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National Award for University Travel Plan

 

Steve Egan and Stuart Laird Bournemouth University has won a prestigious 'Green Gown' Award for its highly successful Travel Plan.

The continued success of Bournemouth University's Travel Plan has been recognised in this year's ‘Green Gown' Awards. The Awards highlight positive actions taken by higher education institutions across the country to achieve sustainability in areas such as energy and water efficiency, waste management, construction and transport.

Bournemouth's Travel Plan was announced as winner of the Transport Category, beating off strong competition from the University of Gloucester and Edge Hill College of Higher Education who were each ‘highly commended'.

The Awards are organised by The Higher Education Environmental Performance Improvement (HEEPI) project, which is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Announcing the award, Peter Hopkinson, co-director of HEEPI, said the judges were impressed by the growth in bus passenger numbers in Bournemouth that had resulted from improvements to the Unilinx bus service as well as the importance that had been placed on communication of the plan. The judges also noted that senior management buy-in to the Plan had been demonstrated by them giving up their own reserved spaces.

“Work on our Travel Plan has raised the profile of the need for a more sustainable approach to transport among staff and students,” says Stuart Laird, Bournemouth University's Travel Plan Co-ordinator who accepted the award at the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges national conference. “The user benefits for staff, students and the community have been varied and widespread and our efforts to further reduce the University's impact on the environment will continue as will our efforts to raise awareness of more sustainable modes of transport.”

Particular benefits of Bournemouth University's travel plan to date include:

  • greater individual choice about travel to the University;
  • an easy to use, free and comprehensive car share scheme linking drivers and passengers online;
  • purpose built shower and locker facilities and secure lock-ups for cyclists on both campuses;
  • a much improved Unilinx bus service, including new buses which are more attractive, comfortable and accessible, with passenger information at front, rear and side;
  • significantly improved transport information.

Bournemouth University 's Travel Plan won the Public Sector category of the 2005 Dorset Travel Plan Awards. The institution's environment awareness campaign, fronted by an ever-present ‘Green Frog', was highly commended in last year's Green Gowns.

 

CONTACTS

Bournemouth University Press office:

press@bournemouth.ac.uk

Charles Elder; Tel: +44 (0) 1202 961032; Mob: (07768) 771870

Zoë Monk ; Tel: +44 (0) 1202 961033; Mob: (07738) 143100

 

9th May 2006

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