TRAVEL troubles potentially caused by a 6.4 per cent increase in student and staff numbers at the University of York have been overcome as the number of cycle trips to the campus increases by almost 10 per cent.

The university has prepared a new five-year travel plan, which has resulted in it winning this year's Best Sustainable Travel Initiative award.

In 2011, the university began its financial support for a new bus service between its Heslington Campus, York city centre and the railway station.

The service offered staff and students free inter-campus travel and a range of ticketing initiatives were arranged by the university to encourage onwards travel to the city centre by bus, which saw service-user figures increase by 62 per cent from 2011/12 to 2013/14.

As well as promoting and facilitating bus use, the university has implemented a wide range of initiatives to encourage cycling and the evidence suggests they are working. The annual surveys recording the number of cycle trips to the university indicate they have increased by 9.9 per cent since 2012.

Judges said they were impressed by the University of York’s investment of resource into improving travel arrangements for both staff and students. They described the methods used to overcome limited car parking on campus as being "truly innovative", and praised the university’s large scale communications and branding strategy, that has ensured that students have access to all the information they need about sustainable travel.

The judges were especially impressed by plans for a new Travel Hub to open in March 2016.