Alternative Fuel Vehicles on Campus and Ohio Wesleyan Public Transport Potential
Christopher Sluyter (cmsluyte@owu.edu)
Pooja Goswami (ppgoswam@owu.edu)
Summary:
Ohio Wesleyan University spends about $43,000 on gas per year, which is roughly the tuition of an Ohio Wesleyan University student not receiving financial aid. This project centered on examining the different vehicles that Ohio Wesleyan University owns and uses – their make, usage frequency, fuel used to run them – and the different measures that can be taken to make them more environment-friendly. IN conjunction with that, this project finally studies what practices can students and faculty members of OWU adopt:
- to reduce dependency on gas-guzzling vehicles, and
- to embrace a more comprehensive and environment-friendly program.
This may include:
- Developing public transportation for OWU students and faculty like buses and shuttles.
- Increasing support for communal bike programs like the Bike Movement at OWU.
- Promoting environment-friendly practices like carpooling among students who commute and faculty members who live in close vicinity.
- Converting the campus-owned vehicles into environment-friendly forms (electric, hybrid, etc).
In order to make OWU a greener campus and contribute to Rock Jones’s seven goals of climate commitment, we decided there must be alternatives to using petroleum-run vehicles. There are many alternative fuel options for OWU owned vehicles. Some of them are biodiesel vehicle conversion and solar panels for golf carts. There are also several options for alternate transportation for students, for instance the Delaware bus system, Delaware Area Transit Agency (D.A.T.A.) and the communal bike movement which was proposed this semester.
We researched several alternate fuels for campus vehicles, and like the previous proposal of Sydney Patrick, found biodiesel to be, by far, the most efficient in all aspects, which led to the decision that it should be made into the main proprietor of propulsion for OWU’s engines. The easiest and cheapest way of acquiring fuel for such a method of alternate energy would be to acquire vegetable oil from our food services as well as from local fast food restaurants on Sandusky Street and elsewhere in Delaware.
We had some difficulty measuring the number of students driving on campus but found that there are more students who drive in the winter as opposed to the summer. The close proximity of student residences around Delaware makes it difficult for us to develop a shuttle system which could cater to all students keeping in mind the times of their classes. Furthermore, it may sometimes take the same time to drive from the Smith Hall parking lot to R.W. Corns Building as it takes to walk it.
Methods & Results:
We started the project by contacting Public Safety office because they have the most visible use of vehicles on campus. Since it took some time for Bob Wood, Director of Public Safety to get back to us, we realized that we need to start contacting various campus offices weeks in advance to allow them adequate time to get back to us. Following this, we emailed Student Life and Residential Life. We soon realized we could not be too hasty and need to take this step by step, especially because such departments are usually extremely busy and responding to students’ questions and helping with student projects was not part of their job descriptions. We called Buildings & Grounds to narrow the exact person to contact for our project and then contacted several administrative personnel from D.A.T.A.
Ohio Wesleyan University
We found out that there are 30 registered Ohio Wesleyan vehicles. On average about 50% of OWU vans are rented everyday, which is about 4 a day, leaving 3 dormant.
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Campus Office
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Number of Vehicles
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Fuel Used
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1.
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President
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1
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Hybrid
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|
2.
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Motor Pool
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7
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Gas
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|
3.
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Mail Room
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1
|
Gas
|
|
4.
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Information Systems
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1
|
Gas
|
|
5.
|
Buildings & Grounds
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17
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Gas
|
|
6.
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Public Safety
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3
|
|
|
|
|
1 Acura MDX (15 MPG)
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Gas
|
|
|
|
1 Hyundai Santa Fe (21 MPG highway)
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Gas
|
|
|
|
1 Toyota Camry (very old motor pool car with near 200,000 miles on it used just for parking enforcement)
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Gas
|
|
|
|
1 GEM (can be used only in good weather)
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All electric
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Delaware Area Transit Agency (D.A.T.A.)
DATA bus runs from Mondays to Fridays only. The earliest bus is at 5:30 am and the last bus leaves at 7 pm. The fare for students is $0.50 each way so the total trip for OWU students to and from super Wal-Mart on 23 and/or Polaris is only $1. The fare for other bus users is $1 each way. There are three routes:
- Green route schedule that goes from Delaware to Wal-Mart at Delaware Plaza, Super Wal-Mart on US Route 23 and Polaris.
- Blue route schedule
- Red route schedule
The detailed schedule and routes used by DATA bus can be found in the following website:
http://www.ridedata.com/FixedRoutesJanuary2009.pdf
D.A.T.A. does not go to Columbus but D.A.T.A. can be used to access COTA (Central Ohio Transit Authority) at the Crosswoods Park-N-Ride. There is an agreement between DATA and COTA to accept each others transfers so transferring from DATA to COTA does not cost any additional fare.
