De Montfort University Case Study

De Montfort University in Leicester are one of SmartGo's longest-serving members. Throughout the years, they have seen the strength of the SmartGo offers grow significantly as it has expanded far beyond its original concept. Here, Karl Letten, the Environmental & Sustainability Officer, explains how SmartGo membership helps the University encourage the use of more environmentally-friendly transport among its staff.

“Our staff and student body comprises around 23,000 students and 3,000 staff, which means that we have a large amount of people travelling to and from this campus every day.  

“This brings a significant challenge for the management of the university’s carbon footprint. As such, we have a stated commitment to reduce our carbon emissions and travel choices are a key part of this.

“We’ve been members of the SmartGo programme for a number of years now.

We highlight the range of benefits of the programme to new staff through their inductions and by getting information to them before they start. The range of SmartGo discounts includes bus and train tickets, e-bikes, clothing and many other offers that may benefit staff and students.

“We continue to receive very positive feedback on the programme from staff and have also used it at a corporate level by purchasing discounted cycle racking for our underground cycle storage facilities.

“We continually assess staff travel through an annual survey and this has shown that single occupancy journeys have reduced. There has also been an increase in more environmentally-friendly modes of transport used to travel to and from the university. The choice of SmartGo discounts has helped us to achieve these targets.”

Karl Letten, Environmental & Sustainability Officer at De Montfort University, Leicester.