Jen Kleindienst, Sustainability Director

284 High Street, Room 104
Middletown, CT 06457
jkleindienst@wesleyan.edu
860-685-3242

Transportation 

Wesleyan is continually striving to reduce transportation-generated carbon emissions and other pollutants. There are lots of transportation options, whether you're looking to catch a ride home, carpool to work, ride a bike, or take public transportation (bus from campus and train from Meriden).  The Middletown Area Transit 590 bus gets you to or from Meriden train station in less than 20 minutes!

We've also developed a calculator to measure your transportation carbon footprint based on different modes of transportation.  Wesleyan is launching phase 3 of a carbon offsets program to offset 100% of emissions from Wesleyan- and grant-funded air travel by 2023.  More information is available on the carbon offsets page.

We're working to combat idling with an anti-idling factsheet and a handout to share with visitors to discourage idling.

What We've Done

  • Planning
    1. With permission of a supervisor, employees can establish condensed or alternate work-week schedules to reduce commuting.
    2. The Rental Housing Program, Advanced Purchase Program, and Mortgage Incentive Program encourage faculty and staff to live within walking or biking distance of campus.
    3. Students pay an annual vehicle registration fee of $100.
    4. A student travel survey was conducted on The Ride, public transportation, shuttles, and parking in 2018. The results can be found here.
  • Alternative Transportation
    1. Wesleyan has Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations on campus: 2 in the Freeman Athletic Center parking lot, 2 in Lawn Ave/High St lot, and 8 in the Center for Film Studies lot.  These stations are open 6 AM - 1 AM (no overnight parking) and are available for public use. 
    2. Wesleyan offers free rides on all Middletown Area Transit and 9-Town Transit buses for FREE for students through the WesPass program. Students simply show the bus driver their WesID instead of a fare.
    3. Since 2013, Wesleyan has had a partnership with CT Rides, a commuter incentive service sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.  All employees and students can join the program and earn rewards for all alternative transportation.
    4. Student group WesBikes began a per-semester bike rental program in 2010; effective Fall 2019, bike rental is managed via Public Safety.  Working on a system of semester-long rental periods, it caters to students for whom owning a bicycle on campus is infeasible for geographical or financial reasons. WesBikes also offers students the opportunity to try out owning a bike on campus.  
    5. Two covered bicycle parking units were installed underneath the Hall-Atwater patio, and seven new bike racks were installed outdoors. Butterfield C now has indoor bike storage.
    6. A campus bicycle rack map shows locations of all known bike racks on campus.  To report an incorrect or missing rack location, please email sustainability@wesleyan.edu.  
    7. Wesleyan runs a weekly shuttle bus service to New Haven Train Station, and expands this service to Bradley Airport, New York City, and Boston for breaks.
    8. The Ride free campus shuttle runs nightly from 7 PM to 4 AM during the academic year, with stops every 15 minutes across campus.  Individuals with disabilities can access The Ride during daytime hours as well.  The Ride additionally travels downtown and to area grocery stores several times a week.
    9. A WesRides Facebook group was established to promote student carpooling. A carpool matching app provided by CT Rides (a service of CT DOT) is being promoted.
    10. In 2009, Wesleyan established a partnership with Zipcar and has four rental cars on campus.
    11. Middletown Area Transit has established bus stops on campus (in front of Weshop, on the corner of William and High Streets, and in front of Fisk Hall) and at local shopping areas.
  • University Travel
    1. 18 of the 91 vehicles in Wesleyan’s fleet are electric or hybrid.  A policy requires that all vehicle purchases must be low emission vehicles (gas-electric hybrids, electric vehicles, or alternative fuel vehicles), unless a viable alternative is not available.  Physical Plant trades staff vans have been replaced with Ford Transit vans, doubling or tripling fuel economy.
    2. In October 2017, Wesleyan established an anti-idling policy for campus vehicles and visitors.  Part of this policy's implementation is to dispel common myths around idling.
    3. Many classrooms and reservable conference rooms are equipped with cameras and microphones to facilitate videoconferencing. Wesleyan uses Zoom for videoconferencing; Zoom Pro licenses are available through ITS Service Now requests.
    4. A carbon footprint analysis for different modes of travel was created and publicized. See the Wesleyan travel carbon footprint calculator (Excel spreadsheet)

Contact

Bill Nelligan, Director of Environmental Services