A BLUEPRINT has been drawn up to encourage thousands of Town Hall staff to leave the car at home before travelling to work.
East Staffordshire Borough Council’s Travel Plan 2010 is designed to reduce unnecessary journeys, promote sustainable transport and tackle climate change.
Drawn up on behalf of the authority’s environmental and leisure team, it covers commuter trips, business travel, visitor journeys and the vehicle fleet, and is aimed not just at employees but council members and visitors.
Leader Richard Grosvenor and his cabinet colleagues are scheduled to consider the draft plan at a meeting on Monday.
Before they decide whether to back it, the Tory rulers will consider a report which says the proposals are designed ‘to encourage a modal shift away from single- occupancy car use’, initially by using incentives.
The document tells them that the objectives are to reduce business mileage, increase car sharing, cut the use of singleoccupancy vehicles, boost staff cycling, raise the numbers of staff walking to work and to and from meetings, and to increase the use of public transport.
The blueprint details almost three dozen measures.
These include increasing car-share spaces and cutting those marked ‘reserved’; reviewing the authority’s 50- strong vehicle fleet; examining the council’s fleet vehicle leasing and buying policy; giving drivers eco-training and setting up a car-share database.
Also included is the provision of incentives for non-car users and car sharers; a review of business mileage fees, the essential car user scheme and pool car use; offering interest-free loans for public transport season tickets; and giving staff help to buy bus passes.
The encouragement of cycling features prominently, with moves to stimulate membership of a cycling scheme, provide improved lockers and showers, and offer electric bikes to wardens.
Walking is also highlighted, with plans to provide free pedometers, establish umbrella pools and personal alarms, and offer maps of walking routes.
Other measures are designed to give staff incentives not to travel to the office or to be able to do all their work there once they arrive.
These include increasing working from home and providing video conferencing facilities.
The draft plan concludes: “The travel plan is not anti-car and recognises that cars are a necessary part of our every day lives.
“However, a small change in travel habits by a large number of people can have a significant effect and sets an example to others.
“We have chosen measures we hope will be well supported by staff, and we will be consulting them on these proposals.”
