Green guide: Alternative transport

A few years ago the green transport agenda was all about companies looking for credibility with customers. Now, however, with the tumultuous credit crunch year the UK has suffered, the question of costs has come to the forefront.

In the UK the car is by far the most popular method of travel for business, accounting for 80% of all usage – compared to 8% on foot, 4% by train, 2% by bus and 1% by bicycle – according to the Department for Transport (DfT). And work-related car journeys account for nearly 40% of car CO2 emissions.

Heather McInroy, programme director at the National Business Travel Network – a DfT initiative – says: “Five or 10 years ago companies that operated alternative transport policies were those that purely wanted to be seen as green. But now, with the economic crisis, it’s all about making quick bottom line savings – and changing how employees travel is a very good way of doing that.”

The easiest alternative to the car is rail, which often gets a bad press and sometimes has a reputation for being unreliable and expensive.

But improvements on the network, especially the West Coast main line linking London with Manchester, have improved journey times, reliability and comfort – and the rail industry is accountable for less than 1% of the UK’s CO2 emissions. 

“It’s important to book tickets in advance – in some instances you can even get first class cheaper than standard class,” says McInroy. “And research has shown that people are very productive on trains.”

According to studies carried out by the University of the West of England, one-third of business travellers spend most of their time during journeys working and studying, while a quarter read for leisure and one-in-10 people just watch and gaze.  

McInroy adds: “The relaxing side of things might not sound like it is of business benefit but I’d argue it is – you are much more refreshed for your meeting than if you are tired from driving.”

Train travel is always more carbon friendly when travelling alone, but when workers are travelling in groups, it is often more cost effective to send them by car. 

McInroy explains: “It’s about making the best choice for the situation.”

Rail can also work well over longer distances. A good example is the Eurostar service from London to Paris, which emits a tenth of the CO2 compared to a plane.

Health and Safety benefits

As well as contributing financially and environmentally, getting staff out of cars and on to alternative transport can impact on health and safety.

The former parliamentary under-secretary of state for transport, Jim Fitzpatrick, revealed earlier this year that three-quarters of all work-related deaths are on the road, and that a third of all road collisions involve people that are driving from work.

He said: “That results in about 1,000 people dying every year and many thousands more suffering serious injuries. Some of the drivers involved may have been driving at an inappropriate speed, or using a phone and therefore not concentrating on the road. Or they were simply tired.”

By encouraging safer work travel, fleets will also be able to save money on insurance premiums. 

Chelmsford Electrical is a prime example – its annual insurance premiums have fallen from £1,350 to £550 per vehicle over the past seven years. 

One of the most popular methods for encouraging workers to use alternative transport is the implementation of a green transport programme.

According to a survey carried out by the Times last month, there has been a 6.9% rise in the number of workers being encouraged to take up car sharing and public transport over the past year. But it is changing people’s attitudes to travel that can be the biggest challenge.

Jonathan Willoughby, director of management consultancy W5ive, says: “The first question people need to ask themselves is ‘do I need to make this journey at all?’.

“If the answer is yes, then it’s about making the right choices. People are getting into it a bit more now, but companies have to remember that it’s all about good communication with employees and making a compelling enough case for the change.”

At Heathrow, British Airports Authority’s car share scheme has saved an estimated 247,820kg of CO2 per month.

The bank HBOS, which has 66,000 employees across the UK, also operates a successful travel regime to get people out of cars. It offers employees a carbon calculator which shows them the emissions generated per journey whether travelling by air, rail or road. Staff are incentivised to share lifts. 

Between 2006 and 2008 the number of staff taking up cycle schemes rose from 144 to 522. There was also an increase in public transport travel pass apllications through HBOS’s interest-free loan scheme. Both methods can be used for business travel.

Case study: BT

BT aims to reduce its UK climate change impact by 80% below 1997 levels by 2016 and its business travel is key to hitting this target.

The telecommunications firm runs 29,480 commercial vehicles and 7,916 company cars, managed under contract by its subsidiary BT Fleet.

As well as encouraging employees to choose low emission vehicles and take on more flexible working, BT is introducing initiatives to get staff out of cars altogether. 

During the 2009 financial year, the distance travelled by its commercial fleet fell by 9.5% and the company car fleet by 22.5% compared to the previous year.

A BT spokesman said: “We continue to encourage our employees to use low carbon travel and to use BT’s conferencing facilities to avoid travel altogether.

“In the UK we negotiated a discount on one busy route to encourage people to travel by
train instead of flying. We plan to make similar arrangements for other routes.”

BT is also updating conferencing and remote collaboration tools to encourage wider use of the facilities, resulting in significant CO2 reductions.

In addition, BT has one of the largest flexible working projects in Europe, with 89,500 employess taking part in BT Workstyle. This has helped to encourage a 20% reduction in business travel between 2006 and 2008.