5. Reducing the impacts of work-related
travel
The business reasons and benefits
Turning value into values – Workshop, Leicester
16 November 2011
Heather McInroy
National Business Travel Network - Programme Director
6. Introduction
• National Business Travel Network
• Department for Transport funded
• Hosted by Business in the Community
• Joint ways2work initiative
www.bitc.org.uk
7. Current position – FTSE 100
Raising The Bar - Building sustainable business value
through environmental targets, Carbon Trust - June 2011
www.bitc.org.uk
9. Environmental Impact
• UK – 29% emissions from transport, second to energy at 35%
• 41.4% transport emissions from cars v 4% from public transport
• 24% of car journeys < 2 miles, 57% < 5 miles
• 70% of UK workers drive to work – mainly one person in one car
• 11% walk, 3% cycle, 12 % public transport, 4% other
Other leisure
Holiday/ day trip 6%
7% Commuting
Visit friends 25%
elsewhere
3%
Visit friends at
private home
14%
Business
13%
Other personal
business/ escort Education/ escort
16% education
Shopping 3%
13%
www.bitc.org.uk
Estimated CO2 emissions from household car journeys
10. Financial impact - Congestion
Cost of congestion to
the UK – figures vary
from £8 - £23 billion pa
Problem for 4 out of 5
businesses
• Lost business
• Recruitment
• Wasted time
*BCC The Congestion Question, December 2008 • Increased costs
www.bitc.org.uk
11. Financial impact:
Business Resilience
Remember
Eyjafjallajokull?
www.bitc.org.uk
12. Financial impact – Car Parking
• £400 - £1000 per
annum
• £2000 per surface
space
• Multideck much
more
www.bitc.org.uk
18. Case study –
• Recognising business travel comprised 30% of company‟s total carbon
footprint, Capgemini chose a strategy to integrate three themes that are usually
tackled in isolation:
• Avoiding and reducing carbon emissions from business travel
• Reducing costs to clients and Capgemini
• Addressing employee „lifestyle‟ challenges from significant amounts of travel
• Carbon emissions from travel fell by 14.5% (2007 -2009), from 17,524 tonnes
to 14,977 tonnes
• The “average” emissions profile of Capgemini‟s company car fleet has
improved 18% since 2006, from 168 CO2 g/km to 137 CO2 g/km
• Achieved WWF-UK‟s “One in Five Challenge”, reducing business flights by
20% in 5 years
• Video Conferencing utilisation rates doubled
www.bitc.org.uk
19.
20. Case study – Forster
• 30 employees
• 30% of staff regularly travel by bike on business journeys - was zero before
the purchase of pool bikes and confidence training
• Almost 50% increase in people occasionally cycling or walking to work
• Commuting by bike increased from 13% to 31% and business travel by bike
increased from zero to 10% in less than a year
• Pool bikes used daily and taxi bills have been reduced by 10%
• Client engagement – having seen the benefits, two customers introducing
similar cycle schemes for their staff
• Named UK‟s greenest business by the Sunday Times, who cited the cycling
scheme as one of the main reasons
www.bitc.org.uk
21. Case study –
• Between 2008/09 and 2009/10 Eversheds set 10% travel related carbon
reduction target – exceeded with comparable travel costs falling by 24% saving
£1.3 million, 85% reduction in emissions from flights
• car mileage reduced from 1,154,000 miles (2008), 933,552 miles (2009) and
720,000 miles (2010)
• an overall 38% reduction
• a reduction of 141.7 tonnes CO2 (Defra 2009 conversion factor) and a saving of
£175,000
• In 2010, 500,000 minutes of webinars. Take up increased from 16,000
minutes/month in January 2010 to 45,000 minutes/month January 2011
• Absence figures, whilst already low, have further reduced from 2.3% in January
2010 to 1.9% in January 2011
www.bitc.org.uk
22. Case study – Merseyside Fire and Rescue
Service
• Business drivers - to reduce emissions and costs
• Committed to 30% reduction in CO2 emissions (2008-13)
• 30% of MFRS emissions from business travel
• Commuter emission estimates 15-25% of the organisation’s direct emissions
• ‘Alternatives to travel’ making an increasing and significant contribution to
reducing these emissions
• MFRS aims to reduce single occupancy car travel – both business and
commuting - through encouraging active/sustainable travel and reduced travel
through the use of technology
www.bitc.org.uk
23. What we achieved in 2010...
Telepresence saved £593,181 after costs and reduced our CO2 emissions by
300 tonnes.
