Travel to IM Marsh - update
Travel to IM Marsh has been a hot topic this year and LiverpoolSU have worked with LJMU to introduce a £125 travel subsidy for LJMU students who have to travel to the IMM Campus and live in LJMU city centre halls. This subsidy has been put in place on the basis that the campus is unique as it is not city centre based, and thus students have to travel out to Aigburth to attend their lectures.
Whilst this initiative has received positive feedback, many students at IM Marsh who don't live in the city centre have voiced their concerns that they receive no support towards travel, whilst still having to pay the same costs to get to campus.
In response to this, Vice President Community Engagement, Dan Cole has been to IM Marsh campus to talk to students and get your feedback about travel issues. Using this feedback, and other feedback from emails, social media and an online petition set up by students, Dan created a paper that he took to the university senior management team along with the rest of your student sabbatical officer team.
This paper outlined the ongoing issues with travel to IM Marsh and explored different options that we proposed to better support students. The officers had a good debate with the university and the meeting was really positive. We have identified a new initiative that the university will be announcing on Monday 3rd November, after the current initiative comes to an end.
Dan commented, "I'm really pleased to have made this breakthrough and that through our continued work in partnership with the university, we're able to improve our offer for students. I hope this new initiative is one that more students at IM Marsh can benefit from."
I'm continuing to meet with local transport providers in Merseyside to ensure their offers for students are not only convenient, but are also affordable. I've spoken about working on a new route from Smithdown to Aigburth, cheaper fairs for students at all campuses, and better passes with fewer restrictions, and I'm really optimistic about the progress I'm making!'
As ever, we encourage you to continue to give us feedback on this area and other areas, so that your officer team continue to work on the issues that really matter to you to ensure you love student life as an LJMU student in Liverpool.
