Travel Plans for the Workplace
and Clean Air Zones
‘Easy wins’ are things you can achieve with great results, especially when they are not too complex or costly to implement. A Workplace Travel Plan is part of sustainability planning which can reap rewards – with a little effort.
Why bother?
Two answers to this question. One is that it makes your organisation a better place to work and then there’s the ‘bigger picture’ – or scientific answer.
First the scientific point. Car journeys are a source of air pollution, which we can see in the skies around us and sense in the air we smell and breathe. That’s not only reducing the quality of our lives; it’s making many people ill. Vehicle emissions are also one of the major sources of CO₂, which everyone knows are the cause of worrying climate change.
More immediately, a successful travel plan involves everyone in your company, developing a sense of community. Success drives success and will energise further sustainability projects.
How to Get Started
The first step on the journey is creating a Travel Policy. This document forms a declaration of intent to ‘do better’ when it comes to transport to – and within – your workplace. You can then either put it in a drawer (making it a waste of time, resources and opportunity) or start working out how you will implement the plan.
There are lots of resources available online to help you on the way, including examples of successful travel policies. One ongoing accomplishment is the Next Head Office story in Lincolnshire. As a large company, they have a dedicated travel2next website and are rolling their policy out to distribution warehouses.
For smaller companies in the Yorkshire area, the TPN (Travel Plan Network) offers public transport discounts. They also provide incentives and vouchers to encourage workers out of their cars.
A Word about the Clean Air Zone
If your business drives an HGV within the designated Leeds Clean Air Zone (CAZ) area, you will be charged from January 6th 2020 if it is not Euro6 (diesel) or Euro4 (petrol). It’s worth finding out whether your vehicle(s) are eligible for a grant for converting it to required emissions standard. Apply soon, as the fund is limited.
For all Other Road Users
Private cars and LGV in the Leeds area won’t be charged for entering the Clean Air Zone. Sadly, this is not going to encourage people out of their cars. Hence, it continues to be up to individual businesses to take the responsibility of sustainable transport upon themselves.
Your Active Travel Plan
If you haven’t got a Travel Plan yet, or want some support achieving the goals you have set, drop us a line.
You can see Coral Mountain’s Travel Policy within the Environmental Policy on the footer of every page of this website. Reducing miles travelled is one of the targets we have for our Investors in the Environment accreditation (currently level Silver and Working Towards Green – the top level). I’m delighted to report a 30% achievement above target for measurement of ‘miles avoided.’ To find out how this goal was reach and passed, please just ask me.
For help writing and implementing your Travel Policy or any other part of your Sustainability Programme, contact Michelle at Coral Mountain.
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