TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS


vehicle travel. The development of a well thought out travel plan alongside innovative car use, can significantly reduce the impact of hospital traffic on the surrounding community, reduce pressure on car parking, improve site safety and increase business efficiency. The first step for any trust with a


wider estate is to develop a strategic travel plan framework that provides the encompassing principles of a trust wide transport strategy. This provides the framework from which specific travel plans can be prepared to reflect the unique transport requirements of each individual trust site.


One of the primary objectives of the


Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust was to reduce the number of vehicles parking at its sites. A strategic travel plan framework was developed to define the methodology, objectives, principles and commitment that would be applied by the trust when developing site-specific travel plans. In accordance with best practice, the site-specific travel plans focussed on staff travel, although patients, visitors and service providers were encouraged to take advantage of initiatives that could be used by them. Each travel plan was prepared based


on site-specific accessibility reviews (access on foot, by bicycle and passenger transport), an analysis of home postcode locations in relation to travel times to and from the sites by existing and potential modes of travel and travel surveys of staff. It was then determined how many staff would qualify for a parking permit based on certain accessibility criteria. In this case it was staff whose journey to work exceeded a 25 minute bicycle ride or walk or 45 minutes in total. The aim was to allocate parking only to those whose journey to work could not be easily undertaken by any means other than a car. Propriety digital mapping and


transport software (TRACC by Basemap) was used to show that some local people didn’t need to drive to work and could travel a different way or park in a different place.2


journey times for every postcode in and around Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties to each of the sites. This was undertaken using travel to each site via all modes of public transport in the morning; the journey was then reversed to model the travel time home in the evening as well as walking and cycling times. The results enabled intelligence to be gathered to help with permit allocation. This enabled the trust to map around 100 million individual journeys to each site, which would have been impossible to do manually. Since these alternate routes have been


highlighted, staff have started travelling to work in different ways, either on foot, by


28


The trust worked in partnership with the Enterprise Car Club to offer cars for employees to use for work related trips.


bicycle or on public transport. This has freed up parking spaces, making more available to members of the public and reducing on site congestion. The travel strategy neatly dovetails with city-wide initiatives, such as minimal or car free parking provision at housing developments and the use of car clubs at workplaces.


The software was used to calculate


The use of car clubs At the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, a novel approach was introduced to achieve cost savings and by linking this to other measures, such as those used in Oxford, a coherent and deliverable transport plan was initiated. The trust had previously relied heavily on employees using their own cars for work trips and claiming mileage reimbursement, which meant it was necessary for community nurses to visit the hospital site at the start of the day to pick up supplies and led to extra traffic as they also needed a car during the day to perform their duties. Since staff need to travel to work when doing home visits, it also meant that on days when they weren’t doing home visits they would still travel in by car and use on-site parking. The trust worked in partnership with


the Enterprise Car Club to offer cars for employees to use for work related trips. Enterprise provides cars for employees to book for short trips as well as rental


vehicles that can be hired by the day for journeys of more than 50 miles. After achieving major cost savings during the initial programme, the trust significantly expanded the hourly vehicle rental service from 10 to 42 vehicles across six of its sites and is now achieving savings in excess of £50,000 per annum. Reduced traffic and car parking has also been achieved as staff do not need to own a vehicle to undertake home visits or other work related trips as they can travel to the hospital using public transport and then use one of the cars provided. The trust is also able to meet sustainability objectives as the car club vehicles are newer and therefore less polluting than the cars employees often own. An added health and safety benefit for


the trust and the staff is the agreement that the cars are always well maintained, whereas before it had little or no control over the condition of cars being used for work related journeys. The trust is also now able to confirm that all of its business drivers have valid driving licences and appropriate insurance. Enterprise provided the cars under a partnership deal, which included sign-up sessions where the technology was demonstrated to staff, questions were answered and the sign-up process was managed. Contact details and licence information is collected and within 48


The trust is able to meet sustainability objectives, as the car club vehicles are newer and therefore less polluting than the cars employees often own


IFHE DIGEST 2019


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