Salford University encourages students to travel more sustainably

Salford University have teamed up with ‘Faxi’, an online platform and mobile app which helps people to arrange shared journeys, n order to help student travel more sustainably around to help cut harmful emissions

‘Faxi’ has just won the new mobility innovator of the year award at the TRANStech Awards. It allows people to share regular journeys, through a variety of methods, whether this be car, on foot or even bike. All sustainable journeys are logged, and rewarded, with the app acting as an incentive to travel more sustainably.

Miss Sasha Duchnowska, a student at the University of Salford, drives to university, and had never heard of ‘Faxi’ until recently. She explained: “ I choose to drive to uni, it’s so much easier than getting the bus, as the bus was always unreliable and so i’d end up with an hour long commute to uni.

“In the car it only takes 10 to 15 minutes – it’s so much easier, but I do wish it was better for the environment”.

Try carpooling to work and receive benefits and incentives from your employer. Register your organisation today https://t.co/6A6Z67QRNx pic.twitter.com/6TL1ZBjlrW

— Faxi Ridesharing (@Faxijourneys) September 24, 2019

Users of the app can share the cost of journeys, all within the app itself, which makes parking much cheaper. Most carparks also offer the option of cheaper parking for car sharing. ‘Faxi’ provides proof that a person has carshares in order to earn them a place in a cheaper spot.

This makes the app perfect for the University of Salford, as students like Miss Duchnowska often pay for parking, especially in MediaCity. She explained : “There is parking at MediaCity but it is so expensive! I end up parking in the Lowry, but that still charges me £1 an hour, which doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up.

“Car pooling and sharing would make life so much easier – sharing the price means that I can park right by uni, which is great for when I’m in a bit of a rush”.

Car sharing is a more sustainable way to travel, making a big impact on the amount of air pollution, and is a great way to get to know your colleagues or classmates.