Mode Choice At the start of the U-PASS program, the University and Metro worked together to conduct a U-PASS telephone survey during winter quarter (1992 and 1994) to track changes in faculty, staff and student commute behavior.  Starting in 1994, the state Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) law requires that the University survey its employees every other year.  A single survey was conducted in the fall of 1996 and 1998 to both monitor mode choice changes and fulfill CTR requirements.  The evolution of the surveys has included some changes.  For example, the wording of the mode choice question has changed: where previous surveys asked about respondents’ mode choices in a typical week, the 1996 and 1998 surveys question respondents about their actual commute modes in the week previous to the survey.  All sectors of the campus community have shared in the shift from SOV use to transit use.  Among staff, SOV use has decreased from 44 percent to 40 percent while transit use has increased from 25 percent to 35 percent and carpool/vanpool use has increased from 15 percent to 19 percent.  Faculty and students also have participated in the shift away from SOV use to other modes--student SOV use has decreased from 25 percent to only 16 percent while walking has increased from 31 percent to 39 percent.     Campus Mode Choice # Faculty Faculty Staff Staff Students Students Mode 1989 1998 1989 1998 1989 1998 Drive Alone 60% 55% 44% 40% 25% 16% Transit 11% 14% 25% 35% 21% 28% Carpool/Vanpool 11% 14% 15% 19% 9% 11% Bicycle 9% 10% 6% 5% 10% 5% Walk 7% 6% 6% 3% 31% 39% Other 2% 1% 4% 2% 4% 1% # Mode choice percentages are based on the number of trips taken by an individual over a one-week period. Percentages cannot be applied directly to the population. Please note that percentage totals may not add to 100 percent due to rounding. In the 1989 mail-out survey, the mode question was based on a typical commute week. In the 1998 telephone survey, the mode question was based on the previous commute week.

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