1 Overview
In 1997, West Sussex County Council became one of the first UK employers to begin developing a travel plan, to encourage and enable more of its employees to use sustainable travel options for their journeys to work.
Our Staff Travel Plan has evolved into a comprehensive package of 'stick and carrot' measures. Our surveys show that it has been successful in reducing the proportion of County Council employees that usually drive alone to work. It has also increased the proportion that usually use healthier and more sustainable options such as car sharing, cycling, walking, motorcycling and using public transport.
2 Travel Plan measures
Our Staff Travel Plan is a comprehensive package of measures and initiatives which provide our employees with numerous alternatives to the car.
These include:
- a dedicated web-based car sharing scheme to match potential journey sharers and free parking spaces at County Hall which are reserved for groups of 3 or more car sharers
- flexible working hours so that start and finish times can be synchronised with public transport timetables
- opportunities to work at home or at 'hot desks' at locality offices that are nearer to home than the regular office base
- interest-free loans for public transport season tickets
- showers, changing facilities and lockers for walkers, cyclists and motorcyclists
- Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme
- mileage allowance for bicycle and motorcycle users travelling on business
- dedicated Staff Travel Plan intranet web pages, containing relevant information including links to journey planning websites
- a fleet of low emission pool cars which can be used for business journeys, meaning that staff do not need to bring their own cars to work
- Driver Awareness Training to encourage more economical driving and improve safety for those who need to use a car during the course of their work
- secure, covered bicycle and motorcycle parking
- a dedicated bus service linking County Hall in Chichester with our offices at Durban House in Bognor Regis. The U7 is operated by Stagecoach supported by a partnership between the University of Chichester and the County Council. The service can also be used by members of the public and links St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester with Bognor Regis War Memorial Hospital.