Williams College has committed to reduce campus emissions by 35% and cover the remaining emissions with offsets by 2020, including transportation emissions. As of now, Williams does not have strict sustainability goals specifically for transportation on top of that. However, the college still has put forth multiple initiatives to provide and promote sustainable transportation:
Emissions Tracking
As part of its commitment to reduce campus emissions by 35% and offset the remainder by 2020, Williams has committed to tracking both faculty and staff commuting and all college-sponsored air travel (meaning professors flying to conferences, athletic teams flying to competitions, etc.). Not included in this tracking, however, is student travel to and from home.
College-Provided Transportation
The college provides multiple sustainable transportation options for Williams community members, including but not limited to:
- Purple Bike Coalition, a student group that provides bicycles and bicycle repairs to community members.
- Williams Motorcoach, a bus to and from major cities in the area around academic break times.
- A ride-for-free program with Berkshire Regional Transit Authority for students, faculty, and staff.
- A pilot shuttle for the fall of 2019 to give faculty and staff more transportation options.
- College vans and minivans for student groups to use
Sustainable Transportation Information
The college is also committed to ensuring that information about existing sustainable transportation is readily available to community members. This includes:
- tips for sustainable transportation, as well as
- a list of transportation options and
- a guide for transportation to major destinations.
Incentives for Sustainable Transportation
Williams also has in place a few incentives to promote sustainable transportation among students, faculty, and staff, including but not limited to:
- Preferred parking spaces for high-efficiency vehicles
- Electric vehicle charging ports around campus
- Offering rewards for student ridesharing
Strategic Planning
Sustainability was included as one of eight working groups and a cross-cutting theme – along with DEI – in the college’s strategic planning during the 2019-2020 academic year. The sustainability working group wrote this report that includes goals regarding transportation in the Climate Action section on pages 21-25. From these goals, the Zilkha Center has worked with campus partners to articulate the strategies for achieving those goals in the college’s Climate Action Plan, which will be published in the summer or fall of 2021.
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