Tag Archives: transport team

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.

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.

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.

Dr Bike: bicycle servicing for staff and students

As part of the University’s Green Travel Plans and the developing University’s Masterplan Framework, the Transport Team are always trying to find ways to encourage sustainable travel. To encourage cycling we provide many initiatives across our campuses; including cycle hire, free bicycle health checks, and discounted bicycle repair works to staff and students.

Dr Bike health checks:

We work in partnership with Dr Bike, at Bycycle, to provide free bicycle health checks. 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

Medway campus:

The service is available to all University of Kent and University of Greenwich students and staff.

When and where is Dr Bike at Medway:

Dr Bike travels to the Medway campus once a month during term time between 12:30 and 15:30. His dates for the 2019/2020 academic year are:

Monday 18th November 2019

Thursday 23rd January 2020

Thursday 20th February 2020

Thursday 19th March 2020

Thursday 21st May 2020

Find Dr Bike outside the Deep End Student Hub on the Pembroke Campus.

Canterbury campus: 

The service is available to all University of Kent students and staff.

When and where is Dr Bike at Canterbury:

Dr Bike is on the Canterbury campus every Wednesday, during term time between 10:00 and 16:00.

Find Dr Bike at the Kent Sport Cycle Hub outside the Pavilion, on Park Wood road.

For any enquiries regarding bike hire or servicing, contact ByCycle on chris@easybycycle.co.uk or telephone 07842 636597. For more information see our cycling webpages.

Booking a Seat on the Campus Shuttle

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 are working with ‘Mobile Onboard’ to improve the booking system.

Due to a technical error with the shuttle booking system, it is currently unable to update the driver in real time with the number of seats booked for each journey. To combat this, we have implemented an interim solution.  We would like to inform those who did not see our tweets earlier this term, that currently it is necessary to book a seat by 4am on the day of travel.  This ensures a list of bookings can be given to the driver at the start of the day. Along with this,  the driver will request to see your ticket and Kent One card to validate your booking.

Booking a ticket is quick and easy. Please see our step by step guide on how to book 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 direction of travel for your journey and press ‘Book’. Choose the date and time you wish to travel and press ‘Select’. Check your booking details are correct and press ‘Get Ticket Now (Free)’.
  4. On ‘Your Tickets’ page, click ‘Show 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 Tickets.’
  2. Find the journey you need to cancel, and click on ‘Cancel Booking’.
  3. Confirm your decision and you will receive an email confirming the cancellation.

Please note that it is only possible to book a seat for journeys between Canterbury and Medway campuses. If there are spaces you are able to board the shuttle using your Kent One card to travel between any stops. You can also catch the 191 Arriva bus to travel between Medway campuses.

We are currently discussing with The Kings Ferry how to enable bookings between Medway stops in an effort to further improve the service for commuters.

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.

 

Planning your journey for adverse weather

With evenings getting darker, adverse weather on the horizon, and temporary road closures, knowing the best way to travel can be tricky. Whatever the situation, the Transport Team’s Planning your Journey page has been developed to help plan your commute.

Travel Advisors update the page regularly with new apps, webpages, and social media links that give up to date information on road, rail, bus, and bicycle travel.

Now that winter is looming, we are updating the Transport web pages with the latest adverse weather information, and we will also endeavor to update you on our twitter page if there are any travel disruptions on or around our campuses.

Remember that weather can change at any time. Be prepared for this before you start your journey, no matter the mode of transport.

Driving
Ensure that you and your vehicle are prepared for driving in adverse weather conditions. Read some top tips to prepare for driving during the winter and don’t forget to plan your journey before you leave so you are aware of any disruptions.

Public transport, cycling and walking

  • Plan your journey, check if there are problems on public transport or local roads
  • Delay your journey, if possible, to allow temperatures to rise and ice or snow to melt
  • Avoid footways in the shade. It takes longer for ice or snow to melt in the shade
  • Always wear appropriate footwear and reflective/bright clothing
  • Ensure that you have a torch or lights so motorists and others can see you when walking or cycling. Think Be Bright Be Seen.

 

 

Campus Shuttle Booking System

The Transport Team have become aware of an issue with the Campus Shuttle booking system, which has meant the drivers are unaware how many seats to keep free for Liberty Quays. We are working with Kings Ferry to find a permanent solution. In the meantime, Kings Ferry are implementing an interim solution to ensure that everyone who books a ticket can travel.

To guarantee a seat on the campus shuttle, you must book by 04:00am on the day of travel. This allows Kings Ferry to issue their drivers with a booking report confirming the number of tickets booked and a list of passenger names.  Any bookings made after this time will be subject to availability at the stop as the driver will be unaware that the booking has been made.

For a step by step guide on how to book a seat on the campus shuttle, please visit our website (https://www.kent.ac.uk/campus-shuttle/index.html).