Changes to the University bus fares

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A Unibus waits alongside a bus shelter at the University's Kedleston Road site

So you’ve heard about the change to University of Derby bus fares? This is a change that has been introduced to support the environmental sustainability of the university.

From 1st August 2025, a single journey on the unibus will be £2 at peak times, with discounts offered if you are travelling off-peak, and termly/annual passes are also available. For more information on the fares visit the public transport pages on the university website.

We know that many of you have concerns about the university’s decision to introduce charges for the Uni bus service. As a Union we have been actively involved in the consultation process, including attending consultation meetings and offering the opportunity for students to share their feedback in focus groups.

With the recent announcement being communicated to students, we understand the frustrations and concerns you've raised. We wanted to let you know that your concerns about affordability, accessibility, and sustainability, have been passed along to the university and we will continue to work alongside them to monitor the impact of these changes and advocate for improvements.

Holly Lloyd, Union President

With the change, we hope to see an increase in students choosing active travel over bus rides, opting to walk or cycle the short distance between campuses, which are all within 30 minutes' walk of the halls of residence in the city centre.

We hope that students take reassurance in knowing that the income from the bus fares will be used to improve the services and combat the overcrowding issues by introducing improved frequency and routes.

If you wish to be kept up to date on bus news, or are interested in starting campaign on this issue, please complete our online form. You can also give feedback on the ideas forum.

If you're facing challenges or simply need someone to talk to, whether it's about your wellbeing, studies, or anything else, the Union Advice team, along with the Student Services at the University of Derby, are here to help. You're not alone, and support is always available whenever you need it.

Comments

Hannah Wilson: 2:12pm on 2 May 25 This change is not positive, as we are being told, and the reasons we are being given for this change are all untrue. First, this decision does not support environmental sustainability or any other kind of sustainability. In terms of environmental sustainability, it will not help the environment. I don't believe charging for the unibuses will encourage people to walk; instead, it will encourage more people to either bring their cars to university and drive or to get Ubers or taxis to campus, which is worse for the environment. Furthermore, charging for the buses won't reduce the number of buses that are running, and a bus will produce the same amount of emissions whether you charge people to get on or not; therefore, the same amount of emissions will be created whether the buses are free or charged for. In terms of social sustainability, this is not a sustainable decision. This decision actively goes against the idea of inclusion, which is an integral part of social sustainability. It appears the only solution for getting to campus without having to pay will be walking; however, for some people, including people with disabilities, people who are pregnant, people who are newly post-partum and people who have sustained certain injuries, walking to campus is not possible. This decision asks those groups of people to pay simply to get to campus. It is especially unfair when those groups often already have to pay more for things they need to live their lives, like medical appointments, accessibility equipment and accessible living spaces. This change is also not inclusive of commuter students. For those taking the train, the campus is not a 30-minute walk away; instead, it's about an hour's walk away, which for many people is an unreasonable walk. When commuter students already have to pay a lot to get to Derby, making them pay more to get to campus once they're in Derby is unreasonable and not inclusive. This change will also likely cause fewer people to want to come to societies. This will be especially true for societies where members need to bring often heavy equipment to sessions. A dip in society memberships will happen as people will be less motivated to come to society events held on campus if they have to pay to get there. This is not socially sustainable as if fewer students feel motivated to go to societies, it will cause more students to be lonely, which could be extremely damaging to students' mental health. Finally, in terms of economic sustainability, the only people for which this is arguably economically sustainable is the university. From the perspective of a student, this is not economically sustainable. I frequently hear of students needing to access things like food banks because the cost of living is still sky high and student finance isn't keeping up with the cost of living. In 2023, the Russell group found that one in four students regularly went without food due to being unable to afford it. They also found that in the UK, on average, students lived just £2 above the destitution line. Considering all of this, making people pay £2 a trip for the unibuses is unreasonable, especially as I have previously mentioned that £2 would put the average UK student on the destitution line. Proof of the mentioned statistics can be found here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/06/18/a-cost-of-learning-crisis-poverty-among-university-students/ Considering all of this, it is clear to me that the only reason this decision has been made is because the university wants even more of our money. This decision is clearly not in the best interests of any student.
Will Hill: 5:23pm on 1 May 25 That doesn't solve the underlying problem which is we were sold free buses and transport networks and this is only going to cause more harm to the Uni societies. If you want to provide a realistic solution during winter operate the buildings at lower temperatures as the financial reports shows the highest share of energy consumption to be Gas for heating NOT buses

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Published: 01 May 2025 16:05 , Last updated: 01 May 2025 16:05