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About us

Sustainable Travel

As a university with global reach, and over 160 nationalities on campus. We recognise the impact that the travel of students and staff has on the environment.  

Our 2018/19 business travel of 31.93 Million km and the 2,385 litres of fuel we used in our own vehicles account for 9,919 tCO2e of our 2018/19 carbon footprint (38.4%). Long-haul flights made up at least 87% of our business travel footprint. 

Cycling Initiatives

London is a public transport and cycle-friendly city with a range of cycle routes which enable easy commuting to all of our campuses, providing the opportunity to keep fit and reduce the emissions produced by the University's activities.

We actively promote cycling a healthy travel option for journeys to, from and between the campuses by providing storage, facilities, workshops and guides. Through this promotion we aim to reduce our commuting and business travel emissions while disseminating healthy and low emission travel into our staff and students’ personal travel choices.

See our student cycle guide below for some key information.

QMUL Student Cycle Guide [PDF 5,203KB]

Bike Storage

Queen Mary University has installed cycle pods and cycle shelters at our Mile End and Charterhouse Square Campus. The pods and shelters provide secure cycle storage to students and staff. To register for access please complete the form below and a member of staff will be in touch with more information.

Eco friendly bike storage in front of Bancroft building

The Mile End bike pods are located in:

  • YELLOW POD - Residences (between France House & Creed Court)
  • GREEN POD - Outside Students' Union Hub/Nest
  • PINK POD - Library Square/Geography Building
  • BLUE POD - Outside QMotion Gym and Sports Hall
  • CYCLE SHELTER - Library Square in front of Bancroft
  • CYCLE SHELTER - Feilden House

Mile End Cycle Storage Registration Form 2024/25 (Queen Mary login required)

Please refer to the campus map to locate your nearest pod.

The Charterhouse Square pods are located between John Vane and Wolfson Building.

Charterhouse Square Cycle Pod Registration Form (Queen Mary login required)

Please refer to the campus map on this page to locate the pods.

Staff based at Department W are able to use the secure cycle storage area in the basement.

Cycle Safety & Training

Transport for London offer a range of tips for all road users, including cyclists, to help minimise the chance of incidents occurring; with simple tips on keeping yourself visible and advice on how to avoid placing yourself in potentially dangerous situations.

Locally, there is free 1-2-1 cycle training available for Tower Hamlets residents. Whether getting on a bike for the first time or tackling a particularly tricky section of a journey, the training is tailor-made to your needs!

Bike Security

It is important to ensure that, wherever you park your bike, steps are taken to ensure it is not seen as a potential target for thieves. Bicycles should be locked securely to a solid object using a solid D-lock and/or two locks to avoid the risk of theft. Please note that QMUL does not accept any liability for theft or damage to bicycles left anywhere on its estate.

We encourage all cyclists to get their bikes security marked – the Metropolitan Police offer a number of events where bikes can be marked free of charge, while further information on registering your bike to aid in its recovery is available on the Bike Register website.

Find out more about bike security here.

Additional Bike Facilities

A bike pump is available in the cycle shelter at Mile End next to Beaumont Court (Building 53).

Shower and changing facilities are available at the following locations on our London campuses:

Mile End

  • Queens’ Building, Basement
  • Graduate Centre, 3rd & 4th Floor
  • Fogg Building, Ground Floor
  • Bancroft Building, Ground Floor
  • Scape Building, Ground Floor
  • QMotion Gym (membership required)

A mechanic from Dr Bike doing a check-up on a student's bike.

Whitechapel

  • Department W, Basement
  • Blizard Building, Basement
  • Empire House, Basement

We often hold free bike maintenance sessions. The bike mechanic will look at the brakes, tyres, gears and the general road-worthiness of your bike. They will fix problems with your bike if possible. Otherwise they will advise you on what is wrong so you can take your bike to a bike shop and explain the problem.

We also partner with refurbished bicycle specialists Recycle Your Cycle. Their partner charities rescue abandoned bicycles, then train prisoners and disadvantaged groups to refurbish them. This gives them valuable technical skills that they can use in the workplace. Recycle Your Cycle sell adult bikes at bargain prices on campus a couple of times a year, so keep an eye out!

Cycle to Work Scheme

As part of the Government's Green Transport Plan Initiative and in line with Queen Mary’s well-being policy, the cycle to work scheme aims to encourage staff to cycle to work by offering significant savings on the cost of bikes and accessories. It is a salary sacrifice scheme that allows you to pay for the bike in monthly instalments whilst saving through tax and NI exemptions.

For more information go to www.cyclescheme.co.uk/9b1f77 where you will find:

  • An online calculator to work out your monthly payments and how much you could save.
  • A short video on how the scheme works.
  • Shop finder for participating independent bike shops - just enter a postcode.

Public Transport

All of our campuses are in areas with excellent public transport provision. Mile End campus can be accessed from both Mile End and Stepney Green tube stations, served by the District, Central, and Hammersmith & City lines, plus bus services. Our Whitechapel campus can be accessed from Whitechapel station, which is served by the District, Hammersmith & City, Elizabeth and London Overground lines, plus bus services. To plan your journey to these, or any other of our campuses, visit the TFL website here. You can also check live status updates here.

Santander Cycles are also available to rent at docking stations near our campuses. Find more information on the TFL website here, including a live map of docking stations and bike availability.

Commitments: Transport and Travel

  • We will apply the lessons learned from remote working in lockdown to encourage people to focus more on essential travel only, and to keep air travel to a minimum.
  • We will continue to promote and share evidence of the good practice of sustainable transport (cycling, walking and public transport) as well as the public health and environmental impacts of transport emissions.
  • We will implement a “no vehicle idling” policy across all our UK campuses.
  • We will develop proposals to incentivise use of “greener” vehicles on campus (e.g. installation of EV charging points, possible parking levy).
  • We will continue to increase the infrastructure and facilities across our campuses that support cycling and sustainable travel.

Please email sustainability@qmul.ac.uk if you have any questions.

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