Tag Archives: sustainability

Campus Shuttle coach

Campus Shuttle: the new booking system

The Campus Shuttle is an important service which connects the Medway and Canterbury campuses for staff and students, so we want to make it as efficient as possible. Therefore, The King’s Ferry have been working with ‘Mobile Onboard’ to improve the booking system.

You can now book a seat in advance. Booking a ticket to and from any bus stop, cancelling bookings, viewing all tickets and timetables is quick and easy. Please see our step by step guide on how to book, view and cancel tickets below, it only takes a minute!

To book your seat: 

  1. Book a seat on My Mobile Tickets from your desktop, tablet, or mobile phone.
  2. Log in using your University of Kent details. The first time you register you will be asked to confirm your email and mobile number.
  3. Choose the directions and the date of travel for your journey and select ‘Search Buses’.
  4. A timetable of the scheduled services will appear, click ‘select’ for the scheduled service in which you wish to book. Check your booking details are correct and press ‘Book Now’.
  5. On your checkout page, confirm that you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website and press ‘Place order’.

To view your bookings and get mobile ticket:

  1. Go to My Mobile Tickets at the top of the page, next to the University of Kent logo, select the three horizontal lines and then select the option ‘My Bookings’.
  2. A table will appear with all your bookings displayed, if you scroll across to the 6th column you will see the status of your booking.
  3. In the 7th column of the table, select ‘Get Mobile Ticket’ to access your ticket for boarding.  You can either print your ticket, or show it on your smartphone when you board the shuttle. Please do not take a photo or screenshot of your ticket, as this can cause issues with the scanner and you may not be able to board.

Please remember to cancel your booking if you no longer require it, so we are able to offer the seat to another commuter. To cancel your seat: 

  1. Go to ‘My bookings’ at the top of the page next to the University of Kent logo.
  2. In your bookings table, swipe across to the 7th (last) column titled ‘Action’ and select ‘Cancel Booking’.

Please note: You can also track the shuttle.

 

face covering image

Planning your commute

It is important to plan your journey, especially at the moment to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Here are some tips from the University’s Transport Team.

  • Plan all your journeys before leaving your house.
  • Make sure you bring a face covering (unless you are exempt) and hand sanitiser with you. The Government has also provided a useful checklist that includes questions to ask yourself and what
  • to take with you before leaving home.
  • Be prepared for travel disruptions. For example, due to lower capacity, the bus you were expecting to catch may be full and you may need to wait for longer than anticipated.
  • Ensure your vehicle/bicycle is serviced regularly.
  • Social distance and follow the travel providers’ rules.
  • Ensure you know what payment methods travel providers require.
  • Be familiar with and follow the Government travel guidance.
  • Avoid travel during busy times, if possible.
  • Keep up to date with the latest advice from your travel service provider. See the list below for up to date guidance on public transport.
  • Remember to be kind and support each other – there are health reasons that mean not everyone is able to wear a face covering or may need to use a particular route that others are not able to use.

If you are travelling via public transport, it is important to ensure that you are familiar with what is required to travel with the service provider. For example, you are required to wear a face covering (if you can) when travelling on public transport or Campus Shuttle service. Some travel services may request card payment only and/or bookings only.

The travel providers have published some guides to explain their journey planning, social distancing and how to pay for travel:

For more information, please visit the COVID-19 travel webpage and the coronavirus information webpages.

Campus Shuttle coach

Campus Shuttle Updates

The Campus Shuttle service will begin operating again on Saturday 19th September 2020. This is a free service between Medway and Canterbury campus that runs 7 days a week during term time and takes approximately 50 minutes. See timetable online.

During this time, some safety measures have been put in place to ensure you travel in confidence. This includes operating the service at 50% capacity to maintain social distancing. As a result, booking a seat on this service is essential and can be done at https://uok.mymobiletickets.com/webapp/login.aspx up to 30 minutes before you travel. If you are a student who requires a carer to sit next to you whilst travelling the Transport Team are available to assist with your booking.

If you are not travelling before the departure time please ensure you cancel your booking. This enables us to keep track of who has travelled on the service and allows others to book a seat at that time.

Face coverings must be worn at all times. All drivers are temperature checked prior to beginning their shift and all passengers are required to be temperature checked prior to boarding the Campus Shuttle. In the unlikely occurrence of a high temperature, please cancel your booking to travel (if possible) and contact Campus Security on 01227 823333.

Please check the @CampusShuttle twitter feed (which can also be seen on the Campus Shuttle webpage) for regular service updates.

Dr Bike at Medway and bicycle marking by Medway police

Dr Bike’s first 2020 visit to Medway is coming up on Thursday 23 January. He will be outside the Student Hub between 12:30 and 15:30.

