Trent University First in Province to Sign-on with Commute Ontario

Carpooling to campus just got easier for the Trent community. Trent University is the first post-secondary school in Ontario to sign-on with a new ride-share program called Commute Ontario.

The program is free of charge to municipalities, workplaces and campuses across the province thanks to a three-year Grow Grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation awarded to SustainMobility - the non-profit behind the program. Commute Ontario is designed to encourage commuters to adopt healthy and sustainable transportation options such as walking, cycling, taking transit and carpooling. As partners in the program, the Trent community now has access to an online carpool matching tool called Carpool Ontario.

"The Commute Ontario program dovetails so nicely with the efforts we are making on campus to encourage sustainable commuting to campus," says Shelley Strain, sustainability coordinator at Trent. "The Parking Office now offers dedicated spots to registered carpools which is a really appealing perk. When this is paired with the Emergency Ride Home program through Commute Ontario we start to break down the real and perceived barriers to carpooling."

So how does it work? For Trent community members interested in taking part, they can register at commuteontario.ca/trentu. If a user has an unforeseen emergency on any day they have commuted to campus, they can request a reimbursement of up to $75 for emergency transportation costs the user may have to use.
The City of Peterborough and GreenUp have also signed on with the Commute Ontario program.