Vanderbilt University is recipient of the 2016 Sustainable Transportation Award, presented jointly by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).
Vanderbilt’s Alternative Transportation program, a collaboration of Vanderbilt University Parking Services, VUMC Parking and Transportation Services, and the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO), was awarded the top prize at the Sustainable Transportation Forum at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on May 13. The award was presented by Bob Martineau, TDEC commissioner; Shari Meghreblian, TDEC deputy commissioner; and Toks Omishakin, TDOT deputy commissioner. Andrea George, SEMO director, accepted the award on behalf of Vanderbilt University.
Vanderbilt University’s robust alternative transportation program is a multipronged approach intended to reach as many of the Vanderbilt community as possible and attempts to make using alternative transportation easy and accessible. Information about each of these programs can be found on the SustainVU Alternative Transportation page.
Highlights of the Alternative Transportation program include: Vanderbilt’s “Ride to Work” program, which fully subsidizes (100 percent discount) the cost for all Vanderbilt employees and graduate, professional and medical students to ride MTA buses to and from work each day; Music City Star’s Commuter Rail benefit, which provides up to a 60 percent discount for employees who wish to ride the Music City Star commuter train; Vanderbilt’s various car sharing programs and ridematch program; and a variety of biking resources across campus.
The Sustainable Transportation Awards recognize outstanding initiatives within the state of Tennessee to reduce transportation-related energy usage and emissions, in line with an overarching effort to save natural resources, improve the health and well-being of Tennesseans, and create efficiencies in the delivery of goods and services.
For more information about alternative transportation resources at Vanderbilt, visit Vanderbilt University Parking Services’ website, the SustainVU website, or contact the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO) at sustainvu@vanderbilt.edu.
Contact: Sustainability and Environmental Management Office
(615) 322-9022
sustainvu@vanderbilt.edu