About 55 percent of employees who responded to a recent Cornell traffic survey regularly drive alone to campus, compared with 19 percent of graduate student respondents and 5 percent of undergraduate respondents. About 15 percent of undergraduate respondents ride a Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit bus to campus, while 71 percent normally walk to Cornell.

Two t-GEIS public workshops scheduled

The second round of Neighborhood Open Houses for the t-GEIS Transportation Study are scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Tompkins County Public Library; and Wednesday, April 18, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Best Western University Inn, East Hill Plaza.

Part of the transportation-focused Generic Environmental Impact Statement (t-GEIS), these "come-and-go" public sessions allow participants to discuss and learn more about: potential options to reduce single-occupant vehicle use by Cornell commuters; initial recommendations for improved bicycle and pedestrian facilities; ideas to improve roadways, intersections and traffic signalization; potential communitywide cooperative programs that could improve commutes for the entire regional population; and the differences and interactions between the t-GEIS and the Cornell Master Plan.

For more information on the t-GEIS, including the full executive summary from the recent t-GEIS travel survey, click on the link at right.

The survey, part of the transportation-focused Generic Environmental Impact Statement (t-GEIS) process, yielded helpful data as well as commentary on the variety of ways people currently travel to and from campus.

Overall, 75 percent of all Cornell commuting vehicle trips today are made by employees. Vehicle trips spike during peak travel hours, accounting for more than 90 percent of all Cornell vehicle trips in the morning peak hours, generally 7 to 9 a.m., and 85 percent in the evening peak hours, generally 4 to 7 p.m. Survey respondents who drive alone said the primary improvements needed to get them to switch to the bus would be a stop close to their home and an increase in the frequency of the service.

The survey results also offer a wish list of proposals that could lead to greater use of greener alternatives on campus and in the community.

"I am optimistic that what we have heard from the Cornell community will provide the t-GEIS project with valuable information to further enhance alternative transportation modes," said Bill Wendt, Cornell's director of Transportation and Mail Services (TMS). "Whatever we can do to change campus commuting behavior will have positive and far-reaching benefits for the greater Ithaca community."

Overall, Cornell continues to be a national leader in the use of alternative transportation modes. Nationally, 75 percent of workers drive alone to work, but only 55 percent of Cornell faculty and staff do. Similarly, less than 5 percent of workers nationwide use public transportation compared with 14 percent of Cornell employees. The use of alternative modes is even higher among Cornell graduate and undergraduate students.

Some other highlights from the travel survey:

Cornell's TMS staff has been working on the t-GEIS in conjunction with the Town of Ithaca Planning Board to scrutinize automobiles, bicycle and pedestrian traffic to and from Cornell and the impact of traffic flow through residential neighborhoods. The groups eventually will offer recommendations for multimodal transportation strategies, including pedestrian, bicycle, transit, parking and circulation modifications.

For more information on the t-GEIS, including the full executive summary from the travel survey, access http://www.transportation.cornell.edu/TGEIS/TGEIS_Home-1.htm.