Take Action: Commute

Your challenge: Minimize your use of fossil fuels to get around.

• Use human power.
• Travel in a group.
• Opt for an efficient vehicle.

Human-powered transportation

Get around by human power.

Get around by human power — ride a bike, walk or skateboard — when you can.

The campus Bicycle Program provides services that make riding your bike to campus and between classes or meetings easier. If you are new to biking on campus, you may need to look into bicycle licenses, get some advice, and check out the campus bike map. GoClub for bicyclists is called goBike and includes discounts and parking vouchers for days when biking to school or work is not possible.

Aggies on the Move encourages the campus community to walk for transportation as well as fitness. If you are faculty or staff and walk to work, you can also sign up for rewards from goWalk.

Travel in groups

Share a ride with a vanpool.

Sharing a ride via a carpool, vanpool, bus or train divides your fossil fuel use among multiple passengers.

GoClub helps UC Davis employees organize carpools and vanpools, which are eligible for discounted parking permits. Students and employees can also make use of the university's Zimride account to organize a carpool to or from the Davis community.

Riding a Unitrans bus is an easy way to get around the city and campus. Students can show a valid registration card to ride Unitrans buses, which are supported by their registration fees. Other campus and community members can ride at discounted rates.

If a train or regional bus is more your speed, employees can save money by purchasing transit passes with discounts for goClub members.

On days when group travel is not feasible, goClub members who normally ride in carpools, vanpools, buses or trains can use complimentary parking permits, emergency rides home and rental car vouchers.

Alternative vehicles

Fleet services offers fuel-efficient vehicles.

Sometimes driving by yourself is unavoidable, but there are options that can help lower your negative impacts on the environment.

Staff and faculty who need to travel for work can request a low-emissions vehicle from Fleet Services. Using one of the fleet's neighborhood electric vehicles is ideal for short hops, while hybrid-electric cars or vehicles fueled by biodiesel or high-ethanol blends can be used for longer drives. Hybrid vehicles are also available through Fleet Services' new UC Drive car share program, which rents vehicles by the hour. The car share program allows an employee who has a meeting or event off campus to borrow a fleet vehicle at low cost, instead of altering their commute to bring a car to campus.

Campus organizations also have Zipcar accounts, with several dedicated Zipcar parking spaces located throughout campus.