August
 Does your company have a green tavel plan?
 Aberdeen City Council has had a travel plan in place since 2001 which aims to encourage staff and visitors to travel to council premises other than by private car and to promote walking, cycling, public transport use, car sharing and eco-driving. A new Travel Plan is in development ahead of the relocation of the council’s headquarters to Marischal College next year. A survey of staff travel habits is undertaken every two years to obtain feedback on what measures would encourage them to travel in a more sustainable manner.
Measures currently in place include: a cycle mileage allowance scheme, a fleet of pool bicycles, including an electric and a folding bike, free bus fare cards when travelling on council business; an employee car share scheme, intranet pages to inform staff about travel options, videoconferencing facilities to reduce the need to travel for meetings, and a range of flexible options like home working to reduce the need for staff to travel to work.
- Margaret Bochel, head of planning and sustainable development for Aberdeen City Council
 As the UK’s largest bus and rail operator, we encourage our staff to commute to work by public transport. Across the UK employees are issued with a free annual bus pass or rail pass.
However, we recognise there is more we can do to persuade our people to rely less on their cars.
For example, we shall shortly be providing staff in Aberdeen with tailored ‘Green Travel Plans’. Each plan will include specific details such as the nearest bus service to their home address, the safest route to walk or cycle and also highlights the environmental benefits and cost savings of leaving the car behind.
Additionally, in Aberdeen we have just opened our brand new bus depot and international headquarters, which are equipped with bike shelters and showers. Already many of our staff are now cycling, walking and even running to and from work.
- John Evans, FirstGroup’s HR Director
 At Acergy, we understand the responsibility we have to the environment. One way we recently focussed on this was through our Green Travel Plan. Introducing Lift-share (car-pooling) and our Bike to Work schemes, I was particularly pleased about the ground-swell of employee interest, so these initiatives were easy to implement, with a little support from the company. As well as benefiting from lowering their carbon footprint, and the reduced road congestion, these schemes allow employees to save on their cost of transport to and from work.
Our Bike to Work scheme also gives employees a chance to buy a bicycle in a tax efficient way as well as the advantage of keeping fit. The completion of cycle lanes to Westhill makes it easier for staff and our sports facility allows employees to secure their bikes as well as providing showers and the means to dry and store their clothes.
- Neil Leonard, Head of HR UK, for Acergy
 At Subsea 7, we are engaged in a number of local travel initiatives which support our global commitment to minimising the impact of our activities on the environment. For example, we carefully monitor air travel bookings and have invested in state-of-the-art video conferencing facilities to offer a reliable, environmentally friendly and cost effective alternative to air travel. Colleagues are also encouraged to car share, gaining access to a database which allows them to match their own daily journey with others at Subsea 7 and receiving preferential parking if they choose to do so.
We also encourage the use of green travel choices by offering salary sacrifice incentives on the purchase of new bicycles and annual bus passes, allowing our employees to make significant tax and national insurance savings on greener travel options.
- Robin Davies, Vice President, Business Improvement, Subsea 7
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