Blog Post

The results are in from our 2024 Staff Travel Survey

Poster advertising the University of Reading's 2024 travel survey with an aerial image of whiteknights lake in the background. People can have their say and win a M&S or ASDA shopping voucher.

Thank you to all of you who completed our 2024 Travel Survey, and congratulations again to the winners of our prize draw, who in total received £500 of supermarket vouchers! We had a great response rate this year from staff, with over 1,200 responses (over 30% response rate) which is the highest since 2014. You can read the full results here.

The way we conducted our staff survey changed this year to include much more information on working patterns, which have changed significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic and impact greatly on the way we travel. For example, the survey showed that 58% of staff work from home once or more a week, compared to just 11% in the 2020 survey. When taking account of work from home, the overall results show the following:

  • 28.1% of the working week is spent working from home
  • 33.5% of staff drive to campus in a typical working week; and
  • The remaining 38.4% of staff use sustainable modes to travel to campus in a typical working week.

The surveys gave the opportunity for our staff to have their say on potential future improvements to sustainable travel. We received many suggestions for improving access to, from and around our campuses, including:

Foot and Cycle:

  • More direct and potentially segregated walking and cycling routes;
  • More undercover, secure cycle parking including for electric and adapted bikes;
  • Safer routes, including reducing speed limits, improved crossing points and better lighting.

Public Transport:

  • More direct buses, particularly between Whiteknights and the town centre/station;
  • Improved frequency including outside of term time, including during exams
  • Better promotion of the free Mereoak Park and Ride service available to all students and staff

Responsible Car Use:

  • Help finding car-share partners and better promotion of our existing car clubs
  • More electric vehicle charging points across our campuses
  • Fair and flexible parking charges and better enforcement and/or a digitised car parking system.

The feedback received from the survey is now being analysed and will be used to prepare our next five-year Travel Plan. The Travel Plan will include new measures, incentives, and support from the University to actively encourage our staff to keep up the good work and continue to travel as sustainably as possible!

Look out for the Travel Plan which will be published in the summer.

 

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