TRAVEL MANAGEMENT


A Just how sustainable is public transport?


The extent to which public transport is sustainable depends on where it is being used according to some commentators. Public Sector Executive spoke to Andrew Davis to find out more


sk most people whether using public transport is always the


greenest option and, more often than not, they will say yes. As the green agenda has been pushed further and further into the spotlight, many people assume that using public transport is a panacea for our environmental problems.


But this is not necessarily the case, according to Andrew Davis, director of the Environmental Travel Association.


“It really depends on what you want to achieve. For example, public transport has a greater benefit in urban areas – from an environmental point of view – because it can reduce congestion. It is actually probably counter productive in rural areas. One size does not fit all by any stretch of the imagination.”


In the same way, the use of public transport by public sector bodies can also differ, depending on the size and nature of the organisation.


“It is really important to know what kind of council you are talking about - whether it is a district, borough or county council - because they have different powers and so can do different things in relation to their staff using public transport.


“Given that it is also the responsibility of the public sector to try and encourage the public to adopt more sustainable behaviour patterns, then a great place to start is with their own staff. Because if you can’t get your own staff to do it, how can


Sep/Oct 10


you expect the general public to do it?”


According to Andrew, however, a public sector body can begin engineering the way in which staff use transport systems before they have even begun working for them.


“If an employer recruits from areas which have easy access to major bus routes - as opposed to those without - then it has been shown that there is far more chance of those staff using public transport, because the organisation has skewed its recruitment in that way. Similarly, if you recruit from places where people will have to travel to your site by car, that is the mode of transport which they will use.


“Of course, HR departments would argue that they need the best people, regardless of where they live – so this could prove difficult to administer effectively.”


Another important aspect of greening employee travel plans is the effective communication of those plans to staff.


“Firstly there needs to be someone who acts as an enthusiastic catalyst within that organisation. They need to be both personable and committed along with all of the other attributes which it takes to make a project work.


“Along with these qualities, they also need to have a commitment from the chief executive to make it work. If either side of this equation is lacking, then the project will simply not work


Andrew Davis


because it takes a huge amount of time, effort and commitment both from grassroots workers and the management to allow something like to succeed.


“The approach needs to be consistent and developed over a long period of time. Otherwise all you are doing is putting an A4 poster about green travel plans in the coffee corner and nothing will come of it.”


Andrew says that the next step which public sector bodies need to take is to engage with staff and through that engagement gain a better understanding of why they do or do not use public transport to get to work at the moment.


“I know that the use of focus groups is not always seen in a great light, but they can really help an employer to understand why particular groups of staff are not using public transport and therefore understand what are the barriers to that use.


“For a lot of staff the barriers can be very strong in that there is no other option other than for them to use their car to get to work, which is one extreme. The other extreme is that they had never even thought about using public transport.”


This means that employers need to consider where their employees live along with where their offices are sited and where it is that their employees are working.


“An employer needs to consider what will happen to peripatetic staff such as social workers. It can often be very hard for them to effectively use public transport to get to where they need to be. However bicycles - and particularly electric bicycles - are very good for their needs and better than cars in many cases, depending on how urban their area is. It can prove quite a challenge to encourage people to use electric bicycles, but once they are using them, they do prove to be very popular.”


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