How to commute to university without an environmental impact

Greener Ways to Commute to University

Whether you’re at a campus uni or a city uni, you need some way to get to your lectures, and it would be nice to do so without feeling the trail of car fumes cut through the breathable atmosphere. Here’s a few ways to modify your travel and commute without harming the environment. 

Carshare or Bus

Five students each driving themselves to university creates five times as many emissions as one student driving four friends. So bust out that playlist and try car sharing! This requires a little more organisation and obviously for someone to have a car, but in city universities especially, where the commute is longer, it might be a worthwhile idea to save both petrol money and the environment.

Better yet, online apps or QR codes on buses allow you to get real-time information, meaning you can safely put off getting out of bed for as long as possible and know you’ll still make your bus. If you opt to take a coach, you can also access a Young Persons Coach Card, which is available for people aged 16-26 in full-time education. It gives you:

• 1/3 off fares,
• £15 deals on returns on certain days, and
• 15% off on specific events.

All for not much more than £1 a month!

Walking

Ok, yes, not everyone loves being caught in the rain, but what better way to walk off the sleepiness before a 9am lecture than strolling to it with your friends? Fresh air and seeing the sights is a great way to keep calm, happy, and exercised between busy university life.

Cycling

Another way to keep fit and help the environment is cycling to university. Not only is this greener, but it will definitely get you there quicker than walking, meaning that a valuable ten-minute lie-in doesn’t have to be sacrificed.

In London universities especially, where the roads are permanently busy and cycle lanes numerous, cycling is a good way to beat the traffic and always a nicer way to see the city. Besides, there are probably more places to chain your bike than there are car parking spaces in the competitive student car parks anyway.

If you would like to see how well cycling could work out for you, check out this guide to 10 bike-friendly cities for students.

Train

If you’re further away from uni and cycling requires waking up at dawn or earlier, public transport is still a better bet than cars. Of course, this can be more expensive, which isn’t fun if you have a tighter student budget, but you can get discounts with a railcard.

For Longer Journeys

Moving from home to university, or just going back after the holidays, may require a longer journey. Again, public transport is greener as it allows more people to travel per trip, but these can also be expensive.

Coaches

While coaches take longer, they can actually be significantly cheaper, saving your bank account too.

Bonus Tip: Rollerblading

So there you have several greener ways to commute to university! If you feel like shaking it up, rollerblading is always quicker than walking (but I would recommend a helmet). When term starts again, and you start heading out to lectures more often, you don’t have to harm the environment while doing so.