Workplace travel planning

Travel plans are produced by an organisation for its staff and customers. It includes a package of measures to encourage people to use alternatives to single-occupancy cars when they are travelling to, from, or on behalf of the business.

It looks to promote more sustainable travel choices to everyone within the organisation. This is often done by offering incentives to staff and customers to use alternatives to their cars, and by marketing and promoting the personal benefits of using these alternatives.

Why would we want to reduce the number of car trips that our business generates?

Many companies in Derby already have travel plans. The success that they have had proves that a good travel plan can bring many benefits to the organisation.

All car trips add to traffic congestion and cause pollution. Providing car parking for your staff and customers is expensive too.

As well as the wider benefits of reducing traffic and pollution, there are many benefits that having a travel plan could bring directly to your company:

• reduced transport and parking costs
• a fitter, healthier and more productive workforce
• a more punctual workforce with less absenteeism
• sites that are more accessible to your customers
• mitigating your overall environmental impact.

How can we develop a Travel Plan for our organisation?

We have created a Travel Plan Toolkit to help businesses in Derby to develop their own Travel Plans.

The toolkit contains all the information that you could need to start developing your own business travel plan. It includes:

• suggestions for possible measures
• tips on marketing
• methods that can be used to monitor a travel plan
• information on how to put your travel plan into a suitable document.

For more information, visit our Travel Plan Toolkit page.

Frequently asked questions

How can a Travel Plan help us to save money on our fleet vehicles, courier fees or business mileage costs?

A good Travel Plan should address all aspects of business related travel including the type of vehicles you use, how mileage payments are paid to staff, what you can do to reduce the need for travel and how you work with couriers to transport items. 

Developing a Travel Plan with our help could drastically reduce the amount of money you spend on travel and transport.

How can a Travel Plan help our staff and customers with parking problems?

Too many people bringing their cars to your site everyday can cause problems for your staff and customers. It can also mean that you have to spend money on additional parking to ease the situation. Congested sites look unprofessional and parking problems can lead to customers avoiding the area as well as issues with staff morale and productivity.

Travel Plans aim to reduce the number of cars coming to your company's sites. A successful Travel Plan will mean that your on-site parking is not in as high a demand and so parking spaces will be more readily available for those who really need them.

Travel Planning is not about being 'anti-car'; it’s about making it easier and more appealing to swap the private car for more sustainable modes, by offering your employees and customers an incentive to change.

Have a look at the toolkit to see just what a difference a Travel Plan can make.

How can a Travel Plan improve the problems caused by traffic congestion around our site?

Traffic congestion causes a lot of pollution and delays. If your customers regularly struggle to get to you, or if staff arrive late and leave early because of the traffic, implementing a Travel Plan can help to reduce these issues.

It is estimated that congestion costs the economy in Derby around £46 million (EMDA) every year. Around 64% of workers in Derby use a car to get to work and 55% of those working in our city commute less than 5km.

Derby is a compact city, and therefore there is a significant potential for many commuters to use alternative modes of travel to the private car. Experience shows that people just need the right information, facilities and motivation to start to move away from car dependency.

If you’re thinking about putting together a Travel Plan for your organisation, take a look through our toolkit or contact us for more information.