Ithaca College

Is the specter of shelling out $4 a gallon (or more) at the gas pump making you think twice about alternative transportation options for your daily commute to campus? AAA's annual guide called “Your Driving Costs”  estimates that it costs most drivers at least $8,000 a year to own and operate a single occupant vehicle – and that was based on gas costing ~$2.60 a gallon! With that sobering thought in mind, here’s a review of all the programs that Ithaca College underwrites in full or in part to help you get out of your single-occupant vehicle and into a shared ride for your commute to class or work.

Public Transportation: Ride in style and leave the commuting headaches to a trained professional driver!

TCAT – Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit - provides public transportation within Tompkins County and portions of Tioga County. Check the TCAT website for routes and schedules. Ithaca College will fully cover the costs for faculty and staff to ride the bus for commuting. Just present your valid Ithaca College ID card as you board the bus.  

“Ride Tioga” (Tioga Transportation) offers two routes that provide transit service from the southern tier into Ithaca. Ithaca College is conducting a pilot commuter program through May 31st. Participants in this pilot receive a free unlimited ride pass each month; if interested, contact Marian Brown (274-3787) to sign up. For more information about routes and schedules, visit “Ride Tioga”. 

Vanpool – A vanpool is a group of 5 to 14 people sharing a ride to or from Tompkins County in a commuter van supplied to and driven by one of that vanpool’s members. VPSI Inc. is the contractor providing vanpool services for Tompkins County. For more information, contact VPSI at 1-800-VANRIDE (800-826-7433) or go to www.vanride.com. Ithaca College has committed to provide a monthly $700 subsidy per van for every seven Ithaca College employees enrolled in the vanpool system which helps lower the monthly cost for each vanpool group. Ithaca College will provide these vanpool incentives for its employees:

• $20 monthly subsidy per eligible IC vanpool member (paid directly to VPSI)
• BLUE permit to park the vanpool vehicle on the Ithaca College campus
• a fifteen-ride TCAT bus pass
• a “Just in Case” Ithaca Carshare membership plus $50 in free driving credit
• A guaranteed ride home in the event of an emergency

Zimride Tompkins - This new community-wide rideshare system, powered by Zimride, can help you find shared rides for commutes and errands. Post an offer of a ride in your vehicle or ask to fill an empty seat in another commuter’s car coming into Ithaca. Use your ithaca.edu email to sign in for the first time and create your Zimride profile. You may limit your search to just other members of the Ithaca College campus community, or you can seek to share rides with folks from Cornell, TC3 or employees of other business or organizations in the Ithaca area. Zimride Tompkins is completely free to use.

Ithaca Carshare – While this local carsharing program isn’t intended to directly support your daily commute, if you use other modes of transportation to get to campus (bus, vanpool, carpool, rideshare), Ithaca Carshare members can reserve a carshare vehicle to run local errands or respond to emergencies during the day. Ithaca Carshare is a membership-based service that provides 24/7 access to vehicles on an hourly basis. As a member, you reserve a car on the web or over an automated phone system. Members pay a hourly and mileage rate to use the car, but you are not charged additional fees for gas, insurance, maintenance, cleaning, or permanent parking! Our Ithaca Carshare fleet vehicle, named Egbert, is easily available in its reserved space next to the Park Center for Business. Ithaca College faculty and staff get $50 in driving credit with their Ithaca Carshare membership.   

Way2Go is a free local resource that can help you determine the best transportation option to meet your needs.