Tag Archives: staff

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

New year, new commute?

Happy New Year from the Transport Team! As it is the time of year for resolutions and trying out new things, why not try a new commute for the New Year? There are many different ways to travel to and from campus, which may be cheaper, easier, more social, and environmentally friendlier.

To help, we have put together a guide to some of the transport links the university has below.

Train Travel

Both campuses are served by good train links.

Canterbury is served by two train stations: Canterbury East and West. Both are on the Uni bus routes or if your New Year’s resolution was to get fit, why not try walking from the station to the campus a couple of times a week. It is a great way to fit in your steps before work!

For Medway, there are two train stations near the campus: Chatham and Gillingham. Both have regular services running in to them from most of the county. They are accessible via bus or a short walk.

There are many options to help with the ticket costs. For those who travel more than three times a week, season tickets can work out a lot cheaper, giving you unlimited travel of the route. For more information, please see the SouthEastern Rail website.

There are also plenty of railcards which can save you up to a third off all rail journeys: 16-25, Two Together, and Network railcards to name a few. These can be used on any journey you make across the country, and could end up saving you a fortune!

To see if there is any easy train route for your commute, use the rail journey planner now.

Bus Services

Canterbury:

From Canterbury bus station, there are buses travelling far and wide across the region. To see the nearest route to you, use the Stagecoach route planner. A quick journey on the Unibus service (running every 8 minutes during peak times!) brings you up to campus from the city centre, stopping at multiple stops around campus.

The Unibus 1 and 2, Triangle (serving Herne Bay and Whitstable), 4, and 6 services come directly on to campus. For those of you lucky enough to live along one of those routes, you will not even need to change buses in Canterbury.

To help make bus commutes affordable for all, the university works with Stagecoach to offer staff discounted tickets with the option of paying via salary deduction to spread the cost. For more information, please see our webpage.

Medway:

The Medway campuses are served by a number of different services coming from across Medway, which can be seen on our webpages.

As with Stagecoach, the university works with Arriva to offer discounted bus travel to staff. For more information, and to download the promotional codes, please visit our webpage.

For more information on routes and timetables, please see our website.

Car Sharing

Still need to drive, but want to make it cheaper and more social? Why not try car sharing?

We have teamed up with the University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church University to develop a private online car share scheme for staff and students via LiftShare.

On the Canterbury campus, we even have dedicated car share bays in the Estates car park, allowing those with a car share permit to park with ease in a central location.

You don’t have to Liftshare every day, even sharing once a week with someone makes a big difference. You’d be surprised how much the benefits add up over time; we’re talking financial savings (drivers can make back up to 100% of their fuel costs by sharing), as well as reducing your carbon footprint and decreasing congestion and parking pressures. Plus you might make some great new connections!

For more information on car share permits, please see our webpages.

Cycling

Cycling can be a cheap, quick, and healthy way to travel. To help with the initial costs, the university offers staff a cycle to work scheme, which enables you to purchase a brand new bike and accessories from a range of participating local stores at a discounted rate.
You will also save on Income Tax and National Insurance contributions, against the cost of the bike, and can even spread the cost over a 12 or 18 month period. For more information on how to sign up, please see the staff finance page.

On both campuses we offer secure lockable cycle shelters, lockers, and showers in various locations.

Walking

If you live nearby, why not try walking to work a couple of days a week. There are many benefits of walking; it is good for your physical and mental health, as well as saving money and helping the environment. Why splash out on a gym membership when you can get your daily dose of exercise on your commute.

Campus car parks and roads updates (7 January 2020 to 22 January 2020)

The Transport Team want to make finding a place to park on campus as efficient as possible. To do this, we endeavour to keep staff and students updated on any known car park changes within this newsletter.

At all other times, you can visit our Traffic Management Events Calendar and our Twitter page (@unikent_travel), which are updated regularly.

