The pilot involved approximately 1,000 MIT employees who typically parked on campus, and allowed these employees to access MBTA subways and local buses at no additional cost to them, providing new daily options for commuting to campus.īased on the success of the pilot, MIT has decided to expand the program to include all benefits-eligible MIT faculty and staff at the Cambridge campus. This represented an exciting, first-of-its-kind collaboration between MIT and the MBTA. In 2010 the Parking and Transportation Office, in conjunction with the Transit Lab, launched a pilot program called the MIT Mobility Pass. One particular challenge was the total cost of building and/or maintaining parking spaces in and around the MIT campus - and whether this could be offset by improving commuter awareness of the problem and incentivizing new behavior. Over the past seven years, the MIT Transit Lab, in collaboration with the Parking and Transportation Office, has focused on how faculty, staff, students, and visitors travel to and from MIT. In a letter sent today to faculty and staff, Executive Vice President and Treasurer Israel Ruiz stated, "Access MIT embraces the goals of MIT’s Plan for Action on Climate Change, and is a visible demonstration of our commitment to lowering MIT’s commuter-related emissions.” He added, "With Access MIT, the Institute will be one of the largest employers in the state to provide this level of universal transit benefits.” Ruiz thanked the members of the Committee for Transportation and Parking for their dedication in bringing these new commuting options to MIT’s campus.īecoming a living lab to change commuter behavior “We hope that other organizations will follow our lead and implement similar programs.” “MIT works very closely with stakeholders within the Institute, public sector, and in the community to develop smart, sustainable transportation alternatives, from sponsoring transit studies to addressing challenges in the MBTA system to working closely with the Kendall Square Association,” says Michael Owu, chair of the Committee for Transportation and Parking and director of Real Estate at the MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo). “The question is,” says Julie Newman, director of the Office of Sustainability, and member of the Transportation and Parking Committee, “How does MIT advance its mission in the most sustainable way? And how do we expand our academic initiatives while also minimizing our impact on the community and the environment?”Ī commitment to sustainable transit options is part of MIT’s response to questions like these. It is therefore a priority for the Institute to identify innovative ways to proactively address the livability of the area, for both the campus community and the surrounding neighborhoods. In many ways, MIT is at the center of this innovation ecosystem. With these organizations come new researchers, technologists, scientists, students, and entrepreneurs. In recent years, the area surrounding the MIT campus has become a growing innovation hub, attracting startups and global enterprises from around the world. Need for a sustainable commuting solution “Access MIT is a significant effort, on the part of many people, to make that change desirable and effective.”
“Technology offers new strategies to change commuting behavior to the benefit of individuals, the Institute, and surrounding communities,” says Les Norford, the George Macomber Professor in Construction Management in the Department of Architecture, who sits on the Committee for Transportation and Parking. Detailed information about MIT’s commuter programs, including Hubway, ZipCar, and the AccessM圜ommute tool, are available on the commuter benefits webpage. By connecting programs, education, decision-making, and modes of transportation, Access MIT strives to create a new awareness and shared understanding of transportation choices and their impacts. The Access MIT program is an initiative to create a variety of affordable, low-carbon transportation options and change the way the MIT community thinks about commuting. The Access MIT pass is a reflection of the Institute’s commitment to sustainability and climate action, and will be accompanied by a shift to pay-per-day parking at most lots in an effort to reduce the number of cars on campus. The new benefits include free, unlimited subway and local bus usage, and increased subsidies for parking at MBTA stations and commuter rail tickets. Between now and September, MIT will roll out the Access MIT pass, one of several new commuter benefits for Cambridge campus faculty and staff.
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