Travel and Transport

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…

There is now a free 360 bus service on Wednesday and Saturday nights to support students wanting to attend union event nights. This is a partnership initiative between RUSU and Reading Buses, with support from the University of Reading. The service operates up to every 11 minutes from 22:00 to 02:30 throughout term time. The 360 route includes the main off campus student residential areas (around Wokingham Road and Erleigh Road) and then back onto campus – enabling safe and convenient travel to and from Student Union events. The new bus service also has added benefits by providing a safe…

If you live off-campus in the Reading area, you may not know that re3 is responsible for sorting the recycling that the Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell local authorities collect from households on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. They have won and been nominated for awards for their facilities and technology. In addition to sorting the waste from household collections, re3 have recycling centres where you can take items that are not suitable for kerbside collections, plus recycling banks specifically for glass and textiles. To find out more, visit their website: https://re3.fccenvironment.co.uk/ Key takeaways: Recycling helps the environment, more than you…

The Sustainability Services team would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who participated in this years’ travel survey. The survey was completed in January 2020, before the COVID-19 outbreak took hold in the UK.  The responses have provided some great feedback, which will help to shape the proposed travel action plans for the years ahead. A brief summary of the key findings is provided in this blog. You can find the full results of the travel survey here. How do staff and students travel to University? The overall (combined staff and student) modal split for commutes to the…

Disappointing news from Great Western Railway (GWR) who has announced that they will no longer be offering 15% rail discounts to EasitNETWORK members for travel into Reading.   The company has agreed that it will honour discounts on any tickets and season tickets bought before 31 March 2020 by holders of a valid Easit card.  The University will remain a member of Easit, which will enable users who have bought a ticket or season ticket before that date to continue to use them until they expire.   We are extremely disappointed by this move and have written to GWR’s Managing…

If you’re living in private rented accommodation this year, you may well find yourself paying for gas, electricity and water bills for the first time. This can eat into your finances, so here are some tips to keep your costs down:   Saving energy Landlords are only legally allowed to rent out buildings which achieve at least an ‘E’ rating Energy Performance Certificate (A being most efficient, G being least efficient). Ask your landlord for a copy of the EPC to check they are complying. Switch off! The easiest and most obvious way to save energy is by not leaving…