Travel and Transport

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…

The free University Park & Ride from Mereoak (Junction 11 M4) is becoming increasingly popular, with an average of 545 journeys made per month in the Autumn 2023, compared with just 14 journeys per month in Autumn 2022. This huge increase is great news as it is saving staff and students money, reducing congestion and air pollution. The service was introduced in September 2022 as a trial, with the offer extended to students in January 2023. The service is now well established and allows people to get to Whiteknights and London Road swiftly and without stress. The service runs from…

  Bicycle thefts, attempted thefts and damages are a nationwide issue, and our campuses are unfortunately not exempt. We continually work to improve security around our cycle parking to ensure that cycling remains an attractive, safe and viable option for our staff, students and visitors.     What do we do already? Thousands of cycle parking spaces, including secure cycle compounds across Whiteknights campus and at various Halls; Our Security team actively works to tackle cycle thefts through ‘Operation Velo’; We offer free bicycle security labels and discounted bike locks (available from the Security window at Whiteknights House); Our weekly…

Calling all club goers of Reading university! You can still travel to and from 3-Sixty every Wednesday night by using the free 360 bus. Reading buses teamed up with RUSU in 2021, to supply students with a free bus service to and from the student housing area to 3- Sixty at RUSU during term time. This service provides a safer way to travel at night-time which is quicker, more convenient and sustainable. Due to the great success of the 360-bus, students are still able to use this service weekly. As someone who has used the service in the past, I…

Do you want to beat the traffic getting to University, save money and reduce air pollution? A new FREE Park and Ride service has been launched from Mereoak (Junction 11 of the M4, RG7 1WJ). We have partnered with Reading Buses and the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust to deliver this exciting new sustainable travel option for our staff and students – who can now use the existing NHS H3 service from Mereoak. It runs from 06:25 to 18:55 Monday to Friday from junction 11 of the M4, with buses every 20 minutes at peak times.  Travel survey results show interest…

The results are in from the University’s 2022 travel survey and we are proud to announce that we have achieved our Travel Plan target for 87% of all travel to be sustainable by 2022. Key findings 51% of students and staff travel by sustainable means to and from the University (with sustainable travel defined as anything other than single occupancy vehicle travel). 70% of our students travel to University locations by foot, which has risen by 10% since the last survey was conducted in 2020. The amount of students using public transport has remained static but the number of student…

Welcome to all new students that have joined our community at University of Reading. If you are wondering what the most sustainable way to get round your new home is, then this blog is for you! The carbon hierarchy, as above, shows travel methods in order of sustainability – it is a helpful tool to consider the impact of travel decisions and supports the consideration of suitable alternatives. For further information and offers, please visit our sustainable travel pages. Walking The University has beautiful campuses’ and each one is easy to navigate via foot. Our walking webpage shows how to…

We’re pleased to announce that we have launched an exciting new lift share tool. This forms part of the Doing #UoRBit platform, allowing you to earn Green Points simply by lift sharing. Every month there is the chance to win a £20 voucher for those users who have earned the most Green Points! The lift share tool allows you to connect with other Doing #UoRBit users who would like to share their commute – whether it be by car, public transport, cycling or walking. The tool is easy to use – you can add a new route to share the…