Transport and travel

Staff and student travel surveys were undertaken in 2022. The student survey did not include international student travel to and from the UK.

Electric vehicle charging has been introduced on campus with the ability to expand the number of charging stations as demand increases. In 2023, the University upgraded its fleet of on-campus service vehicles to electric, where possible.

The pandemic accelerated the use of digital solutions and on-line collaborations, which led to a considerable reduction in business travel, but this has started to increase again, but has not reached the pre-pandemic levels, which is positive.

This plan is lead by:

• Helen Rutherford, Head of Sustainable Campus Operations

This plan is enabled by:

All University on-campus service vehicles are electric. Staff and students can travel to and for work in more sustainable ways, for example using electric vehicles which can be charged on campus, or by public transport powered by clean energy, or by cycling or walking safely.  Sustainable digital solutions and collaborations support all of our work on campus in order to reduce the need to print out documents and to travel to other locations.  Emissions associated with our global academic programmes are minimised.

UN SDGs

To be confirmed

Targets and progress

Target

Reducing the carbon footprint of staff and student travel by 50% by 2030

Progress

Progress status: RED

The baseline carbon emissions for student and staff travel within the UK (commuting to and from the campuses) have been quantified in 2022 as:

• Staff commuting 1,500 t CO2e
• Student commuting 4,800 tCO2e

In 2021/22, business travel per head was £191/per staff FTE for UK travel and £88/per staff FTE international travel.  This was higher than 2020/21 (which was particularly affected by the pandemic), but still lower than the pre-pandemic levels.

From 2022/23, we will have the ability to report this as carbon emissions

Travel by international students to and from the UK has not yet been quantified.

Operational priorities for 2023/24

• Carry out a second survey of staff and student travel, including international students’ travel to and from the UK
• Work with staff and students to minimise international air travel’
• Support the creation of a ‘bike group’ to support those who cycle to work.  Participate in national bike week on an annual basis.  Join UK Cycling’s ‘Cycle Friendly Employer scheme’