Every day, thousands of students and staff travel to and from EUR's campuses — and mobility is one of the largest contributors to the university's carbon footprint. Making that travel more sustainable means addressing it from every angle: how people commute day to day, how the university itself organises business travel, and how our campus connects to the wider transport network.
Our ambition
Through the Rotterdam Climate Agreement, EUR has committed to reducing CO2 emissions from passenger transport by at least 50% by 2030, compared to 2016 levels. Mobility, including business travel and commuting, is a significant contributor to EUR's scope 3 emissions, which the university aims to bring to net-zero by 2035.
The Rotterdam Climate Agreement is a joint commitment among Rotterdam-based organisations, coordinated by the municipality of Rotterdam, to accelerate the region's transition to sustainable mobility. It covers everything from public transport and cycling infrastructure to the electrification of vehicle fleets across the city.
Where we stand — 2025
Commuting
EUR encourages employees and students to choose more sustainable ways of getting to campus: cycling and walking are good for both health and the environment, while public transport is often a practical and sustainable alternative to the car. Driving remains an option but EUR deliberately does not incentivise car commuting through its travel and parking policies. To understand commuting patterns, every EUR employee records their mode of transportation to campus through the employee portal.
- Electric vehicle charging points for e-bikes and e-scooters are available in the bicycle shed.
- The bicycle repair shop on campus offers repairs, maintenance, and also sells (e-)bikes.
- Several stands on campus offer shared electric scooters.
- Three public bicycle pumps are available across Woudestein campus.
- The bicycle scheme reimburses employees for half the purchase price of a bicycle, e-bike, or electric scooter used for commuting, up to a set maximum. Since 2023, this has been available to all employees immediately after their probationary period, rather than only after a year of employment.
- The campus is easily accessible by metro, tram, or bus.
- Employees using public transport for their commute benefit from the public transport scheme, which no longer has an upper reimbursement limit.
- On weekdays, employees can use their NS Business Card for business trips involving OV-fiets (public bicycles), and park their own bicycle at the station free of charge.
- A public transport card charging point on campus allows employees and students to top up tickets and subscriptions conveniently.
- The tax-free kilometre allowance has deliberately not been increased from €0.19 to €0.23 per kilometre. This was a decision taken jointly by the Executive Board and the Erasmus Labour Council to discourage commuting by car.
- Employees commuting by car can only claim tax-free kilometre allowance for a maximum of 30 km of travel each way.
- Since 1 January 2024, the employee parking day rate has increased by €0.50, and free parking days for employees no longer exist.
- 22 electric vehicle charging points are available at the Plaza Parking, to support the use of electric vehicles.
Zero-emission zone
Campus Kralingse Zoom, the shared site of Erasmus University and Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, has been added to Rotterdam's expanding zero-emission zone. Since 2025, all new vans and trucks operating within the zone must be emission-free. This zone was developed in collaboration with students through the City Logistics Living Lab project, connecting EUR's own campus development directly to student research on sustainable urban logistics.