In celebration of Earth Day, the College of Staten Island launches an exciting new rideshare initiative, fueled by the needs of the students, faculty, and staff.

Leveraging the robust database and backbone of the Internet’s premiere ridesharing matchmaker, CSI has partnered with CommuterLink in order to match travelers and trip takers with each other, making travel to campus quicker and easier.

In order to jumpstart the initiative, CSI President Tomás Morales is providing a number of raffle prizes to be awarded to students, faculty, and staff who register for CommuterLink. Program participants will not only have the satisfaction of easing their travel difficulties, but will also have the chance to win MetroCards in various denominations.

Click Here to rideshare today.

“This is a natural extension of the College’s other vanguard initiatives to promote sustainability and reduce carbon emissions,” said Ken Bach, communications director at CSI, adding that “the rideshare program nicely dovetails with the loop bus and CSI Ferry Shuttle, allowing another flexible transportation mode to better serve our students, faculty, staff, and the planet. There is no single transportation solution, and we are committed to maintaining an open dialogue of discovery that allows us to explore new ways to alleviate the collge’s parking burden while maintaining the lush, park-like atmosphere of the City’s largest campus. These initiatives will benefit participants with cost-sharing and cost-saving options, and have the added bonus of easing congestion on area roads while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

The rideshare initiative of the Transportation Task Force is supported by compelling research performed by the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Group at CSI, which has leveraged the power of our High-Performance Computing Facility to identify a large population that could greatly benefit from this ease of access. Specifically, students, faculty, and staff along the 65th Street and 4th Avenue corridors in Brooklyn could benefit most from this project, as well as the large number of parking decal holders who live mid-island or on the South Shore of Staten Island.

The Campus Center joins in the Earth Day celebration by hosting registration tables where members of the college community sign up for the CommuterLink rideshare program, the Dig In CUNY Volunteer Planting Day at CSI, as well as an exciting new initiative where college offices can “adopt” a parking lot to help keep it clean.

Click Here for more information on CSI’s commitment to sustainability.

Additionally, the College is starting a composting pile to assist with the formation of a new gardening club that will provide just-picked flavor to the adventurous and nutritious menu of the Park Café. A Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) renovation in Building 6S will save the College $425,000 in operating expenses, reduce electrical consumption by 1.6 million kilowatt hours, and reduce heating fuel consumption by 25,361 MMBTU.

The rideshare initiative at the College helps make the planet greener by reducing auto emissions.