The purpose of a Workplace Travel Plan is to create and promote sustainable travel within an organisation for work-related journeys amongst staff, visitors and deliveries to site. This includes walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing. This can include a variety of different types of travel to and from a site, including:
Commuter Journeys
Actively promoting the uptake and use of more sustainable means of transport has huge health and wellbeing benefits for staff, the organisation and the environment.
For Staff the benefits include;
- Tax savings of up to 52% for the Bike to Work and Taxsaver Commuter Tickets schemes.
- Improved health with more exercise from either cycling or walking.
- Improved on-site facilities such as showers or bike repairs.
- Cost savings – according to the AA it costs €10,961 to keep a family car on the road in Ireland today, the average cost of an annual travel pass is approx. €1,500 and that is before taking any tax savings via salary sacrifice into consideration.
- Reduced stress, according to the 2021 Big Bike to Work Poll, 65% of cyclists said that the feel happier after cycling and another 36% said they feel less anxiety after cycling.
- Improved quality of life - 68% of cyclists from the Big Bike to Work Poll stating that they cycle to improve their fitness levels. Walking between bus / train stops will also increase commuter activity. A recent study has found that cyclists have a 24% reduced rate of cardiovascular disease when compared to those that commute by car. The risk in train commuters was found to be reduced by 21%!
Organisational benefits include;
- The big one is the reduction in carbon footprint and the boost any sustainability planning will gain from promoting the use of greener forms of transport.
- There are also considerable cost savings including operational cost savings from replacing fleet cars / vans with bikes or cargo bikes.
- Reduced absenteeism and increased staff retention and recruitment.
- Tax benefits from implementing the Bike to Work or Taxsaver commuter tickets schemes with a saving of up to 11.05% on PRSI for each ticket or bike purchased. This can amount to approx. €5K annually in tax saving for a company of 200 employees where 10% of staff avail of the Bike to Work scheme and a further 10% avail of the Taxsaver scheme.
Environmental benefits include;
- Benefits to the local community will include reduced congestion with more single journey cars off the road, which will in turn help reduce local area noise pollution and improved air quality.
- A switch to more sustainable forms of transport by local companies will see an overall improvement in the quality of life in the area.
Visitors to Site
Encouraging and promoting more sustainable travel for visitors to site must start with evaluating if there is a need to travel. Certainly encouraging the use of car-pooling, shared bike schemes or public transport will contribute to reducing an organisations emissions and help reduce congestion on the roads. Promoting more sustainable modes of transport can also help boost corporate reputation which can in turn generate more business.
Business Travel by Staff
For a travel plan to be effective it should involve all staff. Consulting staff on their preferred means of transport and the feasibility of alternative modes of transport available to them will help promote a feeling of ownership. This can then lead to an increased likelihood of achieving behaviour changes. Set targets and develop a communications plan to help promote greater uptake of sustainable travel. For example you could set a target of reducing car use amongst staff by 10% over three years. This can also become part of your CSR credentials. Not forgetting that staff respond well to initiatives that result in personal benefits such as time and cost savings, so consider rewarding staff for achieving travel targets.
Company Fleet Vehicles
Bikes and especially E-bikes are often the quickest and most economical solution for transportation, in particular for short trips around town or on the corporate campus. The challenge faced by most employers is how to help their employees move around during the workday in as efficient a means as possible – weather its moving between office buildings, across a corporate campus, for meeting in an urban setting, lunch or simply a healthy break?
Converting employees into bike commuters saves the business a lot of money! Consider the additional expenses incurred from all those short taxi journeys around town. Providing a fleet of e-bikes will empower your employees to commute by bike even when they don’t consider themselves bikers.
Deliveries & Contractors
The transportation sector is a main contributor to global carbon emissions and last-mile deliveries make up a large part of this sector. Supply chain leaders need to find eco-friendly options for last mile deliveries. Cargo Bikes are fast becoming the green option for travel and transportation for urban first and last mile deliveries. Impress your customers with your ‘Green Credentials’ by replacing short delivery trips with a cargo bike. Cargo Bikes are a great way to allow people to use bikes who may need to carry, deliver, collect or drop off goods or bulky items.
Each organisation will have different requirements for business travel based on the services it offers, its scale of operation and location. No one-size-fits-all approach will work. To ascertain the best travel plan for each organisation it’s important to establish a baseline, collect data on current travel and transport preference and this will allow each company to set achievable targets, to maximise efficiencies and savings with a robust Workplace Travel Plan.
To find out more speak to our team, to arrange a call back simply send an email to info@hubex.ie and we will give you a shout.
