Transportation & Parking Services is showing its continued commitment to campus sustainability and reducing carbon emissions.
Signing the Second Nature Carbon Commitment in 2007, UMD pledged to reduce carbon emissions 25% by the end of 2020, and to become carbon neutral by 2050. In order to do so all departments on campus have to do their part in reducing carbon emissions. Transportation and Parking Services (TPS) have done exactly that. Through multiple projects and the push for alternative transportation methods, TPS has represented one of UMDs core values: sustainability.
All students are able to ride the DTA busses year-round at no cost. Due to the easy accessibility of the DTA, UMD students and employees have taken over 8 million rides since 2000. Apart from bussing, TPS also supports electric vehicle use. In the past year alone, TPS installed a total of six new EV charging stations. Four were installed on the main UMD campus and two more at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI). This project was a team effort. With help from the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management, TPS received a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) which was used to purchase the four charging stations for the main campus. The cost of the other two were covered by TPS. Facilities Management offered to cover all installation fees.
This past year TPS continued its 5 year plan to replace all parking lot lights with LEDs. In addition to being longer lasting and more efficient, these lights can be individually adjusted to lower power settings allowing for additional energy savings. Most never operate at full capacity, instead operating at 25%-75% power. TPS is not alone in its LED retrofit. Facilities management is busy replacing lights throughout campus streets and walkways, and all campus buildings are either planning, in the process of, or have already completed their own LED retrofits.
All 288 of the campus parking meters run on solar energy and are equipped with an internal solar battery pack. Previously they ran on expensive, non rechargeable batteries that had to be tossed away after only one use. Now, almost all of these packs have been replaced with rechargeable lithium ion batteries by TPS. Because they are rechargeable these batteries are replaced less often, generating less waste and saving money on replacements.
The Office of Sustainability would like to thank Transportation and Parking Services for their ongoing commitment to sustainability and their effort to reduce carbon emissions. Keep up the great work!