Travel plans

Overview

A travel plan is a plan produced by employers to encourage staff to switch to more environmentally friendly ways to travel to work.

A plan could include:

car sharing schemes
a commitment to improving cycling facilities
a dedicated bus service
restricted car parking
promoting flexible-working practices such as access to work computers from home and video conferencing

The benefits of adopting a Travel Plan

Producing a travel plan can be beneficial to organisations and their employees, but also to the community.

An organisation can:

save money by reducing the cost of providing parking spaces
reduce staff travel costs
reduce the costs of running a fleet
enhance their image in the community and to partners and employees by showing a commitment to adopting a green agenda
increase productivity from a healthier and more motivated workforce
aid staff recruitment and retention

Employees are given an opportunity to:

save money by switching to a cheaper mode of travel
reduce the stress of commuting
have a better quality of life
reduce the risk of health issues related to lack of exercise
benefit from tax concessions

Communities will benefit from:

less traffic and congestion
improved local air quality
reduction of social exclusion
fewer residential parking problems

Work place travel plans

Travel plans are very useful documents that provide you with options to tackle your business' transport issues.

About 50 businesses in South Tyneside have shown interest in sustainable travel and have committed themselves to develop a strategy to deal with the travel they generate in terms of staff's single-occupancy journeys, deliveries, visitors and customers.

Help creating a travel plan

All Tyne and Wear districts have teamed up and adopted an online travel plan management tool called iTrace.

iTrace allows you to carry out an audit to assess what facilities are currently available at your premises and to carry out a staff travel survey online.

iTrace will use the results to provide you with a draft travel plan and a number of reports with graphs and charts to help you to write a travel plan for your organisation.

To get a log-in to access iTrace, please contact South Tyneside Council's Work Place Travel Plan Officer on 0191 424 7662.

Achieving the Travel Plan

Clear targets are important for a successful Travel Plan.

Organisations can help to achieve these targets by:

providing information about public transport options to your site
promoting walking and cycling
encouraging staff to car share
providing staff with smarter driving lessons
adopting flexible working practices
introducing videoconferencing facilities
introducing internal schemes like a cycle to work scheme or corporate travel schemes

For more information on Travel Plans or to request a Smart Move Travel Plan Business Pack please contact South Tyneside Council's Work Place Travel Plan Officer on 0191 424 7521.

Smarter Choices

The Smarter Choices website can help you to make better choices about the way you travel around Tyne and Wear.

Visit the Go Smarter website