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TRAVEL PLANS: AN OVERVIEW

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WHAT IS A TRAVEL PLAN?

Travel Plan is a general term for a package of measures tailored to the needs of individual sites and aimed at promoting more sustainable travel choices and reducing reliance on the car. Travel Plans help reduce the impact of travel on the environment; they also make good business sense. They can cut congestion around a site and save money on business travel. They can help to attract staff to sites which would otherwise be difficult to access. They can also help to make your workforce healthier.

Introducing a Travel Plan involves the development of a set of mechanisms, initiatives and targets which bring a number of benefits, both to your organisation and to staff. It is a dynamic process that will grow and develop with time and in accordance with the changing circumstances of your organisation and the environment in which it works. It is not a one-off event to be undertaken and completed, nor is it a document to be produced and put on a shelf.

This brochure is intended to give an overview of why your organisation should consider developing a Travel Plan and what the benefits of introducing such a Plan could be. It is aimed at all types of organisation - private sector companies, local authorities, hospitals, universities etc.

Travel Plans can address different types of travel associated with your organisation's activities:

• Commuter journeys;
• Business travel undertaken by staff during the working day;
• Visitors travelling to and from your site for meetings, conferences, courses etc;
• Deliveries and/or contractors calling at your workplace; or
• Fleet vehicles operating as part of your organisation's activities.

Dependent upon your own site circumstances, your Travel Plan can address any number of these different elements of travel. You will need to identify those which are appropriate to your own organisation's activities and prioritise them to establish which ones you will address within your Travel Plan.

If your organisation decides it wants to develop a Travel Plan and you feel you need more detailed advice and guidance, we suggest you obtain a copy of 'A Travel Plan Resource Pack for Employers' published by the Department of Transport Local Government and the Regions (DTLR).

This is a comprehensive pack which draws together the existing wealth of literature and promotional material available on Travel Plans into one single, readily accessible and user-friendly resource.

The Resource Pack is available free of charge by contacting the Energy and Environment Helpline on 0870 122 6234.

Development of a Travel Plan for your organisation will help you to encourage staff, and others visiting your site(s) to use more environmentally-friendly alternatives to driving alone, at least for some of their journeys. It should contain a mix of incentives and disincentives to be successful e.g. car-sharing, promoting more use of public transport, encouraging walking and cycling, restricting on-site car parking spaces and supporting alternative work practices which reduce the need to travel.

WHY SHOULD MY ORGANISATION IMPLEMENT A TRAVEL PLAN?

Over the next 20 years, traffic in Scotland is predicted to increase by 27%. Unless car use is reduced this means more traffic jams, not just in the cities but in towns too. The rush 'hours' will spread. Driving will become even less of a pleasure. The costs to business will soar. There will be more damage to the environment and our health will suffer.

You may already have your own ideas about why your organisation needs to develop a Travel Plan. Listed here are some motivations for Travel Plan development, which may be relevant to you. However, there does not need to be a problem in order to introduce a Travel Plan - by introducing a travel plan at an early stage you could avert potential difficulties.

Planning Permission

• Planning authorities manage future travel to and from development sites through regulatory controls such as 'section 75 agreements'. Section 75 agreements enable planning authorities to agree development or expansion of an organisation's premises subject to certain terms and conditions. It is becoming increasingly common for planning authorities to ask organisations to develop a Travel Plan to demonstrate how they will minimise the potential traffic impact on their development. [ NPPG 17, PAN 57]

Parking Problems

• Your car park may be overcrowded or reaching capacity, with little or no space available for expansion. Even if space is available you may consider it too expensive to expand. A Travel Plan can reduce the demand for parking thereby doing away with the need to find, and pay for, alternative parking.
• The cost of renting, maintaining and/or operating your car park may be too high and you would like to reduce the demand for parking thereby doing away with the need to find, and pay for, alternative parking.
• You may be losing car parking spaces or moving to a new location where fewer spaces are available.
• You may want to re-allocate existing car parking, for instance, to make more spaces available for customers.

Accessibility Problems

• Like many sites in Scotland, you may be experiencing congestion both on-site and on local roads, particularly during the peak travel periods. This congestion has economic costs associated with it in terms of fuel costs, the time spent by your staff in traffic, extra costs of moving goods etc., and can also bring with it concerns about pollution and road safety.
• As well as creating accessibility problems for your staff on their journeys to and from your premises, your organisation may be experiencing recruitment difficulties, with potential employees deterred by the traffic problems and lack of alternative modes in your local area.

Environmental Image

• You may decide to implement a Travel Plan to enhance your organisation's environmental image. With increasing concern for environmental issues, you may wish to improve public relations and show that you are a conscientious, environmentally-aware employer, by demonstrating your commitment to reducing the travel impact of your organisation's activities through Travel Plan development. Your organisation may be an employer that intends to gain environmental accreditation via ISO 14001 or EMAS and may like to consider linking your travel plan to these initiatives.

• Alternatively, your organisation may be a local authority wishing to 'lead by example'.

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