DATA currently operates 16 vehicles of the following types:
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Vehicle
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Description
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Fuel Used
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2 buses
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16 passengers + 2 wheel chair spots (the one that is wrapped completely with Roush Car dealership advertising)
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Diesel
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12 buses
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8 passengers + up to 4 wheelchair spots when the passenger seats are folded up (one bus completely wrapped with Franklin advertising)
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10 Gas + 2 Diesel
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1 bus
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26 passenger trolley bus + 2 wheelchairs
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Diesel
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1 minivan
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3 passengers + 1 wheelchair
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Gas
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In terms of the use of the bus for student transportation, D.A.T.A. was able to give us the following information, although they were not able to account for the number of students who use the bus line. They had no OWU students ride on Demand Response, where you have to schedule a trip in advance. However, Ginny Berry, Executive Assistant of D.A.T.A. bus gave us information on how many riders got on and off the bus at the Rowland Avenue stop for their fixed routes in January, February and March 2009. Many staff members of Ohio Wesleyan Buildings & Grounds and the Food services use the Delaware bus system.
Total number of riders for this stop for January, February and March 2009:
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On at Rowland Avenue
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Off at Rowland Avenue
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Green Route
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34
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82
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Red Route
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6
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0
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Blue Route
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0
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11
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Local Fast Food Restaurants for Alternative Fuels
It was extremely difficult to contact the proprietor of the McDonalds on Sandusky Street in order to find out their policies on used vegetable oil. We were directed to the McDonalds website: “We have a resource that can be put to good use, and we’ve been taking steps, to varying degrees across the System, to utilize it in the best interests of the business,” says Brian Kramer, Senior Manager Corporate Social Responsibility. “This is an exciting and relevant area for all of us – and one where McDonald’s is looking to make a greater impact.”
^ ^
Wouldn’t you rather be putting your tuition $ towards this…rather than this
Recommendations:
We propose three recommendations:
- Convert the existing campus vehicles so that they run on alternative energy and reduce our dependency on petroleum.
- Develop a public transportation system like campus shuttles, which may not be very useful to students living in the residential dorms, small living units (SLU’s) and fraternities. This may, however, be useful to faculty and staff members and students who live off campus or commute.
- Increase support for and launch the Bike Movement by Fall 2009.
Alternative Fuel
If all OWU owned vehicles that currently run on gas are sold and replaced with four diesel vehicles, they could be converted for $2,000 each (including parts and labor) in order to run off of biodiesel. OWU can also invest in more golf carts, which have the ability to have a hybrid kit attached to them for $2,000. We understand that it may be a time consuming and intricate process to sell and replace all twenty-nine of OWU’s gas-run vehicles in a short amount of time. This is why we are proposing that a process like this should be done gradually. The University should put in a plan to complete this conversion by 2015 and have all registered campus vehicles run off of alternative energy. There are several OWU vehicles – old Public Safety vehicles as well as a few others – which are out of commission. If these vehicles are sold, it could provide capital for a smoother transition with less worry about cost from the sale of used vehicles. The head of student dining services also said that he would be happy to donate used cooking oil in the future in order to support biodiesel at OWU and make this a greener campus.
Public Transportation System
A D.A.T.A. bus plan for students would be difficult due to the close proximity to campus and the lack of stops along student housing streets. In addition to that, it sometimes takes the same (or even less) amount of time to walk from one part of the campus to another. For example, it saves time to walk from Thomson Hall to University Hall using the JAY walk. To reach the same destination by car, the driver needs to start from the Welch parking lot in Oak Hill Avenue, take South Liberty Street onto West Williams Street. The driver has to cross four traffic lights and then take South Henry Street to reach Gray Chapel. Even if a campus shuttle drops students off at Sandusky Street, the amount of time taken will be the same considering the stops the shuttle will have to make and the routes it will have to take. Therefore, it is better to develop a campus shuttle for faculty and staff members who live further away from campus in Delaware and in Columbus, and for students who commute.
A study will need to be conducted to get information about faculty and staff members and commuting students. One of the tools used could be surveys that are sent out through campus-wide emails, making Facebook groups and posting surveys online on J/CX accounts of students and faculty. Information on faculty and commuting students can also be gathered through Public Safety, Residential Life and Human Resources. Some of the questions that need answering are:
- Where do these faculty and students live?
- How many students/faculty members drive to and from campus?
- Of those who drive, how much distance do they cover per week/month?
