Travelknowhow Scotland is calling on businesses across Scotland to reduce their carbon footprint by encouraging more active and sustainable travel across their organisations. The call follows the second wave of their Sustainable Business Travel Survey, which found that 28 percent of businesses had not yet thought about the move towards net zero, and only 3 percent had an action plan in place.
With private transport accounting for a significant part of total carbon emissions, encouraging the use of more active and sustainable modes of transport among employees can help businesses to make a positive step in reducing their carbon footprint. This is backed by a new World Health Organisation (WHO) publication, which reported that shifts toward active and sustainable travel such as walking and cycling can address problems from current transport patterns – including emissions of air pollutants, greenhouse gases and noise.
Despite evidence of both the environmental and physical benefits of active and sustainable travel, the latest survey from Travelknowhow Scotland found that just 29 percent of respondents had a workplace travel plan in place. The survey suggests that more needs to be done to support workplaces to overcome employee resistance and convince employees to change their behaviour.
While the current use of travel plans is low, the survey showed a strong appetite for support among the businesses that took part. Workplaces know they need to be doing more and are keen to access support in areas such as:
- Access to grants/funding for infrastructure/facilities
- Access to subsidised public transport travel
- Incentives to encourage staff to reduce car travel
- Access to adaptable template materials
- Information on modes of travel and benefits
The survey also found that employees in Scotland have a range of options to travel to work – 81 percent of businesses that took part in the survey, reported it was possible to travel to their workplace by public transport and 65 percent reported they had cycle racks/ spaces available for staff at work. These findings further highlight that more needs to be done to overcome employee resistance and convince employees to look at how their can change their own travel behaviour – even if just one day a week. Small steps in the right direction.
Travelknowhow Scotland is currently supporting businesses in implementing active and sustainable travel plans through their free consultancy package. Following the extension of the package into 2022/23, the service has seen high-demand and is open to workplaces across Scotland.
To register for the free consultancy package, click here.
For more information on the Sustainable Business Travel Survey – Wave 2, contact info@travelknowhowscotland.co.uk.
Travelknowhow Scotland is funded by Transport Scotland’s Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme and provides workplaces across Scotland with active and sustainable travel planning support and solutions.
