Sustainable Travel Plan 2021-2025

• Lowering the University’s carbon emissions in line with the Sustainable and Environmental Policy
• Mitigating traffic and congestion issues in the Derby Campus area which is facing significant challenges during the A38 construction works
• Improving the transport links and methods available so that visiting the University is easier overall
• Promoting and increasing the health, fitness and wellbeing of students and staff by encouraging active travel
• The Sustainable Travel Plan will support all future property-development projects and assist in their design for planning applications
• Opportunities to reduce travel costs to both the individual and the University
• Raise awareness of sustainable travel and the harmful impact of high-carbon travel
• Support of technological advances such as the adoption of ultra-low-emission vehicles and electric-vehicle charging

• Reduce your harmful impact on the environment by choosing more sustainable modes of travel, locally, nationally, and globally
• Improve your personal health and wellbeing by using more active modes of travel
• Reduce your personal travel and commuting costs
• Support your University in achieving its strategic environmental goals
• Reduce costs for your department and the University as a whole

• Modes of transport related to staff and student commuter travel to and from University places of work and study
• Business travel performed on behalf of the University, including air and train travel through partnership with our appointed Travel Management Company
• University fleet vehicles including Estate Management service vehicles, security, pool vehicles, van and minibus provision
• Related site travel activities including visitors, deliveries and car-park management

• Key Fact: 58.3% of staff commute to work by car, 87% of which are single occupancy

High dependency on commuting to sites by car is increased by single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) commuting. At the Derby Campus, this adds to the existing traffic and congestion within the city and reduces the efficiency of public transport in the area. Increased volumes of vehicles in slow-moving traffic also significantly adds to poor air quality and the harmful effects of carbon emissions on the local and global environment.

Large volumes of cars attempting to drive to University sites also stretch the amount of parking resources, causing a shortage in parking on site and a first-come-first-served system creating unfairness in some situations.

Stretched parking resources on site subsequently lead to parking in surrounding neighbourhoods and cause distress to local communities, which are increasingly implementing resident-parking schemes operated by the local authority, ultimately leading to less opportunity for students, staff and visitors to park within close proximity to the University.

Indicative actions

• Rather than penalising SOVs, the Sustainable Travel Plan aims to incentivise alternative modes of travel. The following objectives aim to encourage the adoption of alternative travel, achieving modal shift from car travel wherever possible
• Combined promotion raising awareness of the harmful effect of SOVs and alternative sustainable methods supporting both the Sustainable Travel Plan and the Sustainable and Environmental Policy
• Review car-parking eligibility and charges to manage supply and demand of car parking and enable car parking for those who require it most

• Key Fact: 18.7% of staff and students driving to the Derby Campus do so from within a two-mile radius

The Derby Campus in particular has the most stretched resources for car parking, public transport, the most congestion within the city routes surrounding its sites and the most significant challenges facing students and staff arriving on site during peak travel times of the day.

And yet the distance between the main teaching site of Kedleston Road and the halls of residences is of a shorter distance than the furthest ends of either the Loughborough or Lancaster university campuses.

Indicative actions

• Derby can encourage an ‘active campus’ approach to enabling students to walk and cycle wherever possible and for staff living within a two-mile radius of the sites to adopt active travel too
• Where that travel within two miles represents a longer journey due to public transport challenges, alternatives to be incentivised and promoted through Local Transport Authority and operator collaboration
• Promote active travel and the associated health-and-wellbeing benefits
• Develop facilities such as creating the new cycle hub of changing facilities within the Kirtley Building, developing an encouraging community for active travellers
• To set the ambition to improve facilities across all teaching sites, not just Kedleston Road, and to establish them in all new buildings as a preferred mode of travel
• Work with partners to establish route planning, any equipment needed, utilising local schemes such as Dr Bike to help staff and students with maintaining bicycles
• Incentivise students to walk and cycle through the Derby Moves app and engage students in community projects to develop safe walking routes and paths

• Key Fact: Pre-pandemic usage of the Unibus service saw 780,000 annual trips made, costing £624,000

The existing Unibus services are stretched (pre-pandemic) resulting in difficulties for all students to use the Unibus service at peak travel times. Alternative public transport services operate in nearby areas to both the Derby and Buxton campuses, but currently do not link up with the University and its Unibus routes.

Indicative actions

• The University is working in partnership with Derby City Council to develop the Future Mobility Zone from secured government funding. This provides a significant opportunity to bring more sustainable travel options to the Derby Campus, such as electric-car club, e-bikes and e-scooters plus the possibility of linking up with the city's proposed electric buses
• Working with Derbyshire and Staffordshire local transport authorities to reduce duplications in transport services operated on behalf of the Buxton and Leek College. Again, working with these local authorities represents opportunities to reduce inefficient transport services
• Ensure all public-transport opportunities use lower-carbon modes wherever possible
• Support digitisation and technological advances in travel planning, sharing travel and route information and enabling users to make more informed decisions around travel

• Key Fact: The University is a key partner in the De-Carbonise project and has the expertise to lead by example

In support of the Sustainable and Environmental Policy, the University can target a reduction in carbon emissions through its business travel, including fleet-vehicle usage and the volume of travel conducted via coach and minibus use.

Due to government legislation ceasing the production and sale of combustion engine cars from 2030, the shift from petrol and diesel engine vehicles is likely to increase significantly over the next five years and the University will need to prepare its fleet provision and charging infrastructure to support this change.

Indicative actions

• Replace petrol pool cars with ultra-low-emission vehicle (ULEV) corporate-car-use scheme
• Phased electrification of service-vehicle fleet and supporting electric-vehicle commuting through introduction of EV charging across teaching sites
• Provide greater awareness of coach and minibus carbon emissions to help staff make informed decisions on travel and usage

To support the previous objectives, one of the primary ways to reduce SOVs and stretch on resources is to reduce the demand for travel in the first instance.

This is a strategy that can be built upon to support the key objectives within the Sustainable Travel Plan. Any actions to reduce travel are likely to assist the organisation through a challenging period over the next three-to-five years due to the A38 junctions major construction works commencing in winter 2022, which are anticipated to have major impact on travel in the surrounding areas and the city.

Indicative actions

• Raise awareness of peak travel times
• Reduce the need to travel between campuses and sites for business travel where digital meetings can facilitate