and gathering of those who live in the same area, should be considered to increase Oberlin faculty and staff’s enthusiasm about carpooling. We concluded that by implementing gohiocommute.com while addressing these concerns may further aid in the development of a carpool culture among Oberlin faculty and staff.

Keywords:

Carpool; carbon neutrality; community based social marketing

Notes

Session V, Panel 12 - Local | Environments
Moderator: Karl Offen, Professor of Environmental Studies

Major

Ilana Ascher: Psychology; German
Skyler Yin: Psychology

Advisor(s)

Ilana Ascher: Cindy Frantz, Psychology; Steve Huff, German
Skyler Yin: Patty deWinstanley, Psychology

Project Mentor(s)

Cindy Frantz, Psychology
Bridget Flynn, Environmental Sustainability

April 2019

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Apr 27th, 3:00 PM Apr 27th, 4:20 PM

Carpooling on Campus

King Building 101

Transportation is a significant contributor to carbon emissions - both globally, and locally. Currently, there are no organized carpooling systems in place at Oberlin College. This study aims to use gohiocommute.com as a feasible and functional carpooling platform for the Oberlin faculty and staff community. 457 email invitations were sent to Oberlin employees asking them to participate in a focus group, and ninety-four responses were collected. Three focus group sessions were being held, in which seven (1 faculty and 6 staff) in total attended. High response rates to participate in the focus groups and/or future carpool trial(s) showed that Oberlin employees are passionate about building an Oberlin carpool system. Top barriers to carpooling among faculty and staff are social concerns and inconvenience. Some salient benefits include financial and environmental concerns. Several incentives, including gas cards as lottery prizes, priority parking spots, and gathering of those who live in the same area, should be considered to increase Oberlin faculty and staff’s enthusiasm about carpooling. We concluded that by implementing gohiocommute.com while addressing these concerns may further aid in the development of a carpool culture among Oberlin faculty and staff.