Transportation

The transportation center is responsible for parking and Einstein GreenRide, the ride-matching program sponsored by human resources and security.

Einstein GreenRide, is a service available to all members of the Einstein community — faculty, staff, postdocs, and students. Best of all, the service is free!

Einstein GreenRide is aimed at making commuting easier by allowing users to search for potential carpool partners (or fellow bicycle commuters or walkers) at Einstein who live nearby and have similar schedules. To learn the benefits of participating in a carpool, please click on the links below.

What's it worth? How much do you spend every year driving alone to work? 

Enter your own numbers and see what your true cost is.

Commute Cost Calculator 

Joining Einstein GreenRide is easy. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes! 

Register for Einstein GreenRide 

For those who don't own a car or use other transportation to get to Einstein, easy access to a car when one is needed is possible through zipcar. Einstein is a site for zipcar cars, offering a fleet of four cars, accessible in the Palma I parking lot. Members of the Einstein community benefit from a group discount on zipcar membership. To learn more, visit zipcar information site.

FAQs

I would like to request car service. Who should I contact?
Vital Transportation is currently the vendor contracted by Einstein. They can be reached at 718.472.2800. Please note that you will need to reference a purchase order number when making a request. Most departments now hold and maintain their own purchase orders, so please be sure to check with your departmental administrator. For all other requests, please contact the security office at extension 2180.

Which vendor is responsible for shuttle service?
Allways East Transportation provides shuttle service between Einstein and affiliated hospitals including: Montefiore, LIJ and Bronx Lebanon. View the shuttle schedule. 

I live/work at Einstein and do not have a car. How can I find out about Zipcar?
Zipcar is a car rental company through which members reserve cars on an hourly or day-rate basis from a variety of pick-up locations. Currently, there are 4 Zipcars located on the Jack and Pearl Resnick campus, in the Palma II parking lot. For more information, or to membership sign-up, please visit Zipcar.com/einsteincollege (Members of the Einstein community receive a discounted group rate.)

Why should I share a ride?
Sharing a ride can help you save money on parking, fuel, and other vehicle costs. It also permits you to have a more predictable, productive, and enjoyable commute (where you can read, sleep, work, or socialize). And from an environmental or “green” perspective, you’ll be doing your part to reduce pollution, traffic congestion, and stress.

How much can I save by sharing a ride?
According to the AAA, a commuter who drives 25 miles one way to work by himself or herself spends about $5,800 per year. This amount includes gas, maintenance, taxes, depreciation, and finance costs. That same commuter can save as much as 50 percent of these costs by carpooling with just one other person!

How are carpools typically organized? 

• One person can drive, while the passengers contribute only for gas and parking.
• Participants can alternate driving and not exchange money.
• The carpool driver may pick up passengers at their homes, or they may meet at a central location such as a carpool parking lot.
• Collectively, the carpool participants make the rules and determine the schedule.
• The carpool will consist of Einstein employees, including faculty, staff and students.
• Carpooling doesn't require a commitment of five days a week. It can be once a week, every other week, or whatever schedule your members agree to.

If you’re interested in learning whether there are others along your commuting route with whom you could carpool, search for matches or check out these other transportation options.

Do I have to carpool every day?
How often to schedule your carpool rides is a matter for the members of your carpool to decide. Most people are flexible, since carpooling even a couple of days a week saves money. So, if you like to shop after work on Thursdays, or have to leave early on a Monday for your son’s monthly visit to the orthodontist, just be courteous and arrange it in advance.

If I sign up with Einstein GreenRide, how will my privacy be protected?
Einstein GreenRide takes your privacy very seriously. While you provide basic information when you register (name, address, email, and destination), it is hidden from potential carpool matches. When notified of a possible match, all you see is a first name and last initial. For example, “Based on your home and work location and hours, Steve G is a possible match.” From there, you can choose whether to generate an email through the Einstein GreenRide site suggesting you meet to decide if you want to carpool.

How about my personal safety?
We believe safety is paramount. Unless the potential carpool partner is someone you already know from work or your neighborhood, you should always arrange for an initial meeting in a public place where you feel comfortable: a workplace cafeteria, for example. If you take personal responsibility and use courtesy and common sense, carpool matching is very safe.

What if I don’t have a car?
If you don’t have a car, you can still sign up for Einstein GreenRide. Simply check on the list of preferences that you cannot be a driver. You may well find a match who’s going your way.

Can I use this service to go out of town?
Yes, you can search for a rideshare opportunity if you’re going out of town by using the individual trip-planning options. This allows you to enter destinations that are outside the tri-county area. You just may find that a colleague is going to the same conference and would be willing to share a ride.

