College Wins Environmental Award for Free Shuttle Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: June 14, 2007

CONTACT: Lisa Saunders

(845) 574-4244

College Wins Environmental Award for Free Shuttle Service

Suffern, NY - Rockland Community College has been named winner of the 2007 Regional Commuter Choice Outstanding Achievement Award for its recent addition of a free evening shuttle bus service.

The award was given by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) in collaboration with the Metropolitan Mobility Network and MetroPool, Inc., on June 14 at the Palisades Center.

RCC’s free evening shuttle bus service, launched in Fall ‘05 between the main campus in Suffern and extension centers in Spring Valley and Haverstraw, was hailed by transportation officials as a means to help reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in Rockland County.

The shuttle has served more than 4,500 riders since the ’05-’06 school year, providing more than 3000 rides in the ‘06-’07 school year, more than double since its inception. Of the 126 riders surveyed in May ‘07, 75% said they rode it several times a week, 93% felt safe, 64% said the shuttle dropped them off near their home, 63% said the schedule was convenient for them, and more than 60% said they would use a morning and afternoon shuttle if available.

Meeting students’ transportation needs was a priority in planning the routes, which were determined by using student surveys and collaborating with the Rockland County Department of Transportation. The shuttle routes were designed to “loop” around the Spring Valley and Haverstraw neighborhoods, where a high concentration of RCC students live, and provide late night service when student demand was high but public transportation was limited or unavailable.

Tiffany Copeland, a 19-year-old working toward an A.S. degree in Liberal Arts, said it would have taken her twice as long to get home if it hadn’t been for the shuttle service. “When I got out of class on Mondays and Wednesdays at 8:40 p.m., all the buses that ran toward Stony Point from the College had stopped running. I saved money because I took the free shuttle to Haverstraw, then I waited for the regular bus to Stony Point.”

Motor vehicles on the road — even newer, cleaner models — still account for at least 25 percent of air-polluting emissions nationwide, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The typical "peak period" driver in a single occupancy vehicle burns an extra 28 gallons of gas per year getting caught in traffic jams and spewing tailpipe emissions. The shuttle service is seen as a positive step in reducing those emissions.

A $280,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation was secured by Congressman Eliot L. Engel to support the service, and additional grants were obtained by the College from the NYS Department of Transportation to market it. Brega Transport Corp. of Congers, NY, operates the service. The shuttle runs during the Fall and Spring semesters between 5 - 11 p.m., Monday – Thursday evenings, when classes are in session.

For more information, contact Dr. Laurie Miller McNeill, Director of Grants Development, Rockland Community College, 845-574-4447, lmcneill@sunyrockland.edu

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Rockland Community College, a unit of the State University of New York, is located 25 miles northwest of NYC. The majority of its students transfer to four-year colleges, and many find immediate employment upon earning their associate's degree or certificate. The College also offers others, from preschoolers to senior citizens, the opportunity to simply learn something new. Quality education...at a price you can afford.