Category Archives: News

Travel Plan Survey

It is that time of year where the Transport Team are working on developing a New Travel Plan and we want to hear from staff and students about your commute to and from the University and travel within the local area.

By completing the survey, you help us plan our future transport strategies, understand what current services are working well, what improvements or changes Staff and Students would like to the current transport options provided, and help us with our carbon emissions research.

Plus complete the survey for the chance to win £150, £75 or £50 added to your KentOne card.

The survey has been extended to 11:59pm on Monday 21st November 2022.

Students Survey: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/VJXA2S/  Staff Survey: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/YVTNS2/

Travel Disruptions: October 2022

There are some disruptions to Southeastern train and Arriva bus services planned for October which may affect your travel to Canterbury and Medway Campuses, details of which are provided below.

If you are travelling during this time, we advise that you plan your journey prior to travelling and check our Campus Travel updates page.

Trains:

Southeastern have announced that there will be strike action taking place on the rail network on: Saturday 1 October, Wednesday 5 October, and Saturday 8 October. For full details please visit the Southeastern strike action webpage.

Train Strike Days:

Saturday 1 October and Wednesday 5 October: No Southeastern train services will be operating. Please do not attempt to travel by train on this day.  For alternative transport options visit Traveline.

Saturday 8 October: A limited service will be operating and some routes will be closed. Southeastern have advised to only travel if absolutely necessary and if you are travelling to expect severe disruption and plan your journey ahead of travelling.

Days following the train strikes:

Sunday 2 October: Some trains will not run before 07:00.

Thursday 6 October: Southeastern expect a normal service to operate.

Sunday 9 October:  Services will operate later in the morning, with no trains running before 07.00.

Arriva Buses – Medway: 

Arriva bus company have announced that there will be further industrial action taking place across Northfleet, Gillingham, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells on the 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th of October.

Update (11/10/2022): Arriva have announced another 13 days of industrial action taking place on the 19th, 20th, 21st, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th October, as well as, the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th of November.

Please visit the Arriva Kent industrial action webpage for full details on the Arriva bus disruptions during this time.

Roadworks: 

M20 closure between junction 10A and 11: This closure will be in place from 21:00 on Friday 7th October until 06:00 on Monday 10th October. There will be a diversion route in place using the A20, A261, A259 and A2070 to go London bound and the same roads in reverse order to go coast bound.

 3 way road works on the junction of University Road/St Thomas Hill: At peak times there may be some delays and we encourage you to plan your journey prior to travelling.

St Stephens Road Closure, Canterbury: This closure will be in place from 22:00 on Thursday 20th October until 06:00 on Monday 24th October.

Campus Shuttle: additional coaches operating from 1st October 2022

We are pleased to announce that from the 1st October, all additional Campus Shuttle coaches will now be provided by Kings Ferry. Full details for the timetable of these services are displayed on our Campus Shuttle webpage. The booking system will be live on our website soon, until then production of your KentOne card is required to board the service.

Passenger numbers will be monitored and if coaches are operating at a low capacity or empty on a regular basis the timetable may be subject to change. Follow @CampusShuttle and @unikent_travel on twitter, where any disruptions or changes to the advertised timetable will be announced.

Please note that the journey time is approximately 45 minutes; although this is dependent upon traffic, ensure you plan your journey (including any walking time). You should arrive at the boarding point 5 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time. If it is essential that you be on time then we recommend you catch the earlier service to avoid any disappointment if there are any delays on the roads. By boarding the coach you agree to the Campus Shuttle’s Terms of Service.

Grange Coach

Campus Shuttle: additional Grange Coach services from 26th – 30th September 2022

We are pleased to announce that from Monday 26th September 2022,  the Campus Shuttle will have additional capacity and late night services operating between Canterbury and Medway campuses. The additional coaches put in place this week (WC 26/09/22) will be provided by Grange Travel (see below image) and we hope that Kings Ferry will be able to accommodate the additional services from next week when the booking system should be live on our website. Full details for the timetable of these services are displayed on our Campus Shuttle webpage.

Passenger numbers will be monitored and if coaches are operating at a low capacity or empty on a regular basis the timetable may be subject to change. Follow @CampusShuttle on twitter, where any disruptions or changes to the advertised timetable will be announced.

Please note that the journey time is approximately 45 minutes; although this is dependent upon traffic, ensure you plan your journey (including any walking time). If it is essential that you be on time then we recommend you catch the earlier service to avoid any disappointment if there are any delays on the roads. By boarding the coach you agree to the Campus Shuttle’s Terms of Service.

Grange Coaches: 

Grange Coach

Kings Ferry Coaches: 

Campus Shuttle coach

Travel Information for Monday 19th September 2022

Following the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday 19 September 2022, which will also be a bank holiday, some travel providers have amended their services. Therefore, if you are travelling on the 19 September 2022 we advise that you plan your journey prior to travelling and check our Campus Travel updates page.

