Transition plan sustainable mobility 2020-2030

Objectives for 2030

Ghent University is implementing an integrated mobility policy aimed at ensuring accessible campuses, improving road safety, and reducing the environmental impact of commuting by staff and students.

To achieve this:

• Ghent University aims for 80% sustainable mobility by 2030. For the remaining car use, priority is given to shared and electric vehicles;

• The STOP principle is applied on every campus: cyclists have access to nearby bike parking, the number of car parking spaces is reduced to the strict minimum and clustered together; the (freed-up) open space is maximally repurposed for active mobility and green, unpaved areas;

• Ghent University actively contributes to sustainable urban logistics;

• Ghent University collaborates closely and constructively with experts, students, policy makers, and partners such as the City of Ghent, De Lijn, and others on sustainable mobility and traffic safety.

Key Milestones Achieved

• A comprehensive set of measures to promote sustainable mobility.

• A parking policy where staff living within 5 km of work do not receive standard parking rights.

• No investment in new parking infrastructure when sufficient capacity exists within a 15-minute walking distance from the workplace.

• Pilot projects to make delivery processes more efficient and sustainable, including centralized hubs and green "last mile" delivery solutions to the campuses.

Actions 2025–2028

• Integrate sustainable mobility objectives into campus development plans.

• Use planned construction and renovation projects as leverage to implement parts of the campus plan relating to sustainable mobility, such as:

  • reorganizing parking near the UFO campus in conjunction with the construction of a new bicycle building;

  • reorganizing parking on the Sterre campus in line with the new S11 building project.

• Seize opportunities and quick wins to accelerate the implementation of approved campus plans, e.g., by launching subsidy applications and living labs, encouraging and supporting bottom-up initiatives, such as:

  • further development of the Blandijn parking area for bicycles.

• Provide sufficient EV charging stations, within the limits of the reduced and clustered parking capacity.

• Implement, evaluate, and adjust sustainable mobility measures as adopted by the Board on 10/12/2020 (parking policy, pedestrian allowance, company car regulations, etc.).

• Introduce a bike leasing system to allow the cost of purchasing a bicycle (including e-bikes, speed pedelecs, etc.) to be spread over time, lowering the barrier to ownership.

• Continue to experiment with sustainable urban logistics (third pilot project), in which Ghent University provides its own central hub for package deliveries, which are then consolidated and delivered via a green last mile to the campuses.

Where do we stand?

This is how our staff commutes from home to work.