Just this year, Washington University hired Matthew Malten to serve as the assistant vice chancellor for campus sustainability. With the goal of putting the University at the forefront of campus sustainability among national universities, Malten will work towards implementing eco-friendly measures on campus.
To aid in this effort, we recommend that Washington University strongly consider implementing the use of hybrid or otherwise environmentally friendly vehicles in place of some of the service vehicles currently used on campus.
“Any decision we make on anything like that, is going to be a part of a comprehensive transportation policy for the University as a whole,” said Malten.
Under this kind of plan, new hybrids would be purchased with the goal of replacing some of the gas-only service vehicles at Washington University.
Among vehicles to consider “hybridizing” are Bon App‚tit service vehicles, maintenance vehicles and some WUPD patrol cars. Washington University-owned shuttle buses might also be upgraded to run on bio-diesel or natural gas instead of gasoline. This is an ideal way for the University to make their commitment to campus sustainability because the results would be clearly visible.
More eco-friendly vehicles will also be more affordable for Washington University students in the long run. We agree with Assistant Vice Chancellor Malten: “Part of sustainability is economic sustainability as well. That’s the side of it that often gets overlooked.”
Though environmentally friendly vehicles might cost more initially, ultimately the savings from reduced gasoline usage will make up for the higher cost and save students money.
As an example, a 2007 Chevrolet Impala LS, the make of vehicle that WUPD drives, has gas mileage of 18 miles per gallon in the city and 23 miles per gallon on the highway. A comparable vehicle, the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid, gets 43 miles per gallon in the city and 37 miles per gallon on the highway. Because campus police will usually be doing city driving, that means that switching vehicles would lead to an approximate increase in gas mileage of 140%-which means a decrease in the harmful effect on the environment and the money spent on gasoline by more than one and one third times.
The Editorial Board thus encourages Matthew Malten and the rest of the administration to consider, as a part of their comprehensive transportation program, the implementation of hybrid or otherwise sustainable options for vehicles, from those of Bon App‚tit to WUPD to the shuttle buses.
These innovations will not only ultimately lower costs for students but they will make the University stand out as truly committed to environmental sustainability.