This section of the newsletter also includes ‘Other Traffic Management News’, to highlight any information that may be of importance to drivers.

Car Parking Changes:

Canterbury Campus

Start Date End Date Location Number of Bays Reason Requested By
07/01/20 09/01/20 Rutherford Car Park 70 KMMS Interviews KMMS
10/01/20 10/01/20 Sibson Car Park 21 Kent Business Summit Kent Business School
Chipperfield Car Park 39
Oaks Car Park Closed
Pavilion Car Park 50
16/01/20 16/01/20 Giles Lane behind Woolf 30 Applicant Day Enrolment Management Service
22/01/20 24/01/20 Central Visitors Pay and Display 30 Theatre Performance Gulbenkian
23/01/20 23/01/20 Giles Lane behind Woolf 30 Applicant Day Enrolment Management Service
25/01/20 25/01/20 Sibson Car Park 20 Applicant Day Enrolment Management Service

Medway Campus

There are currently no known car park disruptions at the Medway campus.

 

Other Traffic Management News

Park Wood Car Parks:

Please note that on Friday 10 January 2020, 300 extra cars will be on campus during the Kent Business Summit. These cars will only have parking permits for the Park Wood car parks. Therefore, parking in Park Wood may be busier than usual. Please see our interactive parking map for alternative parking locations.

The Stagecoach Express M2 service: another way to travel

Stagecoach, in partnership with Megabus, are now providing a new Stagecoach Express service along the M2. Running from Canterbury Bus Station, the service stops at Medway (Chatham and Gillingham) before terminating at North Greenwich Underground Station in London.

Taking just over an hour, the O2 service is the perfect option for commuting between campuses when the Campus Shuttle is not running in the holidays. Or, if you fancy a trip to London, North Greenwich is the home of the O2, and just a short tube ride from central London.

The buses come equipped with free WiFi, contactless payments, power sockets, air conditioning, and disabled access, making for a comfortable and easy commute.

See the table below for a list of the prices, or you can get a weekly commuter ticket for just over £5 a day.

 Single Return

Pre-Booking (Plus a £1 booking fee) Pay on Coach Pay on Coach (Student) Pre-Booking (Plus a £1 booking fee) Pay on Coach

Pay on Coach (Student)

Canterbury to/from London

 £7.50 £10.00 £8.00 £15.00 £17.00

£12.00

Medway to/from London

 £6.00 £8.00 £6.50 £12.00 £13.50

£10.00
Canterbury to/from Medway £5.00 £7.00 £6.00 £10.00 £12.00

£9.00

For more information, and to view the full service timetable, please visit the Stagecoach website.

Campus car parks and road updates (15-29 November)

The Transport Team want to make finding a place to park on campus as efficient as possible. To do this, we endeavour to keep staff and students updated on any known car park changes within this newsletter.

At all other times, you can visit our Traffic Management Events Calendar and our Twitter page (@unikent_travel), which are updated regularly.

This section of the newsletter also includes ‘Other Traffic Management News’, to highlight any information that may be of importance to drivers.

Car Parking Changes:

Canterbury Campus

Start Date

 End Date Location Number of Bays Reason Requested By

 13 May 2019

 31 December 2019 Pavilion car park 9 To replace the Tennis Courts Estates on behalf of Hospitality
18 November 2019 22 November 2019 Estates car park 12 Foul drainage work

Estates

Medway Campus

There are currently no known car park disruptions at the Medway campus.

Other Traffic Management News

Canterbury Campus

One of the main questions we get asked about the Canterbury campus is ‘where can I park?’ To help answer this, we have our interactive parking map. The map can be used to find out which car parks your permit entitles you to use during permit enforcement hours (Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm), how many spaces are available, and where visitors can park.

Medway Campus

Drill Hall Car Park

To make sure that there are enough spaces in the Drill Hall car park for everyone who wishes to use it, we ask that you please park considerately and do not leave large gaps between vehicles. We are unable to paint bay markings or lines within this car park because it is part of a heritage site. The road and parking areas are distinguished by planters and circular discs in the ground. There are also maps and signs within the car park to help identify the correct places to park.

