April is Spotlight on Travel month

With over 11,000 staff and 19,000 students, it’s true to say that the University’s sizeable population has an impact on traffic in the city of Cambridge. To counteract this impact, the University has set a target of having no more than 25% of staff commute via single occupancy cars. By reducing the number of cars on the road we can reduce congestion and air pollution, while keeping healthy and active.

As you can see below, although we did not meet this target the vast majority of staff either used active or public transport to commute to work each day.

Throughout April we are turning the spotlight on sustainable travel to encourage staff, where they can, to consider more sustainable options and to make all aware of the support that is available to staff to help them in their commute each day. The month will be full of interesting and fun events; we hope you will get involved and we would love to hear about your commute.

What’s happening?

There will be events on various University sites throughout the month. You can find out where your nearest event is and book your place on a cycling maintenance workshop, cycle training or Dr Bike session. You should also keep an eye out for travel events in your department; to date we have heard of staff organising lunchtime cycle rides and car share events.

On 9 April we will launch an exciting cycling event; to keep up to date on all developments you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

What support is available to help me travel sustainably?

I’d like to cycle

Cycling to work - The University provides financial assistance to staff in the form of the Travel to Work loan and the Cyclescheme to help staff purchase bikes. If you are not as confident as you would like to be on the road, you can book free one to one training. Simply contact the University’s cycling instructor to check availability and book your space.

Once you’re on your bike you can use cycle parking across the estate; areas with cycle parking are marked on the university map using a grey symbol which looks similar to the letter n. Along with cycle parking, a number of bike repair station are installed across the estate to provide you with the tools you need to maintain your bike. A description of the tools you can use at these stations is available here.

Cycling at work – There are currently five pool bike schemes, managed by Estate Management, at: Greenwich House, Laundry Farm, David Attenborough Building, Maxwell Centre and the Clinical Schools.

Bikes at these sites are available for staff to use during their working day. You can find out more about these schemes and how you register to use the bikes here.

I’d like to walk more

9% of the University population walk to work each day; in honour of this group, and to encourage more of you to get active in your commute, we are participating in the On Your Feet Day on 27 April. To participate, just get active on the day, you can walk to work or take a stroll during the day. Take a photo and tag us @cambridgesust on Twitter @CUenvironment on Facebook with the hashtag #onyourfeet and you could win a prize.

I’d like to use public transport

Bus – Tickets for a single journey are £1 for staff and students on the Universal bus service when you show your University card. This service has been designed to connect University sites and we encourage staff to take advantage of it.

Staff can use the Travel to Work loan to purchase annual bus tickets and from 1 April travel will be cheaper for some, as parking at all of Cambridge County Council’s Park & Ride sites will be free!

Train – Through the University’s membership of Travel for Cambridgeshire, University staff can apply for a 10% discount on Govia Thameslink and Greater Anglia routes.

I’d like to drive

Public or active transport is not always an option for staff. You can still save money and carbon emissions by opting to share your journey. Camshare is the Cambridge-wide platform where you can register your journey; the platform has approximately 6,000 users at present, one of whom might be able to share your journey.

To encourage car-sharing in your department, you can set up a Car-share Corner to run across the month. Simply place a map of Cambridge in a busy space with some dot stickers. Staff who are interested in sharing their journey can place a dot with a number where they commute from. They then write their name, address and the number of their dot in a notebook. Once Spotlight on Travel month is over, you can put staff who could potentially share a journey in touch with each other. An event like this helps to overcome the nervousness people have about sharing their journey as they can meet for a coffee and decide if car-share is for them or not.

Let us know about your Spotlight on Travel month

We would love to hear from you throughout the month. If you are involved in a sustainable travel event or you would simply like to tell us about your commute, get in touch via email, @cambridgesust on twitter and @CUenvironment of Facebook.

Happy “sustainable” travels!