It is a widely-known fact that the population of our planet is growing and it is an unavoidable truth that the resources of our planet need to be managed in a sustainable and realistic way so that they can meet the needs of this growing population.
In the UK alone, according to estimates by the Office for National Statistics, the population is projected to continue growing year by year, reaching over 74 million people by 2039. Births are continuing to outnumber deaths and immigration continues to outnumber emigration, resulting in a growing population.
At the University, we are posed a difficult challenge – on an ever busier island, how are we to transport our workforce effectively and in a sustainable manner across and between the cities where we are active?
Urban Traffic
The use of hybrid electric/petrol pool cars is one of the schemes we have recently introduced. In order to encourage more efficient use of shared assets, cars are parked in reserved bays on our York campus and can be booked by the hour via an online portal. This scheme allows different staff to share the same vehicle throughout the same day, rather than multiple cars being tied up with traditional daily hire methods. For local and short journeys, it is seldom efficient or cost effective to have staff book separate hire cars for the whole day when the self-same pool car can be reserved by the hour for just the amount of time it is needed.
Global Goal 11
We have also joined a commuter club with our local bus service provider, which allows staff to purchase discounted bus tickets to travel across the city. Incentivising staff to take advantage of public transport helps to lessen the congestion on our roads, reduces damage to our environment from vehicle emissions, improves accessibility to our city and helps improve overall accessibility to our city.
Projects like this help us to achieve Global Goal number 11 – which challenges us to encourage sustainable behaviours in our cities and communities. The University has a very mobile workforce; our need to travel cannot be ignored. However, we can strive to make sure that our activity does not have an undue impact on the quality of our surroundings. Our targets to help us meet this goal include;
- Sustainable transport systems
- Protect the world’s natural heritage
- Reduce the environmental impact of cities
- Improve accessibility to public spaces
- Implement policies that support resource efficiency
- Support sustainable regional development planning
Encouraging people to reduce their reliance on private vehicles and promoting wider use of shared or public transportation is important for reducing the injuries on the roads, as well as deaths and diseases associated with traffic accidents, vehicle emissions and physical inactivity. Congested cities are inefficient and unhealthy to live in, but we have the means to counter their negative impact on our daily lives.
If you wish to learn more about sustainable travel, procurement and the university’s wider activities that are being introduced in order to manage our contribution to environmentally responsible behaviour in our cities, please get in touch.
Some examples of urban transportation schemes that follow sustainable principles can be found here;
https://www.enterprisecarclub.co.uk
https://www.firstgroup.com/buy-ticket/corporate-travel/commuter-travel-club
https://www.cycle-heaven.co.uk/bike-hire
Further information about the UN Global Goals can be found here;