Go Travel Solutions is a long-term partner with the University of Leicester and it was one of the first members to sign up to the SmartGo Leicester workplace travel programme. 

The University also engaged Go Travel Solutions to conduct a comprehensive review of its Travel Plan including a University-wide staff and student survey, carbon calculations, GIS mapping of postcode data for bus, walk and cycle routes and advice on data capture. This data is being used to shape and influence future travel plans and initiatives at the University of Leicester including encouraging greater use of sustainable forms of travel for staff and students. 

Sandra Lee, Sustainability Manager at the University of Leicester has said: “Go Travel Solutions brings great insight into promoting sustainable travel and the skills necessary for our Scope 3 measuring. 

“In particular, we were aware of the fundamental role that Ian Murdey played in the development of similar initiatives at De Montfort University and since joining the team at Go Travel Solutions, he has brought first-hand experience and expertise of the approaches of other academic institutions to add further value to our engagement.”

“The offers available to staff through membership of SmartGo have been supported by a range of infrastructure developments such as the installation of bike racks and new showers to encourage cycling to work, and accommodating charging points for the increasing adoption of electric vehicles, particularly through the Nissan LEAF offer, which many staff took up. 

“SmartGo has enabled us to provide staff with a ‘choice architecture’ – facilitating numerous options to provide people with choices on how they travel to work.”

“We’re focused on community and business travel for our staff and students. The travel planning exercises have enabled us to monitor our split of transport modes, measure the environmental impact and see what infrastructure we have in place to manage this.

“The major travel planning survey in 2015, co-ordinated by Go Travel Solutions, provided us with a good baseline of our travel usage levels and we’re now aiming to capture data on annual basis to inform future travel planning and include, as an example of best practice, in our Estates Management Records (EMRs).

“We can now capture robust data from our staff community and effective reporting mechanisms mean that we can evidence the reasoning behind our plans for staff and university committees.

“This analysis helps us to figure out where our investment will have the most impact whilst getting staff to lower emissions through their own choices by making more sustainable options more readily available.

“The data will also form a critical part of our 2018 campaign when we launch a new behaviour change programme. The support of Go Travel Solutions continues to be central to our travel planning and sustainability strategies.”