Students (and staff), on your bikes!

This year, NUS, the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, and Love to Ride began piloting an initiative to get more university students and staff cycling. The UniCycle project is funded by the Department for Transport’s Innovation Challenge Fund, and will adapt Love to Ride’s successful model, which uses smart phone and Fitbit data to incentivise participation.

To date, the model has engaged over 250,000 people in other sectors, achieving significant and lasting behaviour change. The project will work with six universities in England over the next year to co-develop and adapt the model for universities, building on progress made through established engagement programmes like Green Impact.

The pilot will look to quantify benefits, including:

• Happier and healthier individuals;
• Reduced transport carbon emissions;
• Financial savings through reduced sickness absence, and Employer National Insurance Contributions when staff buy bikes through the Cycle to Work Scheme;
• Making a concrete contribution to the Government’s target to double cycling by 2025.