Transportation Initiatives

Parking & Transportation Services has complete information about transportation programs and current promotions.

From 2002 to 2014, the percentage of Stanford employees driving alone to campus dropped from 72 to 49 percent.

Transportation fact sheet - PDF

Free shuttle

The Marguerite bus system provides free transit to the Stanford community and the public, with 79 buses across 21 routes that take riders to campus locations, regional transit systems, Stanford Hospital and Clinics, and local shopping and entertainment destinations.

Cleaner vehicles

The Marguerite fleet includes 13 electric buses.  All diesel and diesel-electric hybrid Marguerite buses run on biodiesel and renewable diesel fuel. More than 40% of Stanford’s 1,100 fleet vehicles are electric, and the number of hybrid vehicles increased to 36, with one experimental solar vehicle. Other efforts to operate a cleaner fleet include replacing larger buses on midday routes with smaller, more fuel-efficient buses and offering hybrid vehicles in the car-sharing program.

Commuter incentives

Employees and students who get to work by means other than driving alone can earn cash payments through the Commute Club program. Employees who carpool or vanpool get subsidized or free parking passes and reserved spaces; vanpools get $300 monthly subsidies. Stanford also offers $50 to those who refer friends to the Commute Club, up to $100 for those who return a long-term permit to join the Commute Club, and prize drawings for those who pledge to commute during off-peak hours or use alternative transportation at least part-time. Clean Air Cash for Commute Club members can be used by students, staff, and faculty to offset transit, bicycle, or other expenses, but is not limited to commute expenses. Stanford’s Commute Buddy program provides experienced transit or bike commuters to accompany and/or advise new commuters when they first try an alternative commute.

Free transit passes

Eligible employees can get free passes for Caltrain and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus, express bus and light-rail system, and the Dumbarton Express east bay bus service. Students, staff, and faculty can ride for free on transbay express bus service on AC Transit’s Line U “Stanford Express," a service initiated and partially funded by Stanford. Stanford affiliates enjoy a fifty percent discount on Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) tickets and passes purchased through Parking & Transportation Services.

Transit passes for the Peninsula and East Bay

Bike-friendly campus

Stanford received the Bicycle Friendly University Platinum Level designation from the League of American Bicyclists (2011-15). Stanford’s bicycle program provides bike and clothes lockers, access to shower facilities, a free bike light with bicycle registration for new students, extensive bicycle infrastructure (including a central campus cyclist and pedestrian zone) free bike safety classes and other programs and policies that make biking safer and more convenient.

Car-sharing

Employees and students get discounted rates on the Zipcar car-sharing service, with over 65 vehicles across 26 Stanford locations. Many of the vehicles in Stanford's fleet are hybrid vehicles. Employees and students are also able to take advantage of ridesharing opportunities through Zimride and Ride. Stanford was the first university to offer an integrated car sharing and ridesharing program through Zimride.

Facilities Operations “green fleet” plan

The Facilities Operations department is taking steps to green its fleet. A motor pool launched in 2008 provides three electric vehicles for the administrative group to use on campus; 27 electric cart parking and charging stalls and seven electric service vehicles were added in 2008; and more electric service vehicles, as well as two hybrid courtesy vehicles for fleet garage customers, are arriving in 2009.

Clean transportation policies

Stanford prohibits freshmen from bringing cars to campus, provides alternative transportation information at new employee orientation, and assesses fees on new campus development and parking to help fund alternative transportation programs. To ensure continued progress, we have a campus-wide peak trip–reduction task force and several full-time staff dedicated to alternative transportation assistance, promotion, and peak-hour trip reduction.

Goals & Results

Our goal is to make sure people and goods can travel to, from and within the campus in an environmentally sustainable way. We seek to dramatically reduce transportation-related pollution, effects on local habitats and ecological resources, consumption of fossil fuel and traffic-related environmental effects identified by the local community.

One key measure of our efforts: We’re striving to hold commute trips to the 2001 baseline (3,474 morning trips and 3,591 evening trips), even when the campus population grows. That means cutting the number of peak-hour trips and single-occupant vehicles, and boosting alternative transportation use throughout the Stanford community.

Results so far:

• From 2002 to 2014, the percentage of Stanford employees driving alone to campus dropped from 72 to 49 percent.
• Marguerite shuttle passenger numbers rose from 1.9 million in 2012 to an estimated 2.5 million in 2014.
• In 2014, 51 percent of university employees regularly used alternative transportation as their primary commute mode, compared with an estimated 22 percent within Santa Clara County. 
• Membership in the Commute Club, for eligible employees and students who commit to not driving alone, has risen to more than 8,000.
• More than 40% of Stanford’s 1,100 fleet vehicles are electric, and the number of hybrid vehicles is increasing each year. The fleet also includes one experimental solar vehicle. Stanford's Marguerite shuttle fleet is comprised of 13 electric buses, five diesel-electric hybrid buses and 53 biodiesel and renewable diesel buses.
• Stanford more than doubled the amount of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on campus, replacing six charging stations with 14 new stations in high-demand parking areas. Stanford now has a total of 16 EV charging stations, including off-campus sites.
• Bike to Work Day at Stanford saw a record turnout in 2015. Volunteers counted more than 2,000 riders, and 807 riders reported logging a total of 6,386 miles, for an average of eight miles per trip. By biking instead of driving, these commuters (plus 279 pedestrians) eliminated an estimated 5,786 pounds of CO2 emissions on Bike to Work Day