Mobility
Yale in Motion
A focus on health and physical activity encourages the Yale community to be more active on campus, reduce vehicle usage, improve air quality, and reduce congestion on the roads.
Yale’s Efforts
- Over one-third of Yale employees live in the City of New Haven, and increasingly choose to walk, bike, or ride the Yale Shuttle to work.
- Yale has partnered with the city and other local employers to encourage use of the expanding infrastructure and programs for walking, biking and using transit.
- The Yale Community Carbon Fund allows those who commute to or travel for Yale to support local efficiency projects and offset their emissions.
- Bike/Walk Yale, a subgroup of the Traffic Safety Committee, manages initiatives to enhance bike and pedestrian infrastructure on campus. They also encourage active transportation through incentive programs and communications and ensure that University planning processes are holistic in their approach to transportation systems. Participating departments include the Office of Sustainability, Facilities Operations, University Planning, Public Safety, and the University Wellness Leadership Group.
What You Can Do
- Avoiding single occupancy vehicle use can save you time and money while improving air quality and reducing emissions. Learn more about the resources Yale provides.
- Join the fun. GoNewHavenGo offers resources and programming to make sustainable transportation easy. CT Rides offers free commuter counseling to all Yale affiliates.
- Concerned about your safety? Download the LiveSafe app for resources to keep you safe while walking and biking in New Haven.
Our Objectives and Goals
Alternative Transportation Systems
Enhance and support systems for alternative and active transportation
In May 2023, Yale Sustainability, the Farmington Rail-to-Trail Association, Yale Environmental Health and Safety, and other Yale departments collaborated to renew programming to encourage and promote bicycling. At Yale’s Bike to Work Breakfast, employees and members of the public were encouraged to rethink their morning commute and were given the opportunity to socialize with fellow bike commuters and enjoy a complimentary breakfast. Participants learned about statewide incentives for bike commuters and how to apply for a library card with the New Haven Free Public Library’s “BookBike.”
Sustainable Transportation Framework
ACHIEVED
By 2019, complete a Sustainable Transportation Framework and related analyses for enhancing sustainable transportation infrastructure on and across Yale campuses.
This goal was achieved in 2019. The City of New Haven has since initiated a two-way street conversion analysis that could strengthen campus connectivity. Yale continues to address enhanced transportation options to encourage active, safe, and healthy modes of movement around campus and in New Haven.
Campus Circulation
ON TRACK
By 2025, enhance Yale’s strategy for safe, convenient, and resilient circulation around campus.
Yale Transit has enhanced services over the past year in the following ways: creating two new service routes that provide better connectivity to New Haven’s train stations and non-central parking garages; launching a new mobile site that displays real-time bus locations; and updating the Yale Transit webpage for an improved user experience.
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
ACHIEVED
By 2025, increase electric vehicle charging infrastructure by 250% above 2019 levels.
This goal was achieved in 2023. In 2019, Yale had five single-hose electric vehicle charging stations available for fleet vehicles and drivers parking on campus. Since then, thirty-six dual-hose units have been installed, for a total of seventy-two charging options. Eight of Yale’s fleet vehicles are electric.
Sustainable Transportation Choices
Advance transportation choices that improve human health and environmental vitality
Sustainable Commuting
ON TRACK
By 2025, increase the proportion of Yale community members commuting to campus using sustainable transportation modes by 10% above 2015 levels.
Our 2021 Transportation Survey results demonstrated a 7% increase in Yale commuters’ use of sustainable transportation modes from 2015. The Yale Transportation Survey was distributed again in 2023 to measure progress, and an analysis of this data is forthcoming. The most current campus mobility data is published to the Yale Sustainability Data Hub.