Plymouth State is keeping steady with the Go Green initiative with the advent of a new environmental program.
Karolyn Kinane, an asst. English professor, recently devised a campus-wide carpooling initiative. In an effort to encourage carpooling, a ride sharing group was created on the PSU campus over the summer and can be found under the myPlymouth website.
This may be good news to college students and staff alike, many of who may be feeling the crunch of high gas prices in a tight economy. According to Zfacts.com, the average price of unleaded gasoline in Sept. 2007 was 2.71 per gallon. In the past year, that number has risen by nearly a dollar, with prices now averaging about $3.62 per gallon.
A new ride-sharing program has been developed on the Plymouth website for students and faculty. The group functions as a place where students and staff can post rides needed to PSU or to other locations in the area. Already there are many posts regarding rides to and from areas such as Rumney, Littleton and Lebanon, to name a few.
Kinane spoke about her involvement in the project, “I sent out a message to a faculty list serve asking if a carpooling board existed anywhere. That day I received about ten encouraging emails from other faculty, so there certainly seemed to be an interest. Dwight Fischer and the IT crew were quick to set up the rideshare group on myPlymouth that would be available to faculty, staff and students.”
Kinane emphasized on some of the important benefits of the project. “The rideshare board helps out Plymouth on three fronts. It saves individuals money on gas; it helps save parking space; and most of all it furthers Plymouth State’s mission to go greener.”
Dwight Fischer, the Chief Information Officer of ITS, gave a helping hand in getting the project started. “As of Monday, 101 [people] have signed up. The challenge comes when faculty and students want to share with schedules that are highly individualized to the classes they teach/take on any given day. In order for ride-sharing to work for them, they will have to make some sacrifices with their time. It will clearly be easier for the 8-5 crowd where schedules are more routine. There are several people in Physical Plant who live in or around the Concord area. There are regular carpoolers.”
The ride-sharing groups can be found on myPlymouth under the “Groups” tab, and then by clicking “Groups Index” and “Social.” On the ride sharing group members can post topics or thread on previous posts.
Those who are in need of a ride or just interested in sustainable solutions on campus are encouraged to check out this group to get started.