The Eco Owl

Now that I have simplified a campus' sustainable components into a list found in part one, it is important to then take one of those aspects and present an example of how a campus (RCC to be specific) could change for the better. The aspect I have chosen to dissect is transportation, and this is how I am going to do it:

Interviews: Getting to the Source of the Trouble


Who would I talk to about transportation? I know for a fact that if you bring it up in class, there will be an uproar from students. They complain about parking: "There's no room!" "Its so crowded!" "I don't want to pay!" And they complain about the bus: "There's no room!" Its so crowded!" ...Well, you get the idea, right?

Despite the fact that RCC offers free public transportation, a study came out last year that showed that less than 15% of students actually use it. In fact, RCC was even considering tossing the free transportation to the curb because not enough people were using it. And I understand why. I have had to use RTA hundreds (and I'm sure thousands) of times. Its crowded, it smells, its loud, and sometimes people grab at you. Its not fun in the least. So I get why people want to drive. It may cost more that way, but its a nicer and more stress-free ride, its less hot, and you get to listen to whatever you want however you want it. But then you get to campus and the parking kills you... so neither option is really ideal.

RCC has in turn chosen to battle off some of the complaints by planning to build another parking structure. Now, can someone please tell me how this will help? This will only encourage more people to bring more cars and then we will result in the same exact problem. So what do we do instead?

Let's start by talking, asking, listening. Let's go straight to the students. Ask them why they drive, why they take the bus, why they bike. Ask them why they don't drive, why they don't take the bus, or why they don't bike. Compile all of this information, separate it in terms of pros and cons and lets see what we get and where we can improve.

Measurements: Where to Cut Down


Now, what to decide on? I am only one person, with a limited amount of ideas due to limited knowledge. If a gathering of students who are more well versed or interested in this subject got together, I am sure more ideas could emerge. For now, this is what I've got:

Cars: If a student chooses to continue to drive to campus, we should encourage carpooling. Sure, its easier said then done, but at some companies (like Disneyland for example) they encourage their employees to carpool to work, but they do it with an incentive. If a Disneyland employee carpools to work, they receive "X" amount of points toward a gift card of various amounts which they receive at the end of the year, around Christmas. Now, why can't we do something like this? Encourage carpooling with incentives. A free meal, maybe? A reimbursement of gas money? Let's ask the students what they would drive for.

Buses: I read online that there was this one school which was able to procure enough money to have their own form of public transportation. It ran the same lines as the others, but it was a different color and it was for students only, and went to specific parts of campus. Recently, my boyfriend and I ventured to San Francisco and what do you know - they have this same sort of system up there. Sure, RCC maybe low on funds, but if they offered this form of transportation for a price which is cheaper then the price of gas to and from the location, maybe students would be more willing to ride this less stressful, less crowded bus to school.

Bikes: During my research, I also managed to come across a bicycle loan program mentioned in part one of this blog post. In it, students were loaned a bicycle to get around campus and to and from home. They were also offered free repair for any damage. It is true that this would in turn solve only a portion of RCC's transportation problem, since there are some students (such as myself) who live much too far from campus to be able to bicycle there and back home in an efficient amount of time. This would, however, be a nice alternative for those students who live much closer to campus and are able to bicycle.


Permission Granted?


Here's a hard part: getting permission. Its about as intimidating as asking someone out for the first time, I am sure, but it has to get done. First and foremost, those students which are more educated in the concept of sustainability must come to an agreement upon which form of transportation is most possible. Once that form is chosen, they must sharpen every detail and place it in formal, document form. No one is going to agree to a half-ass proposal. They need something concrete.

Once the concrete is laid down, its time to get support. Make it into a petition and approach the students. See if this is the answer they are looking for, and if it is, get them to sign the petition so they can make it happen. Build up a support group and a network of people who, if the project takes off, are willing to help guide and manage it. Once you have build a strong base, take it to student council and get them to agree.

Once you are backed by the student government, approach the school itself. It will be nerve wrecking, but hold onto it. It might just make it.


Kind Words as Payment


Work, work, work. This is also a hard part. Its easy to get people jazzed about doing something, but when it comes time to actually do it, how many people will you have standing by your side? Not enough? Encourage more. For this new transport system to work, it has got to have a ton of support from the students. And if you have that support, don't fall behind. New students come every semester. Reach out to them too. Keep on reaching. You need a lot of hands to help.

As far as funds go, take in donations. Come up with events to help encourage these donations. Do not expect money from the school, because they may not have much to give. All of this has got to come from the students.

In Conclusion


There is no way to say how this is going to go unless its actually done. Things need to be thoroughly thought out and planned, with little to no room for error. You don't want to count your chickens before they hatch. (Or something like that). And do not forget, the most important things is a strong support base! Without that, you have nothing.