 

Car Park Disruptions- Canterbury and Medway campuses

Canterbury Campus

Giles Lane car park closure (Giles Lane car park, Canterbury)

  • Monday 9 July – September – Giles Lane car park is closed over the summer for essential maintenance and improvement works to take place. This closure has been requested by the Estates Department. For more information see our Giles Lane car park changes webpage.

Canterbury Retreat (Purchase Court 1-16 car park, Canterbury)

  • Monday 22 July- Sunday 9 August–  Purchase Court 1-16 car park will be closed for the Canterbury retreat. This closure has been requested by the Conference Office.

Oaks Coach and Minibus park (Oaks Car Park, Canterbury)

  • Wednesday 25 July- Oaks car park will reopen to permit holders whilst the Canterbury retreat is in Parkwood. After 8 August, we will continue to assess whether this area is needed for coach and minibus parking and advise accordingly.

Rothford car park closure (Rothford car park, Canterbury)

  • Sunday 5 August –Thursday 9 August– Rear of Rothford car park closed to dismantle the UPP compound and reopen the bays in this area. This closure has been requested by UPP.

Medway campus

There are no known car park disruptions to Medway campus for the next two weeks. Any disruptions that we are made aware of will be updated on the transport events calendar.

Arriva discounted bus tickets

We work with Arriva bus company to provide highly discounted bus tickets for students and staff.

The annual student and staff tickets allow travel on any Arriva bus all over Medway, Kent and East Sussex. The student annual ticket is £140 which works out as only 39p per day!

You can purchase the tickets online using the promotional code found on our website or from the Arriva bus on campus today (20 September 2017) outside the Student Hub.

Pick up timetables, ask any questions and purchase your ticket from the Arriva bus on campus next to the fresher’s fair.

See Arriva buses for more information.

Medway Dr Bike dates for your diary

Dr Bike is a free service available to University of Kent students and staff. Trained bicycle mechanics come to campus to check over and adjust your bike for free.

Dr Bike is visiting Medway campus on the following dates:

  • Thursday 9 February 2017
  • Thursday 16 March 2017 *change of date, previously 9 March 2017*
  • Friday 12 May 2017 *change of date, previously 11 May 2017*
  • Thursday 15 June 2017 *change of date, previously 8 June 2017*

Dr Bike will be located on the grass in front of Rochester Building on the Pembroke campus between 11:30 and 14:30 on these days. Please check the @unikent_travel twitter feed (which can also be seen on the Transport News webpage) for confirmation on the day.

Transport Team

01227 82 3609   transport@kent.ac.uk   @unikent_travel   www.kent.ac.uk/transport

Estates Department, University of Kent, Park Wood Road, Canterbury, CT2 7NN

Arriva January- December 2017 discounted bus pass

Missed out on the Arriva discounted bus ticket at the start of the year? You have another opportunity to purchase the discounted bus ticket which is valid until 31 December 2017.

The ticket allows travel on any Arriva bus all over Medway, Kent and East Sussex. This includes the 191 trial service which operates to and from Liberty Quays- Campus- Chatham- Isle of Grain, which stops on Pembroke campus and at Western Avenue and Dock Road for access to the Historic Dockyard Chatham.

The student annual ticket is £140 which works out at around 39p per day. The staff annual ticket is £280 which works out at around 78p per day. To get access to these huge discounts you will need to enter the relevant promotional code found at www.kent.ac.uk/transport/arriva. Once you have entered the code, the price will drop down from £900 to £140 or £280 accordingly.

Transport Team

01227 82 3609   transport@kent.ac.uk   @unikent_travel   www.kent.ac.uk/transport

Estates Department, University of Kent, Park Wood Road, Canterbury, CT2 7NN