It is also important to consider whether the venue has safe and secure cycle storage to encourage your guests to travel sustainably.
Active travel refers to travel modes that rely upon a level of activity. This might include walking, cycling, scootering and more.
Things to consider with travel
- Audience and requirements
- Access to public transport
- Safety when traveling
- Active travel facilities
- Distance required to travel
What impacts could transport choice have on the environment?
Factors such as distance, cost, facilities and knowledge of the location all contribute to the method of transport used by attendees. It is important to know how people are getting to and from the venue so that you know what the impact will be on the environment. If attendees all travel by car, this will contribute significantly to air pollution and will increase the carbon footprint of the event.
Review your options
Active travel: Walking, cycling or scootering is the best option for the environment and public health. If your venue is of a suitable distance and has safe and secure facilities, active travel is a cheap way for your attendees to get to and from the event venue.
Public transport: Whether it is a train, a bus, tram or the metro, public transport can be a hassle-free transport option, especially for events in well connected areas, like the city.
Shared transport: Implementing a car-pool scheme or organising a shuttle bus between the venue and a train or bus station can be great for larger events, preventing too many people from driving unnecessarily.
Top Tip! Reach out to our partners Peloton Co-op to find out if you can offer bike hire to event attendees for the duration of the event or conference.
Communicate
When advertising the event, encourage the use of active and public transport by providing information about cycling facilities and transport routes. You might consider actively discouraging the use of individual cars by providing alternatives such as a carpool scheme or shuttle bus between the venue and train station or hotels as an alternative.
Top Tip! Scheduling events during times when staff and students are more likely to be on campus could negate the need for additional travel required for the event. If the event is on during a time and day that staff and students are already on campus, you are likely to get higher attendance and lower the need to travel.
Data and feedback
It is important for us to have data on carbon emissions associated with event travel so that we can report effectively and transparently, achieving our net zero goal. Asking attendees how far they will travel, and which mode of transport they opt for, is a straightforward way of gathering travel data. You could do this by including a survey within the invitation to the event.
For example: Tick which mode(s) of transport you will use for the event: Walk, bicycle, train, car, bus. Please provide an estimate of how many miles you will travel to the event.
Example
Guild Awards
Liverpool Guild of Students host an annual awards ceremony to celebrate the activities, events, and efforts of University of Liverpool Students.
To understand stakeholder travel behaviours, and work out carbon footprint from travelling to and from the event, the Guild asked attendees for basic details on their travel. They used the following wording to request activity data and explain why it was required:
We are capturing information about how people plan to travel to Guild Awards to help us assess the carbon footprint of this event, in line with the Guild’s
Sustainability Policy and our Green Impact Accreditation.
How will you travel to Guild Awards? Please tick more than one box if you plan to use different modes of transport.
- Walk
- Cycle
- Rail
- Bus
- Car
How far approximately will you travel to Guild Awards?
These questions provide activity data required to calculate carbon footprint resulting from travel.
Back to: Sustainability