Travel Provider Service Updates – 19 September:

Stagecoach Bus – Canterbury:

On Monday, Stagecoach will be operating on the normal term-time Sunday bus timetables. This means the Uni1 service between the Canterbury campus and city centre will operate every half hour, supplemented with Triangle bus services every 20 minutes to and from Keynes bus stop. We highly recommend that you download the Stagecoach Bus App, where you can view real time tracking of buses.

Arriva Bus – Medway: 

On Monday, Arriva will be operating on the normal term-time Sunday bus timetables. Further information can be found on Arriva’s website.

National Express: 

National Express have stated that on Monday there will be major road closures in central London and London Victoria Coach Station will be out of use. However, if you are still planning on booking a ticket to or from London and travelling via Wembley Stadium, you will need to select Victoria Coach Station in our journey planner. Please see National Express service updates page for further details.

Train: 

South Eastern rail are encouraging people to plan their journey if travelling on Monday as they expect busier services. There are likely to be changes to normal routes in and around stations in order to manage queuing and demand. The Elizabeth line will run a special service with 12 trains per hour and London underground will run as usual. All planned engineering works from Wednesday 14 to Monday 19 September have been cancelled.

Eurostar:

All UK rail strikes have been cancelled, as such the Eurostar have been able to reinstate cancelled trains for the 15, 16 and 17 September. Eurostar will be operating on a full timetable with a few alterations. Further details can be found at Eurostar service updates page.

International: 

The Transport Team are not aware of any changes affecting  ferries, flights or airports on Monday.

Roadworks: 

Please be aware there are 3 way road works on the junction of University Road/St Thomas Hill. At peak times there may be some delays and we encourage you to plan your journey prior to travelling.

M2 Westbound Carriageway Closure: junctions 7 to 5 closed all weekend

From 8pm on Friday 1st July 2022 until 6am Monday 4th July 2022, Highways England will be closing the M2 Westbound between junction 7 to junction 5 due to bridge repairs. The diversion route will be via eastbound A2, westbound A20, M20, A249. The same closure will also be in place again from 8pm on Friday 15 July until 6am on Monday 18 July.

If you are travelling to our Canterbury campus for the open day on Saturday 2nd July or during these dates, please plan your journey before leaving to ensure that you are not effected by any disruptions.

Gritting

How gritting works

The University of Kent’s Landscape Management team are always up early and working hard to keep the campus safe and serviceable for all. During icy weather, they grit the campus roads and footpaths to reduce the risk of accidents to staff, students, and visitors.

What many people do not realise is, there is a fine art to gritting. Timing is everything. If you go too early, you waste the grit, because it lands on a dry road and is blown away by the displaced air as vehicles drive past. If it is raining heavily then it just washes away. Ideally the grit goes down on a damp surface and starts to stick, but if you are too late the surface is already frozen and the salt has to work harder to be effective but it will prevent big sheets of ice forming.

The salt is hygroscopic which means that it attracts moisture from the air and it only becomes activated when it is ‘trafficked’. When the grit is driven over the salt grinds down and mixes with the moisture it attracts and becomes the ideal brine, a salty water, which is when it is most effective.

Similar to how local authorities manage gritting, the Estates department will grit all University of Kent roads and main footpaths before starting on other areas across the campuses. Further information on the prioritised primary routes can be found on Goggle Maps.

For more information see the University’s Snow and Ice Policy.

E-scooter on campus

Powered Transport: Electric Scooters

 

We have noticed that there has been an increase in the number of private electric scooters using University of Kent land.

We would like to remind everyone:

  • All Powered Transporters (including e-scooters) are illegal to use on the public highway, except those that are part of the trial of the Department for Transport’s rental e-scooters scheme (also recognised as a Powered Transporter).
  • The University of Kent does not give permission for any person to use a Powered Transporter (this includes e-Scooters) on its land, with exception of the Department for Transport rental E-scooters scheme, which here in Canterbury the Kent County Council have contracted to the company BIRD and those that are used to help individuals with restricted mobility.

We have also recently updated the University Regulations for the Management of Traffic to encompass the term ‘Powered Transporters’ and the sanctions that apply.

If you have a personal e-scooter please do not bring this to campus, to ensure that you are not using it illegally or in contravention of the University of Kent Regulations of the Management of Traffic and/or campus accommodation contracts.

University of Kent are pleased to be supporting the Department for Transport and Kent County Council E-Scooter rental trial scheme; to help establish if E-scooters could become a new legal form of greener transport in the UK, similar to e-bikes, in the future. During the rental trial period, however, e-scooters will continue to be classed as motor vehicles, meaning requirements to have insurance and the correct type of driving licence will continue to apply for those that are using BIRD e scooters.

The Bird rental E-Scooters are all GPS connected and the speed can be set remotely depending on where they are. Visit our Commute Smarter page to find out more on how and where you can use the Bird E-scooters.

28 January 2022: The words ‘and those that are used to help individuals with restricted mobility.’ were removed to avoid any confusion that may lead to a person misreading the article to suggest that Mobility Scooters and Wheelchairs are classed as ‘Powered Transporters’,