What if I feel uncomfortable carpooling with a stranger?
It's understandable that you might not be comfortable carpooling with someone you don’t know. That's why we’ve developed the following guidelines to make your ridesharing experience as comfortable as possible.

First, when searching for potential matches, be sure to edit your rideshare preferences. This allows you to filter possible matches by factors such as gender and smoking habits, so you only see potential matches with whom you’d be comfortable.

If you still feel uncomfortable after meeting, you can simply choose not to pursue the rideshare arrangement. You are not obligated to carpool. If you do feel comfortable enough to rideshare, perhaps you could agree to a trial rideshare period to test the waters. If the arrangement is mutually agreeable, you can continue to rideshare; if things don't work out, the rideshare arrangement ends. There is no obligation for you to continue; simply let the other parties know you do not wish to continue with the carpool arrangement.

Can I meet a rideshare somewhere other than my home?
Yes. When contacting potential rideshare partners, feel free to suggest alternate meeting places other than your home. For example, you could meet at a carpool parking lot, at a specific intersection, or near a particular landmark along the commuting route.

I'm already in a carpool, so what can Einstein GreenRide do for me?
If your present carpool partner should ever decide not to carpool, or if you are looking to add people to your carpool, enrolling in Einstein GreenRide could prove beneficial. The service would furnish you with a list of commuters who could serve as backups or additional carpool partners. Also, Einstein GreenRide participants have the opportunity to register for periodic prizes and can track their carpooling statistics and calculate savings to the environment and their pocketbooks.

What information does the Einstein GreenRide site collect from me?
Some information is gathered when you register for the GreenRide Connect program, including:

• First and last name
• Gender
• Home or starting address
• Email address
• Telephone number (if applicable)
• Name of employer/school/organization (if applicable)
• Destination address;
• Desired hours
• Other (optional) information such as smoking and gender match preferences

To protect your anonymity, the following information is NOT provided to other users on their carpool match reports:

• Your last name
• Your telephone number (unless you agree to reveal it)
• Your home or starting address*
• Your destination address*

*The approximate origin and destination points will be marked on a map, but no specific addresses will be provided on match reports. Only the site administrator has access to users’ full names, destinations, and home/start addresses.

If you believe that any inaccurate or inappropriate information has been obtained or disseminated through your use of this website, you should contact your site administrator through the contact information given on this site.

Who is collecting information and how may it be used?
Only site administrators have access to individual account information. We may analyze site demographics and behavior based on the information provided to us upon registration or gathered from transaction activity, from our server log files, or from surveys. We may share with our clients or other third parties aggregated data that does not include information identifying individual users. When you are on the site and are asked for personal information, you are sharing that information with the site administrators. If personal data is to be collected or maintained by any company other than Ecology and Environment, Inc., or our client providing you with this service, we will attempt to notify you on the website or in an updated version of this Privacy Policy. If you do not want your data to be shared, you can choose not to allow the transfer by not using the service.

With whom does Einstein GreenRide share my information?
We will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under the circumstances described below. The following describes some of the ways that your information may be disclosed.

Data in the aggregate: We may disclose “blinded” aggregated data and user statistics to prospective clients and other third parties, and for other lawful purposes. Blinded data is data that does not identify an individual person.

My Page data: We disclose the following types of data to potential matches on our system:

• First name or alias
• Gender
• Approximate origin and destination points
• Desired transportation hours
• Carpool preferences (if any) — male/female, smoking/nonsmoking

In addition, you will be provided with a means to forward contact or other information through our website to potential ride-match participants. Any information you disclose via this method will be disclosed to such persons.

Other: We also may disclose account information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be violating our Terms of Use, or may otherwise be causing injury to or interference (either intentionally or unintentionally) with our rights or property, other website users or site participants, or anyone else who could be harmed by such activities. We may disclose or access account information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service, and improve our products and services.

What security precautions are in place to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of my information?
Your Account Information and Profile are password-protected so you have access to this personal information. Remember to sign out of your account and close your browser window when you have finished your work. Because of the global nature of the Internet, when you give us information, that information may be sent electronically to servers outside the country where you originally entered it. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, information that you disclose by use of this site (as with any site that is nonsecure), by posting a message or using email, potentially could be collected and used by others. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or from our services, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure its security on our systems.

What else should I know about my privacy?
You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online. When you or we end your customer relationship with us, we will continue to treat the information we have about you in a confidential manner.