Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon

MN Schools Cutting Carbon January, 2011 Interim Report II
Northeast Higher Education District Sustainability Collaborative: Hibbing Community College

A. Update on the status of the work plan, including each objective and task
B. Indication of whether project is on schedule

Objective 1: To reduce carbon emissions through the development of options that match persons on campus wishing to rideshare
There has been a very exciting recent development (12/10) on strategies to encourage the campus communities at each of the five NHED community colleges (Hibbing, Itasca, Rainy River, Mesabi Range and Vermilion) to promote ridesharing and carpooling: Barbara McDonald, Dean of Students at Itasca Community College has written a successful grant to the Blandin Foundation to pay for NHED college access to Zimride (http://www.zimride.com/rideshare/university), online social ride-sharing and transportation software.
Task A: Develop an on-line rideshare data base available on the HCC website
Sub-task 1: Research rideshare data bases at other colleges: TASC (Toward a Sustainable Campus) student group has researched rideshare programs at various campuses across the country using the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) website archives (http://www.aashe.org) and forwarded these to the IT department. With the successful Blandin Foundation grant, Hibbing Community College (HCC) will not need to develop its own rideshare data base.
Sub-task 2: Add rideshare data base to HCC website: A contract between Zimride.com and NHED is currently being written and information as to access will be added to the HCC website upon approval of this contract.
Sub-task 3: Educate campus community on use of rideshare data base: Since access to Zimride will be available from each of the five NHED campuses, Barb McDonald is planning on setting a meeting soon with all those from the campuses who will be helping to educate the campus communities on the use of Zimride.
Sub-task 4: Purchase and install priority parking signs for rideshare participants: Signage reading “Carpool Parking Only” has been purchased and installed by the maintenance department in the main college parking lot. At a meeting of HCC’s American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment it was decided to install the four signs in the main lot and to assess their use, with the possibility of adding additional signs in the other 3 lots in the future.
Sub-task 5: Purchase and distribute rideshare participant rearview hangtag permits: Rearview mirror hang tags were purchased, but have not yet been distributed. The college’s Parking Committee has approved the use of the signs and hang tags, but the college administration has not yet weighed in on how to monitor compliance and how (if?) penalties should be assessed for non-compliance. This issue should be resolved by mid-February.
Sub-task 6: Evaluate rideshare program: Going on strictly anecdotal evidence, it appears that students and staff are honoring the carpool only parking sites most of the time, with visual evidence that the sites are being used by groups of two or more per vehicle. It has also been noticed on several occasions that these spots are not fully occupied, even when the entire parking lot is otherwise full. When the hang tag permits are issued this winter and accurate commute information is known for each participating vehicle, it will be much more accurate to gauge the true effect that this strategy is having and to assess actual greenhouse gas reduction.

Objective 2: To reduce commuting carbon emissions by encouraging the campus community to commute to campus by bike: The HCC campus bike loan program was officially launched in mid-September, 2010.
Task A: Develop a bike loan program at HCC
Sub-task 1: Get article in Hibbing Tribune which describes the program and request donations of unused bikes: An article was placed in the Hibbing Tribune at the end of the summer requesting a public donation of underutilized bikes, in good repair.
Sub-task 2: Organize and hold bike collection day: The group was back and forth on this one. We had originally thought that public donations would be best, but then decided that the Hibbing Police Department might be able to donate higher quality bikes. After finding out that the police department needs to keep stolen/recovered bikes for a given period of time before donating and that there were no bikes available, we decided to go back to our original idea of seeking public donation. The results were amazing! We collected over forty bikes in two separate collection times in mid-August, most of which were in good to excellent repair!
Sub-task 3: Identify student workers and design contracts: At the beginning of fall semester, A short contract form was developed and a rules of the road guide was prepared using materials that TASC students found on the internet. Students sign up for bikes using a bar code system, the same used to check out library books.
Sub-task 4: Educate campus community on bike loan program: A student in the college’s Multi-Media Program, Tanya Moldenhauer, volunteered and designed a promotional poster for use in educating the college about the bike loan program. In-kind contributions from the college Green Team (faculty, staff, students) paid for printing the posters. These posters were completed in early fall semester 2010 and placed in prominent locations around campus. A TASC student, Jen Damyanovich, presented at the HCC Cardinal Kickoff new student orientation and at the fall faculty/staff duty day the third week of August, 2010 to help get the word out about the bike loan program.
Sub-task 5: Purchase bike repair and maintenance equipment/supplies: Repair/Maintenance tool kits and bike stands were purchased from a local store in Hibbing, Bikes on Howard and from other on-line sources. These purchases were made in early fall 2010 semester.
Sub-task 6: Set up bike storage area and repair workshop: Permission to locate the bike storage and repair workspace in the former vo-tech building in Hibbing was secured and bicycles/equipment was stored there until late September. At this time, the maintenance chief informed us that the space was needed and all bikes were moved to cold storage building #4.
Sub-task 7: Begin bike loan program: The bike loan program was launched in mid-September at a college event called the “Community Block Party,” a gathering of college and community groups seeking to reach out to students on campus.
Sub-task 8: Evaluate bike loan program: As of this time, 8 students have checked out bikes through the bike loan program. The effort to get additional students will continue as weather more conducive to riding returns again in the spring.

