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When it comes to getting to class at 51�Թ���, “not having a car” would be a tough sell for tardiness — the university prefers students not to have one at all.��

“We have a whole toolbox of programs to prevent students from needing to bring a car to campus,” said��Brandon Smith, 51�Թ��� assistant director of sustainable transportation.��

Most of these offerings are free. All students receive�� (RTD) bus passes and also have access to the university’s electric Buff Buses, , CU NightRide, bike repairs on campus and summer bike storage. A CU ski bus even offers students trips to several ski resorts for $25 round trip.

And Buffs take advantage. In an average week, Buff Buses log about 30,000 boardings, 90% of which are students. In 2023, students rode RTD more than a million times. From January 2023 to November 2024, students took more than 1.3 million trips on BCycle bikes.��

The payoffs for sustainable transportation are big.��

“More than 60,000 commuters travel into 51�Թ��� per day, and 80% of these are single occupancy vehicles,” said Smith. “However, less than 12% of students drive solo to campus. Imagine what 51�Թ��� and campus parking, traffic and air quality would be like if we didn’t have programs that got most students out of single-occupancy cars.”

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Photo by Casey A. Cass