News

Queen’s Campus Green Travel Plan highlighted as best practice

(9 November 2004)

The success of the Green travel initiatives promoted by the University of Durham’s Queen’s Campus at Stockton are to be highlighted as an example of best practice at a major environmental conference later this week.

The University’s Green Travel Plan, which has developed a number of incentives on public transport, cycling, car sharing, car parking and pedestrian issues, has been operating since 2002.

Now it is being featured as an example of successful collaboration between the local Council, Stockton-on-Tees, and the University to implement an effective travel plan.

John Bancroft, Bursar at Queen’s Campus, will be leading a session at the seminar being hosted by the Stockton Environment Partnership on Friday 12th November. He will joined by Rob Farnham, Local Transport Plan Manager with Stockton-on-Tees Council.

The conference takes place in the Stockton Tabernacle from 9.00 a.m.-1.30 p.m. and it will be examining ways of building environmental issues into community strategies. There will be contributions from partners in the Environment Agency, Friends of the Earth, neighbouring local authorities and experts in various environmental fields.

As well as looking at the current state of the environment, the conference will consider waste management and recycling strategies, climate change, transport policies, use of open spaces and renewable energy.

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For further information contact:
Gillian Corking on (01642) 528142 or e-mail: gillian.corking@stockton.gov.uk

Media enquiries to:
Tom Fennelly, Public Relations Office, University of Durham. Tel. 0191 334 6078 or e-mail : t.p.fennelly@durham.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

1. The University has taken a number of green travel initiatives in the last two years but without doubt the most significant and effective has been the further development of the inter-campus bus service operating during term time free to staff and students between Queen’s Campus and Durham.
2. The X11 service has been registered with the Traffic Commissioners so that it can carry fare-paying members of the public.
3. On the X1, X2, 235 and 236 services between Queen’s Campus and Durham, staff and students pay £1.70 for a single journey, compared to the standard fare of £2.90. Students can also buy a book of ten vouchers in advance for £12, which gives them a discount of almost 60% on the standard fare.
4. Another public transport development since 2002 is the Stockton Shuttle (service 525). This service runs every fifteen minutes around a route including Queen’s Campus, Thornaby Station, Stockton High Street and Princess of Wales Bridge. In 2002 the University actively supported a bid by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council to provide this service, and the service was implemented in 2003.
5. The Campus has established a Public Transport Users’ Forum (PTUF) to promote public transport use at Queen’s and lobby on public transport issues.
6. A Bicycle Users’ Group (BUG) has been formed to promote a number of initiatives, including the purchase of four bikes for free hire by staff and students.
7. In 2003 the University and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council jointly financed two cycle shelters, one at each of the main teaching buildings at Queen’s Campus, each containing five Sheffield stands with a total capacity of 16 cycles. A further 20 stands were purchased in 2004.
8. Queen’s Campus launched its car-sharing scheme in 2002. It is essentially a “computer dating” system which allows staff and students to offer and search for lifts to and from home and between campuses.