ways2work > How to do it > Creating your ways2work plan > EXECUTE your initiative > 5 travel reduction tips for organisations of all sizes
5 travel reduction tips for organisations of all sizes
No matter how large or small your organisation, you can encourage your employees to educate themselves about the benefits of travelling well for individual health, their organisation as well as the environment. In addition, you can encourage four more specific actions that employees can take when deciding on their best travel options for commuting to work or travelling for business.
These five employee actions and the ways in which employers can support them are shown below, alongside relevant Top Ten Action Tips provided by the Energy Saving Trust.
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Employers can encourage employees to... |
Supportive actions that employers can take |
Energy Saving Trust Top Ten Tips |
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Educate themselves about the health, environment and business benefits of sustainable travel |
Raise awareness of sustainable travel benefits and encourage cycling, walking and use of public transport when travelling. Check out our Useful Resources section for online tools, research and other information you can use. |
Raise awareness of travel issues through your company newsletter or perhaps an email Promote the health benefits of walking and cycling Move cycle racks near the entrance of your building. This shows cyclists you value them and also provides a statement of intent to employees and clients alike Support national initiatives such as 'Bike2Work' |
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Telecommunicate with colleagues when appropriate |
Supply and incentivise use of information technology that supports video-/teleconferencing and home/remote working |
Identify staff who would be suited to working from home, even just once a fortnight Log the number of miles and hours saved by the use of video conferencing. Then use the data to encourage your staff |
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Locate and schedule meetings to minimise single occupancy travel time |
Promote use of journey planning websites and avoid peak congestion periods |
Encourage meeting venues that are accessible via public transport Try to be flexible about start and finish times if this enables use of public transport |
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Consolidate individual journeys into one where possible |
Provide access to websites and software that support car sharing |
Don't provide fuel for private use on company cars |
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Evaluate the environmental and wellness impacts of your journey and select the optimal transport option |
Encourage use of environmental impact travel calculators (see Useful Resources section for list) |
Post up-to-date local bus and train timetables on company notice boards |
Sustainable and reduced travel in four easy steps
Four of the reduced and sustainable travel tips above (Telecommunicate -> Locate -> Consolidate -> Evaluate) correspond to the elements of a travel planning decision tree developed by the Energy Saving Trust (shown below). Steering Group companies have used this decision tree for their own travel planning purposes and it can be used by other businesses as well.
