Tag Archives: transport

Campus Shuttle New Booking System & Tracking

There is a new Campus Shuttle booking system for our free coach service between Canterbury and Medway campuses. Booking a seat on the service is essential for travel Tuesday 7 February 2023.

You will need to claim your annual travel pass, then you can book your seat(s) up to 2 weeks prior to travelling and up to 30 minutes before you travel. The bookings are applied to your annual travel pass. This can be accessed from the ‘my tickets’ section (the wallet icon if on a mobile). Select ‘View ticket’ and a QR code will appear for the drivers to scan as you board.

To book a seat on the Campus Shuttle Service visit the booking system. For more information on how to book a seat, please read the booking guide.

To track the Campus Shuttle service there is a new app called ‘University of Kent Travel’ which allows you to track the services in live time and is available from the Apple App store and Play Store for androids.

Find out more about the Campus Shuttle. Follow @CampusShuttle on twitter.

Single Bus Journeys for £2

The cost of a single bus journey has been capped at £2 on most Stagecoach and Arriva routes has now been extended until the end of June.

The Bus Fare Cap scheme is a Government funded scheme introduced on most single bus journeys across England from the 1st January 2023.

These tickets can be purchased on the bus apps or on board.

For more information please visit the Stagecoach webpage for Canterbury buses or the Arriva webpage for Medway buses.

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.

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:

Kings Ferry Coaches:

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.

Are You Aware of The 2022 Highway Code Changes?

There are some new Highway Code rules which will be coming into effect on the 29th January 2022, to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. These changes will create greater responsibility for drivers. Three of the biggest Highway Code changes have been explained below.

Rule H1: New Hierarchy of Road Users. Drivers of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to take care and reduce danger to others.

Rule H2: New Priority for Pedestrians at Junctions. At a junction, drivers, motorcyclists, horse riders and cyclists should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning. You should give way to pedestrians waiting to cross a zebra crossing (currently you only have to give way if they are already on the crossing), and to pedestrians and cyclists waiting to cross a parallel crossing.

Rule H3: New Priority for Cyclists When Cars are Turning. You should not cut across cyclists, horse riders or horse drawn vehicles going ahead when you are turning into or out of a junction or changing direction or lane. This applies whether they are using a cycle lane/track, or riding ahead on the road and you should give way to them. Do not turn at a junction if to do so would cause the cyclist, horse rider, or horse drawn vehicle going ahead to stop or swerve. You should stop and wait for a safe gap in the flow of cyclists if necessary.

It is vital to stay up to date with the Highway Code and it is easy to keep updated online:

GOV.UK provides a list of the latest Highway Code updates and let’s you see what has been amended. It also allows you to search for key words and phrases within The Highway Code, quickly move between related rules, follow links to the original laws that the rules are based on and print sections.
You can also sign up for email alerts and be notified whenever the Highway Code is being updated.
Follow @HighwayCodeGB on Twitter or Facebook for news of any updates and regular road safety reminders.
There is also the Official Highway Code app.

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.

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’,

Transport News

This blog is used for broadcasting information about transport and parking at the University of Kent.