Telemeet rooms were installed in October saving us £231,496 and 99.68
tonnes of CO2!
ISDN video conferencing saved us £34,093 and
17 tonnes of CO2.
We also use;
•Live meeting and WebEx
•Office communicator
• Teleconferencing
06 September 2011, E.ON, Page 10
24. Case study –
• Cost benefit ratio = 16:1
• Reduction in average sick days pa from 5.9 days in 2004 to 3.8 days
in 2008
• 10.2 tonnes of CO2 saved pa by bus journeys
• 127.7 tonnes of CO2 saved by VC meetings from 2007-2009
• £85,750 saved by VC on business travel
• Use of VC in Scotland up from 943 hours in 2007 to 2049 hours in
2009
www.bitc.org.uk
25. Case study – Laundry Ladies
• 6 employees
• Birmingham, Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton and Stourbridge
• Laundry Ladies understand their contribution to the carbon
emissions being released into the environment
• Limit their travel and the travel of their customers, staff and suppliers
• Staff work from home and do deliveries local to them
• Avoid rush hour traffic
• ways2work award winner
www.bitc.org.uk
26. Final thoughts and Conclusion
• UK Businesses are benefiting from reducing work-related travel – there
are clearly evidenced triple bottom line benefits
• Committed CSR and change managers are building the business case
and leading the change
• There are barriers – organisational, cultural, structural and social
• This is all about people – huge behavioural / psychological issues
• Propensity of organisations to change
• ways2work Mentoring programme
• There is a huge market out there – some great examples, but a long way
to go
www.bitc.org.uk
30. Turning values into value for
travel plans
Stephen Potter
Professor of Transport Strategy
with inputs from Helen Roby
31. Scope
Will draw on:
• OU travel plan research with
employers
• Experience of OU‟s own travel
plan (running since 1996)
• Feedback from students on OU
CPD Travel Plan courses
32. Identifying value
• The very first „travel plans‟
made a strong link between
values and value
• A „regulatory‟ view tends to
prioritise the value to the
regulator and not that to the
regulated
• In our CPD travel plan courses
we ask learners to view the
situation from the implementing
organisation‟s perspective
rather than the regulator
33. Possible Value
• Planning condition • Customer access
(most obvious but not lasting)
(for shops, commerce)
• Carbon reporting • Customer relations
• Cost savings on parking (including green procurement)
(but hard to realise)
• Business resilience
• Developing a constrained site (fuel price shocks etc)
• ISO 14001/EMAS • Safety
• Image and CSR (a third of road casualties are on
(Public/Community relations) business trips)
• Recruitment and Retention
• In practice, which do travel plans link into?
• Which are most powerful drivers?
– Ones that affect core values or are imposed!
34. Changing drivers Main original and current
motivations of Employer Travel
Plans (2007)
Original Current
% %
motivations motivations
Section 106 17 71% 3 12%
Congestion
4 17% 2 8%
/access
Environmental 2 8% 7 28%
Government
1 4% - -
Directive
Recruitment and
- - 2 8%
retention
Business growth - - 2 8%
Car parking
- - 4 16%
capacity
Others - - 5 28%
Sample: 18 private and 6 public sector employers
Source: Helen Roby, Open University http://design.open.ac.uk/roby/index.htm
See: Roby, H (2008): Viewpoint: ‘Policymakers may see travel plans as a 'green' tool, but do employers see them the same
way?’ Local Transport Today, No 498, 11-24 July, p.18
35. 2011 Allinx Poll
A similar response to: What is the most important
reason for an employer to take mobility
management measures?
• 54% say employers want to save costs
• 20% think employers want to improve accessibility
• 13% believe employers want to reduce CO2 emissions
• 13% say employers want to satisfy employees
36. Making the links to value
• Transport issues are recognised more
clearly in some employer departments
than others….
