From the Campus Survey last May we learned that campus inhabitants feel the need to improve the physical accessibility from our campus. Please read what the action plan is from Chief Operational Officer of Brightlands Chemelot Campus, Luc Lanclus:
With the ongoing growth of our campus in the years, need for parking facilities and challenges in securing accessibility will grow accordingly, unless we do something about our mobility. That’s why the Chemelot Campus joined the province wide community of companies under the Maastricht Bereikbaar umbrella, which gives us tools to create a more diverse mobility in the region, in order to prevent potential future traffic congestion due to the success of the region. Several initiatives have been or will be deployed.
Discover the e-bike program
As a first step, based on the mobility can in Summer 2016, we found out (e)-bikes have a large potential, since a majority of campus employees/students live within 20 km from the campus. The ‘discover the e-bike’ program was successfully launched in Spring, and it made quite a few people shift at least partly from car to bike. The need for extra bike storage was met by new investments in such facilities distributed over the campus.
Arriva services
End of 2016, a new public transportation provider Arriva made its appearance. They were willing to increase the frequency of bus transport between railway station Sittard-Geleen and the Campus, and have provided in concertation with the Maastricht University a tailor made solution for transporting students to the campus. With the support of the municipality Sittard-Geleen, investments in a large bus shelter at the campus entrance will be made, providing travellers proper accommodation while waiting. We are discussing additional Arriva services, including the availability of Arriva’s Next Bike program, which will allow bike sharing between campus and several railway stations and other relevant locations in the wide region under flexible conditions. This will be rolled out in 2018.
New pilot: Carpool Buttler application
Soon, a pilot with the Carpool Butler application will be rolled out: this allows people from the campus to discover who lives in their neighourhood and who is willing to commute to work. This service will also be provided in the most flexible way, including a return-home-guarantee. You will be about to find out more soon about this. This also may be a nice way to meet other campus people and broaden your network. Next to this, investments in biking highway, cooperation with the Chemelot Industrial Park in the area of mobility are under way.
Opening new parking garage
As you can read in this November Newsletter, the new parking garage will be officially opened on November 27, 2017. This is the project that closed the wave of investments of the past few years, which changed the overall impression and experience of the Brightlands Chemelot Campus drastically. It also addresses the increased need for parking infrastructure, created both by growth of the campus, and the policy to remove cars from the Campus, giving it back to the safety of pedestrians.
In doing all this, we hope the campus community contributes to a smooth future accessibility and sustainable mobility.
