Project Background
Transportation accounted for 49% of Waterloo Region’s total emissions in 20151 and will be a major target as it enacts its plan to achieve an 80% reduction in emissions below 2005 levels by 2050. Here at the University of Waterloo, commuting contributes an estimated 19% of emissions associated with the University2. Commuting emissions are part of the campus goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Action item 41 of the Shift Neutral climate action plan is the development of an institutional Transportation Demand Management Plan. The development of this plan will require a better understanding of current commuting mode share and the transportation mode options that are practical and accessible to employees.
Some co-op work terms require students to have access to a vehicle for their work either because the job requires travel or because workplaces are difficult to access by other means. Between winter of 2018 and fall of 2021, 6.9% of Waterloo co-op job postings explicitly required access to personal transportation. This is likely an underestimation because many jobs moved to remote work during covid19, and because job postings may not have explicitly made this a requirement even when it is effectively true.
There are concerns that the convenience of a personal vehicle can result in decreased use of sustainable travel choices for commuting to campus. Furthermore, car ownership is expensive, in the order of $9,000US per year1 and access to a vehicle could be a barrier to equitable access to co-op jobs. Here at the University of Waterloo, where two-thirds of full-time undergraduate students are enrolled in a co-op program, the impact of requiring a vehicle for co-op work terms may be significant. It may also create a sunk cost wherein once they purchase a vehicle, students are less likely to use more sustainable modes of transportation to and from the campus going forward.
The University of Waterloo would like to understand how many students feel the need to buy personal vehicles for their co-op terms and explore options for reducing the impact of this requirement on student travel to campus behaviour. This work relates to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 8, 10, 11 and 13.
Project Examples
- Conducting a student survey to:
- Estimate how many own or are considering acquiring a personal vehicle as a direct consequence of co-op work terms,
- Understand whether required vehicle access is a barrier to obtaining co-op placements and if so, estimate the degree to which it acts as a barrier,
- Estimate the annual cost of vehicle ownership for students,
- Estimate the impact on commuting choices in subsequent academic semesters,
- Assess their willingness to consider other options, such as 4-month rentals.
- Conducting research to profile any historical or existing programs for 4-month vehicle rentals (the University of Waterloo currently has negotiated preferred rates with Enterprise for short term rentals).
- Conducting research to identify other programs that could cost-effectively reduce the need for personal vehicle ownership for co-op work terms.
- Performing a high-level cost-effectiveness analysis for vehicle ownership versus 4-month rentals, assuming one co-op term per year requires access to a vehicle.
- Making recommendations for reducing the need for vehicle ownership for co-op terms.
1Moody, J., Farr, E., Papagelis, M. et al. The value of car ownership and use in the United States. Nat Sustain 4, 769–774 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00731-5