• Facilities „do‟ and pay for travel plan
measures; they also need to interact OU Bike shed
with Councils
• Facilities have learned how to do
process as well as projects
• Estate cost savings often
emphasised, but can be elusive OU Dr Bike day
and Car share
– e.g. Car parking cost savings rarely permits
realisable
37. Upcoming drivers
• In a recession, influence of
planning controls will decline
and pressure will be off car
parking/congestion issues
• But Carbon Disclosure/Reporting
is emerging fast
• Carbon reporting has usually been in Facilities, but
transport is low on agenda – Scope 2 and 3 (and largely
outside Facilities control – company cars, expenses policies etc.)
• Much easier to work on production (energy – Scope 1)
and buildings (Scope 2), which are entirely in Facilities
control
38. CSR
• Rather than Facilities, CSR departments are
increasingly involved in the Carbon Disclosure
• They take a more operations-wide viewpoint
• CSR have a culture that is open to the idea of travel
planning
• Is into process, programmes and working with staff and
departments
• BUT they see business travel as a priority
• Travel planning needs to focus less on commuting and
more on business travel
39. Breaking into HR!
• In other departments there is no culture of considering
transport
• HR does not „get it‟; travel rarely features in employee
exit surveys but is big issue
• CBI 2005 Business of Transport survey: 40% staff
often late; 48% stressed by travel
• Replacement costs £3,000- £8,000 per post
• Cost savings through new practices get a lot of
attention
– not interested in incremental change (9 day fortnight of travel
plans) but big change/big benefit reviews
• Find common ground and then add on other TP
aspects
40. Changing drivers – changing
management?
• As a Travel Plan matures it needs to move from being
externally imposed to building up an internal rationale
• This has become more important as development
slows in the recession
• Are failing Travel Plans ones that don‟t make this
transition?
• If the drivers for a Travel Plan are moving out of a
facilities function, then should the Travel Plan
management be relocated or become cross-
departmental function?
41. Changing drivers – changing
regulators
• If the focus of travel planning shifts, should travel
planning in Councils move from a regulatory/planning
function to Economic Development function?
• In transport departments, travel planning is a
weak, low-status activity, prone to cuts from the
highway engineering culture
• Economic development may be the more natural home
• Travel Plans become part of the sustainable
development agenda
• TfL is moving this way – focus on business travel and
sustainable economic development
42. Information
• OU CPD Travel Planning Courses:
http://www8.open.ac.uk/employers/sector-solutions/transport-
and-logistics
• Roby H, 2010, Can travel plans escape the planning
ghetto?, Town and Country Planning, January
• Roby, H (2008): Viewpoint: „Policymakers may see travel plans
as a 'green' tool, but do employers see them the same way?‟
Local Transport Today, No 498, 11-24 July, p.18
• Roby H, 2010, Workplace Travel Plans: Past, Present and
Future, Journal of Transport Geography, Volume 1, Issue
18, pages 23-30,
NBTN - a business-to-business network which enables companies to share best practice and promote sustainable travel and flexible working. Funded by the DfT, hosted by BITC – Business Action on Travel – ways2work campaign NBTN membership is free and includes:- Meetings to explore relevant issues in reducing work-related travel impacts - Networking opportunities to engage with other members and develop partnerships - Free information, tools and guidance - Opportunities to provide advice and feedback to Government on related policy issues
Today’s talk is about business reasons for and business benefits of reducing work-related travel impacts. But firstly what is the current known position – here’s a snapshot of the FTSE 100In April 2011 Carbon Trust Advisory Services reviewed FTSE 100 websites, including online CSR and sustainability reports, to identify environmental targets being publicly declared. They identified the following exemplars: British Land; BSkyB; BT; Diageo; Kingfisher; M&S; Tesco and Unilever. All of their targets are precise. Very small number reporting on travel Will return to this at the end of the presentation
This section of the presentation will cover the: Environmental impacts Financial costsSocial / people costs
Volcano eruption - European economy lost $ 1.9 billion in the first 6 days onlySnow disruption costs UK £280 million a day3 million additional journeys on the busiest day of the Games in London
Provision of parking is not freeRenting extra parking spaces can cost > £5 per day per spaceSurface level spaces costs £400 - £1000 pa per space in running costs (interest, amortisation of construction/major maintenance, cleaning, lining, security, signing, landscaping, business rates etc)£2000 per space upwards in capital costs. Multi-storey / underground car parks much higher
