Sustainable transportation is a safe and clean option for traveling, and what better way to discuss and inform others about their mobility options than a transportation fair? This past Friday, September 6th, we had organizations come out to our Transportation Fair to discuss Temple University students’ many eco-friendly traveling options around the Philadelphia area.
SEPTA, Sierra Club’s Transits to Trails, the Center for Advocacy for the Rights & Interests of the Elderly (CARIE), Clean Air Council, the Bicycle Coalition, the City of Philadelphia Streets Department and more tabled at our Transportation Fair to deliver resources for green traveling options to get around the city.
At our Transportation Fair, we also interviewed organization representatives and students to gain insight into what sustainable transportation means to them. A member of CARIE described what sustainable transportation means to them:
“Sustainable transportation is good for the people, good for the environment. It means protecting everybody [and] making sure that everyone has access to transportation.”
Another organization, Sierra Club, talked about Transit to Trails, a campaign to improve public transportation options so that green spaces become easily accessible to everyone. Sierra Club believes that sustainable transportation is “accessible to everyone in all communities, helps them have full autonomy over their lives, and is clean and good for the environment.”
“Sustainable transportation helps [people] have full autonomy over their lives.”
SEPTA, Philadelphia’s largest transportation system highlighted the benefits of our transit system. It is one of the greenest, lowest emissions options in our city and provides us with a safe and environmentally friendly way of getting around, whether that is by bus, train, subway, or trolley.
For students, having options and choices was a common theme when it came to sustainable transportation. When students were asked what sustainable transportation means to them, they often focused on options such as electric cars, bicycles, public transportation, and walking, acknowledging the environmentally friendly transportation options they have access to around Philadelphia. It also gives us insight into ways that students are actively thinking of and engaging with sustainable modes of transport.
Our Transportation Fair provided a space for students to learn about local transportation organizations and the resources they can provide. It was also a wonderful opportunity to hear from our broader Temple community what exactly sustainable transportation means to them.