This can help us determine how many members of the OWU community would need transportation and surveys would help us determine how many of these commuters would be interested in car pooling and using public transportation like shuttles. Mapping out addresses of faculty and students will provide an insight of whether development of a public transportation program or car pooling program is feasible or not.
Different maps can be created this way:
- Mapping out addresses and the exact routes currently used by commuting students and faculty and staff members to and from campus.
- Group students and faculty members from the same area together so they car pool and can eventually use shuttles to and from campus.
- Map out the routes used by DATA bus and how can this be collaborated into starting a new public transportation system for OWU members.
This may be a difficult task to accomplish because many people may not take these surveys or may not want to participate in such programs because they like the convenience of traveling in their own cars.
Other Alternatives to Driving
Maybe 2-3 electric golf carts could be used for transportation of students from campus to locations a little further from campus, like the banks in downtown, the Delaware County District Library, etc. It could also be used for giving rides to students from the library back to their residences late at night. These electric cars could be run by students and have space for 4-6 people. It could be based at the Public Safety Office and may be available on an on-call basis.
The idea of having rickshaws on campus is also another interesting possibility in our quest to reduce driving around campus. These could be work-study positions with students getting paid to pull rickshaws around campus and within a 1.5 mile radius only.
Bike Movement
The Bike Movement will be an expensive project to undertake, coming to a total of $15,400 according to their proposal (see budget break-down below). From this, 10 percent will have to be fundraised which can be done by increasing parking fee and taking other measures (that have not been discussed yet). Introducing a communal bike program will encourage students to rent out and bicycle to classes. Also, it will encourage more students to join the cycling club and take advantage of the new Delaware Bike Trail. There is a lot of information available on the new Delaware Bike Trail in many websites including:
http://www.communitylink.com/us/oh/delaware/map/city?&zoomifyX=.
As of April 28, 2009, the Bike Movement has received sufficient funding (actual amount not yet disclosed) from the Provost, Dr. David Robbins, Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) and from the National Colloquium to be launched in Fall 2009. There will be a small fee of $5.00 to get a key for the program which will ensure that there are sufficient funds for bike repairs throughout the year. This is inexpensive for students and will be several hundred dollars cheaper than buying their own bicycle.
Budget breakdown for the Bike Movement:
- Coil Key Chains:
84 dozen coil key chains (1000 students/12 = 83.34)
These are to help keep the keys from getting lost. We are assuming that a maximum of 1000 students will register for the program.
>144 dozen = $1.45/dozen
$1.45/dozen x 84 dozen = $121.80
http://store.rebeccas.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=KC108
- Locks/Cables:
$324.96 plus ~$12 for shipping for a total of $336.96 for 48 locks. It makes sense to get 48 because they are sold in packs of 12 and we could have some extra. They would consist of a simple, sturdy master lock and a 6′ self-coiling cable.
The products:
Cable: http://www.masterlock.com/cgibin/product_detail.pl?sub_cat_id=D65
Lock: http://www.masterlock.com/cgi-bin/product_detail.pl?dir=/cgi-bin/prod_search.pl?product_number=4140+ka&numbersearch.x=0&numbersearch.y=0&sub_cat_id=D4140&template=app
We will be buying them through Bob at Lock Specialty, Inc. (http://lockspecialty.com/).
$324.96 + $12 = $336.96
- Keys:
Each lock comes with two keys. 48 x 2 = 96 keys
1000 – 96 = 904 keys
904 keys x $2.50/key = $2,260
- Paint:
$35.99/gallon “Magic Rust Kill” oil base gloss, rust preventative (We’re only going to start off with one gallon at first, the hardware store worker said it goes a long way). We’d be buying this paint from the hardware store on Sandusky Street (right next to the natatorium).
$35.99/gallon x 1 gallon = $35.99
- Helmets:
$38.00/helmet
$38.00/helmet x 42 helmets = $1596.00
http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_detail_square.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442588440&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=282574489160487&emssrclnk=crosssell
- Bikes:
The discounted price given by Dan from Breakaway is $259.99/aluminum framed Trek cruiser bike, and $649.99/tandem.
$259.99/bike x 40 bikes = $10,399.60
$649.99/tandem x 1 tandem = $649.99
$10,399.60 + $649.99 = $11,049.59
Total Cost: $15,400.30
Data:
- Chris Setzer
Director of Physical Plant, Buildings and Grounds
cjsetzer@owu.edu, 740-368-3404
- Craig Ullom
Vice President for Student Affairs
ceullom@owu.edu, 740-368-3135
- Debbie Lamp
Director of Student Involvement and the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center
dklamp@owu.edu, 740-368-3198
- Wendy Piper
Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Residential Life
wlpiper@owu.edu, 7410-368-3177
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