Sustainable University Travel Choices: A roadmap to success

Recently we saw probably the most significant changes to transport in decades with the repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in regards to the big shift to Working from Home. There was also an associated shift in all levels of education, to studying from home (SFH).

The iMOVE project Promoting sustainable university travel choices looked to learn more about the emerging and intended commuting patterns of university staff and students post-pandemic and provide recommendations for suggested initiatives to influence sustainable travel behaviours and demand in a university environment.

Partners with us on this project were Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and the University of Sydney’s (USYD) Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. The project has been completed, and the final report is downloadable below.

Objectives

While there is a considerable amount if literature on travel plans, particularly in a workplace context, the case of University Sustainable Travel Plans (USTPs) appears to have received less attention.

With this in mind, the four specific objectives at the outset of this project were:

1. Establish, through means of a survey, intended return to campus plans of staff and students in the light of modified study and work modes;
2. Critique the draft TfNSW Travel Plan Toolkit in the light of the outcome of objective #1;
3. Building on the outcome of #1 and # 2, develop a University Travel Choices implementation plan for the USYD campus(es); and
4. Provide recommendations for suggested initiatives to influence sustainable travel behaviours and demand in a university environment.

Work on this project was informed by the NSW Government’s Travel Choices Program, the aim of which is to provide support for individuals, businesses and organisations making a shift to more sustainable ways of moving into, out of, and around Sydney.

It should also be said that while USYD returned to on-campus teaching in February 2022, many students retained a keen interest in hybrid modes of teaching and learning.

Methodology

This project used several avenues of investigation and analysis to make its recommendations.

Review of the staff and student travel plan literature

A rapid review was conducted of staff and student travel plan literature and selected university sustainable travel plans (USTPs) and return to campus plans.

USTPs reviewed included those from the University of NSW, University of Technology Sydney, Macquarie University, University of Wollongong, University of Queensland, and the University of Western Australia. These case studies formed part of a comparative review of the selected travel plans.

Surveys

Online surveys of staff and students’ travel behaviour at USYD in the light of modified study and work modes were conducted over 3 waves in 2022/23. They were structured into the following sections:

•Travel choices during COVID-19
•Views on travel and accessibility during COVID-19
•Travel choices in “COVID normal”
•Experiences and attitudes towards studying from home (SFH) / working from home (WFH) since the onset of COVID-19
•General attitudes towards COVID-19 (the response of Government, business and society)

Some results from the surveys :

• Regarding the modes used, staff members are much more likely to use their car to go to campus, and students are more likely to use public transport.
• Both staff and students’ express interest in being able to commute at less busy times in the future.
• Current and future planned travel behaviour has stabilised including mode choice, with both staff and students adopting a continued hybrid model of study/work from home and at campus. Study/working from home has declined across waves in line with a return to face-to-face teaching announced at USYD in the second half of 2023.
• Analysis of factors affecting daily decisions to work/study from home versus on campus suggest that student age plays a role in the probability of driving to campus. Staff member income played a role in decision making around mode type and likelihood of working from home.
• Data suggests travel behaviour was habitual, less sensitive to changes in both travel time and cost.
• The probability of students studying from home on weekdays decreased the further away the student lived. Moreover, most students that decide to attend campus instead of studying from home mainly use public transport, followed by active modes.
• Factors most likely to encourage the use of public transport for both staff and students were having more frequent services, followed by more direct routes and a better connection from campus to/from the station.
• Data analysis suggests that staff and students have very different mobility patterns, both in terms of trip purposes and the modes they use.
• In terms of the ranking order of factors which would encourage greater use of public transport, more direct routes was the one selected by staff and students as the most important with the highest frequency, followed by more frequent services.
• Students would be more encouraged to cycle to campus by more secure cycle parking, or by improved changing facilities and lockers.
• Staff members that said they would be encouraged to cycle to campus if there were improved cycle paths on the journey to campus or if there were arrangements to buy a bicycle at a discount are more likely to cycle to campus.

Workshops

A series of workshops were held, promoting thoughts and discussion on what a strategy for TDM at USYD might look like, involving USYD’s Sustainability and the TDM team from Transport for New South Wales.

Matters discussed at the initial workshop included:

• Target shifting travel demand across the week via customised market segmentation, noting that there are multiple categories of staff and students for whom different interventions will be required.
• Build on the existing co-operative partnership between USYD and the City of Sydney Council and extend this to include collaboration with TfNSW.
• Consider how targets for reduction in private car use contained in the university’s Sustainable Transport and Mobility Plan (STAMP) can be met through co-operation with TfNSW using the Travel Choices tools already developed by TfNSW.
• Exploitation of synergies with other aspects of the USYD Sustainability Strategy, including the target of 30% canopy cover by 2030 (which could include road space allocation on campus away from motorised vehicles) and commitment to developing active travel infrastructure to support active commuting.

The second workshop focussed on the co-design of interventions. A final workshop brought together USYD’s Sustainability team, and the Behavioural Architects with the TfNSW TDM team. At this event objectives were prioritised, triggers and barriers were identified, and interventions were considered, including analysis of what had and had not worked in the past.

Next steps

As an outcome of the workshops USYD has undertaken to work on a substantial behaviour change program for 2024 and there is a high level of interest and commitment from the university toward these goals and deliverables.

Amongst the conclusions from the work are:

• This project has made significant progress towards establishing staff and students travel behaviour in the light of modified study and work modes and understanding the drivers which influence people to come to campus.
• The findings from the data analysis of the three survey waves are diverse and encouraging as they are suggesting important drivers that should be considered when creating university travel demand management programmes to incentivise return to campus by sustainable modes of transport.
• The data analysis has highlighted the importance of being aware of the significant differences between staff and students, and between students who are undergraduate, postgraduate or are part-time.
• Many of the policy levers for driving travel behaviour change are somewhat limited and likely a function of habitual behaviour.
• Perhaps one upshot of COVID with respect to student behaviour, and reflected in WFH more generally, is greater resilience in learning outcomes when there are large transport network disruptions, or weather-related disruption.
• Overall, the ability to continue to WFH/SFH to some extent will likely continue to be the best option the University has for encouraging sustainable travel, by simply having staff and students continue to travel to campus less often during the week.

Expected project impacts

“It has been very rewarding to be involved in a project that has provided direct input into the formulation of university sustainable transport policy,”

Professor John Nelson – Chair Public Transport, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies

Download the final report and additional documents

Download your copy of the final report, Promoting Sustainable University Travel Choices, by clicking the button below.

We also have two additional project documents available for download:

• Promoting Sustainable University Travel Choices – Final report appendices
• Report on review of literature and selected university return to campus and travel plans