A Sustainable Travel Plan for the
City of Edinburgh Council
Introduction Introduction We employ 20,000 people and use more than 10,000 cars a day to get to work. As a council we operate over 800 fleet vehicles and travel over 4 million miles a year on council business. That is equivalent to 10,000 trips to London.
What is the Sustainable Travel Plan?
Principal Aim
Objectives
What are we trying to achieve?
Small changes: 1 in 5
How will the plan be implemented?
How can Departments benefit from the plan?
How can Staff benefit from the plan?
Key actions
What can departments do?
A Sustainable Travel Plan has been developed by the Staff Travel Working Group to help ensure that the City Council works towards its strategic aim of promoting a healthy and sustainable environment. The Sustainable Travel Plan is a corporate strategy and action programme that will play a part in managing our transport and travel requirements.
The City of Edinburgh Council recognises that it contributes to the problems of congestion, accidents, and air pollution within the city. Our transport use also contributes to global air pollution, in particular global warming, and resource depletion.
Back to top What is the Sustainable Travel Plan? The plan has established objectives and actions which target the four keys areas of council activity that generate transport use and travel:
The travel plan is a practical set of mechanisms and actions needed to implement the staff travel policy (see box below). It will provide the facilities and tools we need to travel or not to travel, and when we need to travel to help identify and facilitate the use of the most appropriate mode. It will work towards providing employees with a real choice in how they reach work and undertake business trips without having to rely solely on their cars to do so.
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Staff Travel Policy
It is Council’s policy that, in travelling to and from work and in the performance of their duties, all employees must be encouraged to walk, cycle or use public transport in order to reduce the use of cars within the City. The Council also recognises that in order to provide cost efficient and quality services certain employees may require to have the degree of mobility associated with the use of the private car or motor cycle in doing their work.
As a general rule the hierarchy of transport use must be applied to all employees travel decisions, including whether to classify an employee as an authorised private vehicle user and whether a post should carry essential or casual user status. Walking and cycling should be considered as first choice.
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The Sustainable Travel Plan will by 2005 reduce the environmental impacts of Council travel and transport. This includes travel for commuting and business by employees and councillors, in its service delivery and associated activities.
In order to achieve this aim objectives and targets have been agreed. This will ensure that the staff travel policy is integrated into all levels of council decision making, that awareness of the need to travel sustainably is increased and that this is considered to be a considered to be a feasible option. The Council will provide the facilities and information necessary to achieve this.
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Back to top What are we trying to achieve?
The success of the travel plan will be judged and monitored on whether car use by council employees is reduced over the next 5 years. The new facilities and mechanisms provided will make it possible to achieve the following targets:
resulting in a 25% reduction.
Back to top Small Changes: 1 in 5.
These reductions may seem a little ambition but they are achievable. A 20% reduction in commuting by car would only require everyone who currently drives to work each day, to leave the car at home and get a lift or take the bus one day a week*. That is only 1 in 5 journeys. Similarly, this years reduction in business mileage would only require one journey in 20 which is currently made by car, not to be taken or taken in another way. These are only SMALL CHANGES to our current travel patterns. (* Essential car users are required to bring their car to work each day.)
Back to top How will the plan be implemented?
The plan contains an action programme which outlines what we hope to do, by when and who will take responsibility. The action plan contains proposals to influence the following areas:
Back to top How can Departments benefit from the Travel Plan?
The benefits of effective travel management include improved work efficiency and conditions, environmental and social benefits, as well as cost savings. Work efficiency can be improved by reducing the need to travel and by travelling and working at the same time. Departments spend significant sums on travel, as a council we have allocated £2 million for car allowances for 1999-2000 even a marginal reduction in these costs, through improved planning or allocation, would result in significant savings.
Back to top How can Staff benefit from the Travel Plan? Key Actions for 2001 Staff Travel Questionnaire Tailored Solutions for Departments
We will all benefit from increased options, which will allow us to pick and choose how we travel. This will allow us to use the most appropriate mode for a particularly journey or to change the way we work so we don’t need to travel as often. Improved choice will help us to choose healthier options such as cycling and walking more often, and to reduce travel costs from sharing car journeys or travelling by cheaper options.
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Travel Management Information has been prioritised as a key action for the plan. Improved information will help to identify which working practices and procedures can be modified and to help monitor the progress of the plan.
A questionnaire was undertaken in 1998, an another one will be carried in this September to update the data and tack progress.
The increase information now available is allowing high travelling teams to be identified and tailored solutions to there travel needs are currently being developed.
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It is important that City of Edinburgh Council employees are aware of the Sustainable Travel Plan and the Staff Travel Policy. Please contact the Staff Travel Co-ordinator if your department would like advice / assistance on integrating the Staff Travel Policy into your areas of work. You can also nominate your site or office for a site audit which will provide advice, facilities and information on how to make your site more accessible to cyclists, walkers and public transport users.