Dr Bike is a trained bicycle mechanic, who offers free cycle health checks including adjustments and advice on repairs. Major repair work and parts are available and will always be charged at a reduced rate for staff and students. The service is available to all University of Kent and University of Greenwich staff and students.

The University of Greenwich have also organised for Medway police to come and perform bike marking between 12:30 and 13:30. Marking consists of taking the frame number from your bicycle, then marking your bicycle with a unique reference number using a chemical compound and applying a semi-tamperproof sticker. All of the reference numbers are then logged on to a secure database, run by BikeRegister.

Registering your bike helps the police identify the legitimate owners of bicycles that have been stolen.

The police will also be able to offer bicycle security and safety advice.

You do not need to register for the event, which is free to all. Just bring your bicycle to the Student Hub on Pembroke campus.

For more information see our cycling webpages.

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.

Stagecoach release further Unirider discounts

For those who missed out on the discounted Unirider tickets in September, or who have just started at Kent, you are in luck. Stagecoach are releasing a further discounted Unirider ticket on 11 January.  Their Term 2 and 3 Unirider ticket runs from 11 January 2020 to the 14 June 2020 and costs £195. That works out at just 79p per day!

As well as allowing you to commute from Canterbury to campus, the Unirider ticket covers the whole of Kent and East Sussex- so you can explore all the region has to offer.

To purchase a Unirider ticket, either visit the Stagecoach website or the Travel Shop at the Canterbury bus station.

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.

#GettingHomeForChristmas

There are only three weeks left of term (!) which means that it is time to start thinking about your journey home for the holidays. Whether you’re flying, driving, or taking a sleigh home, we’re here to offer some handy tips.

1. By bus:

Stagecoach express

Stagecoach, in partnership with Megabus, is 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. North Greenwich is just a short tube journey from central London and its many National Rail train stations.

Unirider bus passes cannot be used on this service, however, students are entitled to a discount on walk on tickets, or you can book in advance and receive further discounts.

National Express

The National Express 022 from Canterbury to London Victoria stops at the Keynes bus stop six times a day. From London Victoria, you are able travel to many other UK destinations.

If you need to catch a flight, fear not, National Express provides cheap transfers to many airports, including; Gatwick, Heathrow, Stanstead, and Luton. For more information, check out their dedicated Airport Transfers page.

Students are entitled to the Young Persons Coach card, which offers a third off journeys for just £12.50 a year. This means that a single from Canterbury to London can cost as little as £5!

National Express also offer other discounts to their customers; please see their offers and cheap ticket pages for more details.

2. By train

National Rail

For Canterbury students, the South Eastern rail high speed from Canterbury West takes under an hour to transport you to St Pancras International in central London.

For Medway students, there are two train stations near the campus: Chatham and Gillingham. Both of these run the high speed service, and will get you to St Pancras in around 40 minutes.

From St Pancras, you can catch a train to hundreds of destinations throughout the UK, or catch a tube to one of the other stations serving National Rail across London.

St Pancras has a direct line to Gatwick and Luton airports, via the ThamesLink service. For all other airports, take a look at the TFL guide to London airports.

All full time students, regardless of age, are entitled to a 16-25 railcard from National Rail. The railcard costs just £30 for the year and saves you a third on all journeys.

Eurostar

We are very lucky to have quick links to Europe from our campus. From Ashford International, Ebbsfleet International (both on the high speed line to St Pancras) and St Pancras International, you can take the Eurostar to destinations in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

3. By car 

Car Share

Car share is not just for commuting, but can be used for single journeys, like getting home for Christmas. Why not see if you can find someone travelling the same way as you and share the costs with another student. You not only save money, but also the environment.

The University of Kent has worked alongside the University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church to create a Liftshare page dedicated to university staff and students: Unishare South East. Unishare allows you the peace of mind to travel with other university staff and students. Simply follow the link to create an account.

Taxis

Travelling to a London airport from Canterbury or Medway campuses, costs in the region of £75 – £125. The cost will vary depending on which London airport you need to travel too. Try and find other students going to the airport, by using the car share database, so that you can split the cost.

If you need to get a taxi, remember to book in advance. Speak to a couple of taxi firms for quotes so you can get the best deal.

The University uses the services of the following taxi companies:

Canterbury: Cab Co, Cab Line 6 Ltd, Canterbury Galaxy Taxis, Canterbury Taxis, Croft Cars, Longley’s Private Hire, Longport Taxis, Wilkinson Taxis Ltd

Medway: ABC Taxis, Computer Cabs, Express Travel, HWS Taxis, Vokes Taxis