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Looking to get more exercise, have more fun, get some fresh air, reduce your environmental impact, or save some money in the new year? Try Active Transfer! Walking or cycling is a great and effective way to get to campus.
It is healthy. There is no doubt that walking or cycling provides an excellent cardiovascular exercise, offering many health benefits, including weight loss. It reduces blood pressure and stress levels while decreasing the risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and diabetes.
It is rewarding. Besides the psychological benefits of feeling better about yourself, walking or cycling also provides very obvious mental benefits that boost your mood and give you a sense of well-being. Walking or biking also provides opportunities for deep thoughts, which leads to new ideas and creativity.
It’s cheap. Consider fuel, parking, and maintenance for the cost of walking or cycling to work. You may need to invest in a new shoe or a better bike, but then you will have a few extra costs.
it is fun. Driving is often stressful (or boring at best), while cycling or walking is always an adventure. It is comforting to know that you are helping yourself to live a longer, healthier life.
No way! If you live too far away, or there is no safe attractive route to take, you might use a hybrid approach where you drive, or escort cars, most of the way and then walk or bike the last mile.
Curious about how to get started with Active Transfer? The U of A Office for Sustainability Passenger List can help! The Commuter List is a personalized, door-to-door analysis of transportation options available to campus occupants. Commuting time, distance, financial costs, calories burned and greenhouse gas emissions are calculated and then the best all-in-one transportation option is recommended along with a link to a custom map.
“For a personalized assessment of your travels, we invite you to fill out the passenger list; this service is now available to all U of A affiliates,” said U of A Active Transportation Coordinator Amin Jordan. “Pre-made listings for popular apartment complexes can also be found on our website. Check it out.”
The Sustainability Office launched this service in 2019, and initially each passenger list was made to order and was time consuming. In collaboration with Associate Professor Matthew Bates of U University in the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, the system has been completely redesigned to automatically calculate flight information and send results via email.
“Working as a software project developer for this new passenger roster has been an enriching experience. Bringing the project as close as possible to seeing Office for Sustainability was both exciting and challenging. The project allowed me to put practice concepts such as designing the entire system in place,” said Ronald Velasquez, BSCmp.E. We look forward to continually improving this service and encouraging user feedback.”
The Office of Sustainability’s goal is for 75 percent of campus commuters to use some form of alternative transportation (not driving alone) by 2025. The 2020 Mode Sharing Survey showed that 57 percent of campus commuters have chosen alternate modes, while 43 percent drive alone. The 2021 survey is still ongoing, and all U of A students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to take the survey and help make informed decisions about campus transportation systems. The survey can be found here.
About the Sustainability Office: The mission of the University of Arkansas Office of Sustainability (OFS) is to stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate responsible practices through partnerships with students, faculty, and staff across all campus departments. OFS uses the campus as a living laboratory by overseeing the implementation of the University of Arkansas’ environmental goals.