A group of students at San Jose State are aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of the commuter school.
Isabella Harrison, Liam McInerney, Gabriel Woodson and Jayme Sinson are the members behind Green Machines.
Green Machines is a group that wants to reduce the carbon footprint from students and faculty commuting to and from campus by increasing public transportation ridership.
Environmental studies senior McInerney said he was inspired to share this resource with the general public through this project.
“I frequently take advantage of the clipper card myself and use almost exclusively public transport to get around San Jose,” McInerney said.
Harrison, a political science junior, said students can save money and time using services provided by Transportation Solutions, including a one time payment of three dollars for a clipper card.
Transportation Solutions is an eco-friendly transportation service partnered with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to “alleviate automobile traffic to SJSU and reduce the impact on the University’s parking facilities,” according to the SJSU webpage.
“[It] gives students more free time on the public transportation systems,” Harrison said. “Students can do homework or even read a book – bonus: gas is expensive!”
Advertising junior Carolina Garcia works as a student assistant at Transportation Solutions inside the Student Union.
Garcia said another resource that Transportation Solutions offers is a bike enclosure where SJSU students purchase a key to lock their bicycles during class.
“We try to make it, like, more comfortable for students to commute here with their bikes or like scooters, alternative transportation, instead of, like, using their own cars,” she said.
Garcia said commuter students should consider taking public transportation as opposed to driving their own vehicles to campus because of the financial benefits.
“Alternative transportation alleviates parking issues and congestion,” Garcia said. “In a way, it is cheaper because maintaining a car and, like, paying for insurance and the whole cost behind having a car is way higher than public transportation.”
A private vehicle releases 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency article.
Business marketing sophomore Asia Mathaw said she occasionally relies on public transportation to get to campus, which usually takes her around 15-20 minutes.
“I use the shuttle every now and then when I know there won’t be any parking,” Mathaw said.
Harrison said the group is passionate about this project because they understand that combating climate change, with the help of SJSU, is essential to the future of our society.
“We hope to do this by advertising different ways to cut down CO2 emissions that our school offers such as clipper cards and bike reimbursements,” Harrison said. “[It] not only helps the environment, but allows the student to fully utilize every incentive they are paying for in their tuition.”
