Mobility
Mobility at the University of Lucerne encompasses the everyday commuting behavior of university members and business trips in Switzerland and abroad. This includes study and research visits lasting several months. The University of Lucerne strives for sustainable mobility. It restricts climate-damaging means of travel and promotes more climate-friendly alternatives.
Commuting
In terms of local transportation, members and visitors of the University of Lucerne can benefit from the close proximity to the train station and Lucerne's bicycle network. There are no parking spaces available at the University of Lucerne. This relieves traffic in the city center and reduces environmental impacts (e.g. exhaust emissions).
Student Mobility
The University of Lucerne currently offers the program Greener Mobility, which is aimed at both incoming and outgoing students. The grants are awarded by Movetia as part of the Swiss Erasmus+ programs. The financial contributions of CHF 100 towards the respective rail journey are intended to promote environmentally friendly mobility within Europe for university members.
Business Travel
Business travel is an important part of a university's scientific work – it enables exchange with international research partners, participation in conferences, and the further development of projects and collaborations. At the same time, air travel in particular has a significant impact on the greenhouse gas balance.
In order to achieve its net-zero target by 2040 and thus fulfill its responsibility for climate protection, the University of Lucerne is committed to reducing its flight emissions and promoting more sustainable alternatives.
University members need to decide for themselves whether travel is necessary at all or whether the event can be attended online. If travel is necessary, it must be clarified whether to travel by train or plane (observe the rules in the expenses regulations). The decision tree provided by Movetia, the national agency for the promotion of exchange and mobility in the education system, can help with this.
When choosing the means of transport for any journey, researchers and employees of the University of Lucerne must observe the rules set out in the expenses regulations and the associated ‘Expenses’ information sheet. Air travel is only reimbursed if the journey to the destination would take more than 7 hours by train. The Sustainability Office provides a list of important travel destinations in Europe and the corresponding train journey times from Lucerne railway station. The list shows whether the train journey is compulsory or optional.
Individual faculties also have their own stricter regulations. For example, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences does not support air travel of less than 1000 kilometers.