Inactivity / stress costs:175 million working days lost due to ill health paCosts to businesses of £8.4 billion a year‘Presenteeism’ – £15.1 billionDeaths while travelling for workA third of deaths on UK roads related to business travelApproximately 20 people per week killed whilst travelling for work Another 250 injuredHuge cost to businesses + immeasurable human cost
DfT now has dual focus – active/sustainable travel and alternatives to travel
Teleconferencing VideoconferencingTelepresence Skype Informal meetings Flexible working: working from home, mobile working, remote working, smart working More information on our website, including a decision-making tree on when is it appropriate to use one of these modes for a meetingAlternatives to Travel Call for Evidence April 2011 – results to be published 17 November by Norman Baker who will also have an announcement to make
Business led, business informed initiative to increase efficiency through better ways of working and travelling Practical advice on how to create and successfully run sustainable travel initiatives and flexible working programmes Comprehensive list of business, environment and health benefits achieved by other organisations Helping practitioners make a good business case when advocating for change in their organisations
Have a steering group of 14 organisations who wrote this site jointly with us – other contributing companies tooThis stage of the presentation is running through some of the work that these businesses are doing and the resultant benefits
Capgeminiis committed to reducing CO2 from business travel by 30% by 2014Capgemini operates in an industry where business travel is the norm. A key assumption of the business model is that the right skills and experience of employees are matched with clients’ business challenges, regardless of location. Capgemini teams work alongside clients to deliver business change. And clients, quite naturally, expect to see the people whose fees they are paying.So, it was a particular challenge to introduce initiatives that support employees in reducing the carbon emissions from their business travel.
to encourage their staff to commute by bike and to use bikes for business travel. Set target of increasing commuter cycling to 23%, and cycling for business to 10% by 2010.By promoting cycling to work they wanted to:Improve environmental performanceRaise profile with current and potential clientsHelp retain staff and build a stronger sense of company identitySave moneySustainable travel intervention(s)In response to staff suggestions, the company instigated the following measures:Purchase of Bromptons (x4), available for all staff to use for business travelOffer of 5 minutes additional holiday per return journey to work walking or cyclingProvision of cycle confidence trainingProvision of shower facilities through arrangement with a local gymOrganised bike rides with Southwark CyclistsBiking breakfast including maintenance40p per mile expenses paid for business cyclingBuddying scheme where experienced cyclists lead novices on their commute to work and home againA promotion of the cycle to work scheme that had been available for some time but had low take-up.
Staff retention – Evesheds’ organisational vision is to be a great place to work and they know that talented people are more likely to stay if satisfied with their work/life balanceImproved productivity - the ability to work flexibly has been shown to have a positive impact on an individual’s performance. Technology, ‘now’ meetings and the sharing of live documents has resulted in faster decision making Business efficiency Reduced travel and accommodation costsReduced carbon footprintIncreased efficiency by completing work at off-peak periods and ability to react to peaks and troughs in workloadEversheds is a global business and their people and clients alike benefit from flexibility‘I am able to choose hours / working arrangements to enable better work/life balance’: 2009/10 - 71% positive, 2010/11 - 77% positive.
Public sector – and perhaps unexpected example
Two points to make: 1.Those that are excelling have brought travel issues right to the heart of the CSR strategies – they are not dealing with it in isolation. Many never use the terminology ‘travel plan’ – this is all about people and those companies that are being successful know this and respond accordingly. These are deep behavioural change programmes2. Mentioned would return to the Carbon Trust slide – which showed only a tiny number of FTSE 100 good quality travel targets reported – probably only about 6 out of 246. That’s not all bad news – firstly we’ve seen a few examples of companies that are excelling in this area. Secondly a couple of years back, CTP carried out a very interesting piece of research about the propensity of organisations to change behaviours with regard to how they work and travel – some very clear areas came out which are helping us to target out energies and focus to deliver as much travel behavioural change as possible. 3. BITC ways2work mentoring programme – 15 organisations being mentored, steering group supporting the process4. Not yet at a tipping point but huge progress over the last couple of years – not only working closely with these organisations but with senior DfT and Chief Execs to raise this issue. Need to see those travel targets radically increasing
