| Chicago is among a handful of American cities which can support high rates of transit, walking and cycling due to the overall quality of its built environment. Chicago colleges employ and teach more than ten percent of the city's population. If these institutions can reduce rates of driving to their campuses, the entire city benefits. The first step is to have a thorough understanding of how people travel to campus today and what factors might influence them to drive less. This paper examines the current literature on factors which encourage walking, biking, the use of public transit and carpooling and reduce rates of driving alone. I examine available public sources for data on 23 colleges and universities in Chicago and other data sources on commuting and use of alternate modes of transportation within the Chicago area generally. I conclude with an examination of student data from Northeastern Illinois University as a basis to generate specific recommendations on ways to encourage less auto intensive commuting to campus. |
