The University and the University Students' Council have launched a campaign to discourage the use of cars for personal transport by students to get to campus.

The Green Travel Plan, as the initiative is called, is aimed principally as promoting car pooling or the use of public transport.

However the task will not be an easy one. Dr Maria Attard, director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and one of the promoters of the initiative, told a press conference this morning that a survey had shown that a quarter of students are against car pooling.

She said the university wanted to promote cleaner travel choices, but it should be made easier for the students to make such choices - by having efficient public transport and safe pedestrian access to the University. In this context, it was pointed out that many students have to cross busy Birkirkara by-pass to get to the University.

In the short term, the initiative will focus on an information campaign to promote public transport. Arriva has informed the University that its buses will pick up students from 57 localities in its routes to the University from next month.

In the medium term, a Green Plan committee will establish a  car sharing database and work on enhancing the car parking scheme on campus.  

http://www.um.edu.mt/isd/greentravel