Royal Roads Campus - Case Study Example

? Case Study Analysis of the of the Table of Contents Answer One 3 Answer Two 4 Answer Three 5 Answer Four 6 Answer Five 6 Answer Six 7 References 8 Answer One There were several issues which contributed to the problem of a large number of single occupancy vehicles being driven to the Royal Roads Campus. The first issue which has been found out is the reduced availability of buses. In the route towards the campus, the buses are very infrequent as well as inconvenient. Reduced accessibility of the buses becomes one of the most remarkable issues contributing to the increased number of SOV’s driving into the campus area. It is known fact that when there is reduced accessibility of any one option, people try to seek for alternative options in order to reach their ultimate target. Walking is not a convenient mode of transportation till the campus. Thus, students choose alternative courses of action, which include driving cars to the campus area. The mindset of the students has been set in such manner that they prefer going to the university by cars. There are a number of reasons contributing to this mindset of the students. Firstly, the parking fees are very low, which makes it easily affordable to the students to park their cars within the campus. The university offers lowest parking fees as compared to any other university of Canada. Moreover, the fees offered incentive to the people driving to the campus. The allowance of obtaining carpool passes had several restrictions. Only the people inside the campus on full time basis could opt for car pool pass. In order to apply for this pass, the applicant needs to be the licensed owner of the vehicle. These circumstances have built the mindset of the students in driving cars for reaching the university. Another issue is lack of enough time in the hands of the students. The students coming to the Royal Road University have a specific time schedule based on which they like to perform their day to day activities. Reaching the university by means of other transport vehicles, such as bikes and cycles would consume much more time as compared to the cars. It is due to this reason that they prefer going by personal cars, so that they can easily reach on time. All the above mentioned issues contributed to the increase in the number of driving single occupancy vehicles into the Royal Road Campus. Answer Two The second issue would be addressed in this project. As already mentioned above, the mindset of the students have been set in such manner that they perceive conveyance by means of single occupancy vehicles is the best possible option for them. There are a number of concerning matters, which are needed to be rectified in such way that it does not have any impact on the ‘time factor’ of the students but at the same time helps the University in fulfilling its objective of reducing the carbon dioxide emission. The University considers sustainability action as one of its primary goal (Royal Roads University, 2013b). The reduction in the carbon gas emission by almost 11 percent represented its effort towards the fulfillment of the commitment. There are various constraints in the fulfillment of goal of the University. The location of the University is in such place that there is no availability of buses. The bikes and cycles would consume much more time to travel thirteen kilometers and reach the university on time. Moreover, allowance of carpooling has been restricted in several areas. These circumstances have built the mindset of the students in a way where they prefer travelling in cars to the University. The above mentioned issue have been identified and addressed as the most critical one which requires special attention in order to meet the goal of the University. Answer Three One of the most important alternatives of addressing to the above mentioned issue is making the students realize the necessity of reduction in carbon gas emission. The University can plan for conducting various programs where the importance of sustainability and importance of greenery and healthy environment would be taught to these students. The carbon emission that is generated because of driving SOV’s in the campus area is immense and it contributes to the irreversible changes in the environment ( Franchetti & Apul, 2012). The students should be made aware of the fact that the carbon gas emission is one of the reasons behind several environmental issues, such as pollution, global warming, violent weather pattern etc (Roosa & Jhaveri, 2009). These students need to realize that the emissions take various steps towards adopting an environment that is always marked with climate and energy crises. Thus, they should understand the requirement of appropriate measures for reducing the carbon gas emissions. Another alternative is introducing a new subject which would teach the students about the importance of environmental protection and factors which negatively impacts the environment. These would increase their concern towards protecting the environment that would enhance the initiatives taken by the University towards fulfilling its goal related to sustainability development and maintenance. The third alternative is increasing the car parking fees followed by increase of the allowance of car pooling facilities to the students. Implementation of both the strategies would help in reducing the number of driving SOV’s into the campus. Answer Four The criteria that should be used for assessing the alternatives include assessment in terms of ‘associated cost’, ‘timeliness’ and ‘effectiveness’. Assessment in terms of ‘associated cost’ would include the cost related to implementation of the strategies. Assessment in terms of ‘timeliness’ would include the time required for the strategies to successfully solve the issues. Assessment in terms of ‘effectiveness’ would deal with the efficacy of the strategies. Answer Five The assessment of the chosen alternatives could be done by taking into consideration three main factors which are ‘associated cost’, ‘timeliness’ and ‘effectiveness’. Alternatives Associated Cost Timeliness Effectiveness Conducting Awareness Programs Minimal Cost Medium time required High Education Zero Medium – Long Term Required/ High Car parking fee increase and Car pooling Zero Involves less time- Short term High It can be concluded after the assessment of all the three alternatives that increase of car parking fees followed by increase of car pooling facilities is the most effective strategy involving least time and zero cost. However, it solves the problem temporarily. But in order to ensure that the problem gets eliminated permanently, it is very important to ensure that the students realize the reason behind such goal setting by the University. It is necessary for the students to become aware of the fact that how their daily activities (i.e. driving SOV’s in the University) have a negative impact on sustainability of the environment. Thus, the second alternative should also be taken into consideration for bringing a change in the mind set of the students, which would help the university in reaching towards its goal in long term perspective (Gudjonson, 2012). The University should introduce a subject dealing with the importance of environmental protection and discussing the factors which negatively impacts the environment. Answer Six The main subject of the project dealt with reduction of the SOV’s emissions (Royal Roads University, 2013a). Royal Roads Campus’ primary goal of reducing the carbon emission by almost 50 percent within 2020 could be fulfilled by the chosen alternatives. Increase in parking fees would reduce the number of SOV entry into the campus and the increase in the car pooling facilities would facilitate the students in making their transportation easier. This would help the University in achieving its goal. But at the same time it is very important to make the students aware of the necessity of environmental protection and the impact of SOV’s emission. It is a part of the responsibility of Royal Roads University. This could be done by introduction of a subject, which would increase their awareness. Thus, the recommendations would help in solving the recent issues. References Franchetti, M. J., & Apul, D. (2012). Carbon footprint analysis: Concepts, methods, implementation, and case studies. New York: CRC Press. Gudjonson, J. (2012). Students as Key stakeholders in advancing sustainability in higher education: A research project. Retrieved from http://dspace.royalroads.ca/docs/bitstream/handle/10170/494/gudjonson_james.pdf?sequence=1 Roosa, S. A., & Jhaveri, A. G. (2009). Carbon reduction: Policies, strategies, and technologies. Lilburn, GA: The Fairmont Press, Inc. Royal Roads University. (2013a). Sustainability at royal roads university. Retrieved from http://sustainability.royalroads.ca/ Royal Roads University. (2013b). Sustainable solutions start here. Retrieved from http://www.royalroads.ca/prospective-students/programs/environment-sustainability Read More