Travel Plan FAQs
This page should enable you to gain a better understanding of the purpose and benefits of the Travel Plan.
If you have any other questions which you would like answered relating to Travel Plans then please do not hesitate to contact your Sustainable Travel Manager.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a Travel Plan?
- What exactly does it involve?
- Raising Awareness
- Improving Alternatives
- Removing Barriers
- Offering Incentives
- What are the benefits?
- Walking and Cycling
- Public Transport
- Car Sharing
- What has been done already?
1. What is a Travel Plan?
A Travel Plan is a management tool that assists people in considering how they travel, with the emphasis on the promotion of sustainable forms of transport. Through a co-ordinated strategy a Travel Plan can help people to understand their travel needs and deliver a package of initiatives to increase choice and reduce the need to travel, in particular reduce the dominance of car use. If designed well, the implementation of a Travel Plan should lead to economic, environmental, social and health benefits for society as a whole.
back to top2. What exactly does it involve?
Raising Awareness
A Travel Plan involves raising awareness of the impact of our travel behaviour pollution, congestion, safety and health. As a nation, we make more and more short journeys, including 'school runs', by car. This trend in our habits is not only causing Global Warming, but also an increase in respiratory diseases and other health complaints associated with our increasingly sedentary lifestyles.
Improving Alternatives
The developers have contributed towards improving footpaths, cycleways, crossings and other provisions for cyclists and pedestrians in the local area and are working to extend the local bus network into the site.
In addition, software may be purchased to improve the opportunities for staff and/or residents to safely meet up and car share with others. Car sharing allows the overall number of car trips to/from a site to be minimised. It can be more convenient than driving alone and can lead to considerable cost savings to individuals. It is often viable for trips which cannot be readily made by public transport.
Removing Barriers
One element of improving the Travel Plan is to remove the practical barriers that preclude people who would like to travel by non-car modes from doing so.
Obviously, it is outside our control to move residences closer to workplaces. Similarly, we cannot flatten a steep hill! However, we can provide facilities and an improved physical environment to make walking and cycling safer.
Many people have preconceptions about what it is like to travel by bus or to cycle. Alternatively, some people dont have the time to track down the timetable and may worry that their bus wont turn up. This is why we are trying to help by providing the resources you need at your fingertips.
Different modes of travel might best fulfil your needs on different days and for different journeys. We want to make it easy for you to regularly review the options available to you. That way, you can make informed decisions, and let the Sustainable Travel Manager do the leg work for you!
Offering Incentives
This is simply a way of making the sustainable travel modes cheaper or of encouraging people to try the alternatives, which they may then find more convenient than they thought.
Employers and/or the management company are encouraged to consider offering discounts (or interest free loans) for the purchase of bus or rail tickets, bicycles, accessories or servicing, waterproof clothing and durable footwear. In particular, Public Transport often suffers from a negative press and an outmoded image. Certain cities across the UK, such as Brighton and Hove have seen huge increases in bus patronage, as a result of enhanced and easier to understand services. Services to Skyline 120 provide frequent and direct links to the town centres of Great Notley and Braintree.
back to top3. What are the benefits?
Travel Plans have many benefits to both employers and employees. Some of these are listed below:
- Financial savings through more effective use of business travel;
- Reduced demand for car parking (with associated savings in land allocated);
- More efficient use of land;
- Greater environmental performance and improved company image;
- Improved relations with neighbours by easing traffic in the local area;
- Healthier, less stressed staff leading to less time lost due to illness, and greater staff retention; and
- Improved access to site by all.
Walking and Cycling
The Government has produced an advice pack: 'Walk In to Work Out' to encourage staff to walk or cycle to work. The pack outlines the following advantages of walking or cycling to work:-
- Reduced demand for workplace car parking.
- A fitter and more productive workforce.
Health benefits of walking and cycling include:-
- Reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Helping to prevent high blood pressure.
- Helping you to control your weight.
- Helping you to maintain good mental health.
- Reduced stress.
- Reduced congestion and pollution.
In addition, those walking or cycling to work are doing their bit to:-
- Reduce air pollution from exhaust emissions. These can cause irritation and headaches and can also aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma or bronchitis.
- Reduce traffic congestion.
- Reduce noise levels.
- Avoid the stress generated by sitting in traffic jams.
- Save themselves money from reduced parking charges, petrol costs, running costs and wear and tear to their car.
If you want to find out more about the benefits of walking and cycling, then copies of the advice pack can be obtained free from:-
DfT Publications,
PO Box 236,
Wetherby,
West Yorkshire, LS23 7NB
Tel: 0870 1226 236
Fax: 0870 1226 237
e-mail: publications@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Public Transport
Bus Travel
Bus travel has the advantages of being relatively cheap, reducing the stress of driving in rush hour traffic and enabling users to relax, talk or read. At the same time you are helping to reduce local congestion. It also provides the nearest public transport link with the Park.
Rail Travel
Rail Travel is perhaps the most appealing form of Public Transport for many. It is especially useful for travel over longer distances, where journey times can be significantly reduced, and users can utilise the time on the train to talk, work, read and relax.
Good rail services exist from Braintree Station, with regular services to London Liverpool Street. The journey take approximately 1 hour on direct trains, which means that rail is the best way to commute from the town to the city. There are also services from Braintree to Colchester and Ipswich. It is easy to obtain up to date and detailed journey plans from National Rail or from www.thetrainline.com.
If you want to compare options for long distance travel then you might find the Governments Transport Direct Website helpful. Click Here.
Car Sharing
Car sharing is a realistic and practical way of reducing the overall number of car journeys made by staff and residents. It is an especially useful way of 'doing your bit' for those who live too far from work to walk or cycle. Car-sharing has the benefits of,
- Helping to reduce congestion, pollution and stress.
- Reducing the running and maintenance costs of your car.
- Leading to even larger financial savings (on insurance, tax and purchase) where a family is able to give up its second car.
- Offering the chance to socialise (if you can share with friends or family).
- Allows overall numbers of car trips to/from a site to be minimised
Skyline 120 recommends those who wish to car share use Essex Car Share. This is an online service that is supported by Essex County Council and Liftshare, one of Britain's leading car share specialists. For more information on Skyline 120's car sharing initiative click here.
back to top4. What has been done so far?
Please click here to find out how the implementation of the travel plan is progressing. Access to this part of the website is for Skyline 120 employees only.
back to topFurther information
- Click here to visit the travelling page on Essex County Council's website.
- back to top