Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Virginia Tech Wins Gold Award for Commuting Effort

  • 01/11/16

BLACKSBURG, VA – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) earned its seventh straight gold award from the Best Workplaces for Commuters Race for Excellence by increasing alternative transportation participation and improving commuter resources.

During the past year, the university has:

  • Increased the number of transit service routes from the Blacksburg campus and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute in Roanoke.
  • Increased sales of carpool permits by 15 percent for employee permits and 3.4 percent for student permits.
  • Supported the growth of its Office of Alternative Transportation into a newly autonomous department.
  • Seen an exponential increase in the number of individuals who visit the Hokie Bike Hub, a bicycle maintenance and commuter education center.
  • Installed shared-lane bicycle pavement markings, sometimes called "sharrows."
  • Started work to develop a bike share system on the Blacksburg campus.
  • Continued to work toward the completion of a new Parking and Transportation Master Plan.
  • Started work on an upcoming multi-modal educational campaign, the second iteration of the university's Commuter Survey and the first annual Commuter Challenge, all of which will debut in the spring.

To be eligible for a Race for Excellence award, an organization must first be recognized as a Best Workplace for Commuters by meeting the National Standard of Excellence in commuter benefits, a standard established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and maintained by the National Center for Transit Research.

The Best Workplaces for Commuters program encourages sustainable transportation and recognizes organizations that have taken steps to offer transportation options such as vanpool and transit benefits for their employees.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

Featured

  • Lawrence Group Announces Three New Hires

    Integrated planning and design firm Lawrence Group, based in St. Louis, Mo., recently welcomed three new staff members, according to a news release.

  • Georgia State University Opens New Research Tower

    Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new, nine-story, 155,000-square-foot Research Tower, according to university news. Amenities include academic classrooms, a large lecture space, teaching labs, faculty research space, and the uppermost floors reserved for future expansion.

  • California Middle School Breaks Ground on Major Renovation Project

    The Hillsborough City School District (HCSD) in Hillsborough, Calif., recently began construction on new multipurpose and administration facilities for Crocker Middle School, according to a news release.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.