Objective 3: To reduce carbon emissions by promoting use of public transportation by the campus community: This objective is one which will necessitate a close working relationship between HCC and the city of Hibbing and is reflective of HCC’s social/community commitment to sustainability.
Task A: Increase public transportation opportunities for the campus community
Sub-task 1: Work with Hibbing Area Transit (http://www.hibbing.mn.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BE7C0FE68-6DCA-411E-80FE-06FC9C97EE71%7D) to make HCC a regular stop on bus route: Hibbing Area Transit is contracted by the city of Hibbing through a local bus operator, Shubat Transportation. We worked with them to secure a regular bus stop at the college. The Hibbing Area Transit bus now stops at the college three times daily.
Sub-task 2: Arrange for subsidized transit passes for students and formalize subsidization policy: Meetings with the City of Hibbing Treasurers Office to develop a contract between the City and Hibbing Community College and a special vote by the Hibbing City Council resulted in a formal policy to subsidize student bus ridership on Hibbing Area Transit. This occurred in Mid-September, 2010. The student services department at HCC granted the TASC student group $1000 of student activity funding and the college Green Team provided $500 to use for student stipends to use Hibbing Area Transit buses. Along with $1000 from the MNSCC grant, that makes $2500 to be used to encourage student ridership. This $2500 was paid to the City of Hibbing to provide free bus rides to HCC students, using their student ID card. The City of Hibbing agreed to reduce their normal rate of $1.00/ ride to $.75/ride for the purposes of what is being called a pilot project to encourage and assess student ridership.
Sub-task 3: Advertise the public transportation program at HCC and in the community: The campus community was notified of the pending mass transit opportunities for students at the fall Cardinal Kickoff new student orientation, at the fall faculty/staff duty day and at the Community Block Party. The bus coordinator from Shubat Transportation worked the booth at the block party. We are now discussing ways to encourage increased bus ridership by students during the winter. We still hope to have a ride-the-bus-free day to get potential student riders comfortable with the routine.
Sub-task 4: Evaluate the public transportation program:
The figures reported for the bus service in 2010 are as follows:
September 76 rides
October 118 rides
November 156 rides
December 109 rides
Total: 459 rides x .75 each = $344.25 used $2,155.75 left in the fund to be carried over into spring semester and beyond.
C. Update of the budget showing how much of the grants funds and matching funds have been spent, including the cost of materials, labor and other expenses.

PROJECT SCHEDULE/BUDGET:HCC
Date Task/Activity % of Project Completed Budgeted amount for each task/activity
January 1, 2010 Grants announced 0%
February 15, 2010 Article in Hibbing Tribune on bike donation program 5%
February 22, 2010 Arrowhead Transit/HCC agreement on HCC bus stop 10%
February 22, 2010 Arrowhead Transit/HCC agreement on subsidized transit passes/policy 15% $1000
Match from
Student Activity Fund, $500 Match from HCC Green Team $1000

$2500 paid to City of Hibbing
March 1, 2010 Research rideshare database 20%
March 15, 2010 Organize/hold bike collection 30%
March 30, 2010 Identify student workers/design contracts for bike loan 35%
Ongoing, begins April 1, 2010 Educate campus community on rideshare 40%
Ongoing, begins April 1, 2010 Educate campus community on bike loan program 45% HCC Green Team In-Kind $35 spent
Ongoing, begins April 1, 2010 Educate campus/community on HCC transit program 50%
April 19, 2010 Purchase bike repair/maintenance equipment, supplies, racks 60% $500 spent
May 10, 2010 Set up bike storage and repair workshop 70%
June 1, 2010 Rideshare data base on HCC website 80% Zimride Through Blandin Foundation Grant
August 16, 2010 Purchase/install priority parking signs 85% $481.43 spent
$500 In-Kind spent from Maintenance Department
August 16, 2010 Purchase/distribute rideshare permit hang tags 88% $208.30 spent
August 23, 2010 Begin bike loan 90%
Ongoing, begin by December 17, 2010 Evaluate rideshare program 93%
Ongoing, begin by December 17, 2010 Evaluate bike loan program 96%
Ongoing, begin by December 17, 2010 Evaluate HCC transit program 100%

D. Results achieved
Our original estimates, made at the time that the MN Schools Cutting Carbon grant was submitted, were that 1600 students, 80% driving alone, with an average commute distance of 16 miles, the ERM carbon calculator estimated 1561.19 tons of CO2e from student commuting.
Furthermore, we speculated that if our student transportation program (biking/rideshare/public transit) could reduce the average percentage that drives alone to 70%, the tons of CO2e is reduced to 1366.04 tons of CO2e for a reduction of 195.15 tons of CO2e. We further assumed that the ERM calculator calculates student commuter miles for an academic year, and that for each student that our program removes from driving his/her car, 1.22 tons of CO2e into the atmosphere are removed.

Bus Transit: 1.8 tons CO2e
Bike Loan: 0 .3 tons CO2e (a very rough estimate)
Rideshare: 0.6 tons CO2e (a very rough estimate)