If you have any queries or would like further information about the objectives of the University Travel Plan then please contact Olivia Wells via sustainability@plymouth.ac.uk.
For daily commuting, 63 per cent of staff and 88 per cent of non-halls students travel sustainably to University by bike, foot or public transport.
We're minimising the environmental impact from transport associated with the University. How? Through the promotion of sustainable travel options for staff, students and our suppliers. Plus, more use of video conferencing and other technology enabled solutions to facilitate virtual meetings.
For information on how you can access travel schemes supported by the University, please see our Green Travel pages on the intranet (log-in required), and also our University Travel Plan is available on our policies page. Contact information for the University Bicycle User Group is also on these pages.
Since our main campus is located within the city centre and we have a student and staff population of over 21,500, travel and transport is an important issue – one that has the potential to impact the local residential community. We have targets to reduce the proportion of staff and students driving to university, increasing the proportion that cycles, walks and uses public transport. We support this with a strict parking policy on campus to fit with the city centre location.
Cycling is a big success for us; 5 per cent of our staff commute to University by bike, beating the UK average of 2.8 per cent per cent of employee cyclists – very impressive given the Devon hills. To support cycling we offer 318 bicycle parking spaces across campus, which is an increase of 132 spaces since 2007. We offer the cycle to work scheme for access to new bikes and equipment as well as providing lockers for rent. We also have a Bicycle User Group (BUG) , which is run by volunteering staff members to promote and campaign for cycling facilities on behalf of the staff.
We run regular cycling campaigns on campus for staff and students, including bike doctor workshops, led rides, cycle maintenance courses and the sale of second hand bikes. Throughout the year we promote free workshops offered in the city by Bike Space, as well as running cycling events. Keep an eye on the university's What's On page. We also offer lockers for cyclists and access to showers within the gym for a small fee for the year, contact Recreation for more details.
In 2013, we opened the University of Plymouth Car Share group to students and staff through carsharedevon.com. This helps provide a more trusted lift share group with more participants. It's easy to use: register as a user, mark University of Plymouth as your employer and then you can register your journey within the staff and student community to find a lift share. Registered car share drivers are given preferential treatment for car parking spaces over single occupancy car drivers on campus.
Ride Social
Ride Social is an initiative by British Cycling to provide a social cycling networking site, where you can find local rides and create and share routes. To find out more and get involved visit the Let’s Ride website.
Ride Social is an initiative by British Cycling to provide a social cycling networking site, where you can find local rides and create and share routes. In conjunction with UPSU, the Motivate Generate Activate project has trained ten people to become ride leaders, so they can lead rides for students and engage more students in cycling across the city.
To find out more and get involved visit the letsride website.