Active commuting and travel plans - help and advice
Organisations have a lot to gain from encouraging active travel, from a healthier workforce which takes less sick leave, to less pressure on car parking space.
The following resources can help organisations encourage active commuting among their staff and develop a travel plan:
General
Active Travel Workplace Toolkit
Sustrans' UK-wide Active Travel Workplace Toolkit is designed to help organisations encourage their employees walk and cycle to work, thus helping improve health, reduce absenteeism and increase productivity.
Download the Active Travel Workplace toolkit
Active travel and healthy workplaces information sheet
Sustrans' Active travel and healthy workplaces information sheet (updated in 2008) reviews new research and guidance on the benefits of active commuting for health.
Download Active travel and healthy workplaces (pdf)
CDC Lean Works! - Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition
A free, web based resource to design effective worksite obesity prevention and control programmes.
www.cdc.gov/leanworks
The Essential Guide to Travel Planning
Department for Transport guide to developing and implementing travel plans for businesses. Draws on the experience of business travel plans in operation and gives an overview of what you need to prepare a travel plan and get it up and running.
The Essential Guide to Travel Planning
BHF Health At Work
The British Heart Foundation has produced a new Health At Work website for employers interested in setting up and running workplace health programmes, including setting up physical activity initiatives and developing mental wellbeing programmes.
www.bhf.org.uk/HealthAtWork
ACT TravelWise
ACT TravelWise is a network for all organisations working to promote sustainable travel.
www.acttravelwise.org
Local Authorities
Local authority travel plan coordinators and walking and cycling teams may be able to offer assistance on creating a workplace travel plan. A list of local councils can be found on the Directgov website.
Get Walking Keep Walking booklet
This is a booklet designed to help people to prepare and plan to start walking or cycling part or all of the way to work. Booklets can be downloaded from the Ramblers website.
Travel-Survey.com
Rare Spark have travel planning experience and can provide recommendations for creating staff travel surveys.
www.travel-survey.com
National Business Travel Network (NBTN)
Department for Transport initiative which enables companies to share best practice and promote the rationale for travel plans.
www.nbtn.org.uk
Cycling England
Cycling Enlgand provides information on cycling including the benefits of cycling, information on cycling towns and cities and professional support.
www.cyclingengland.co.uk
Cycle parking
An information sheet detailing how to plan for effective cycle parking.
Download Cycle parking(pdf)
Scotland
Healthy Working Lives
Healthy Working Lives is a national award programme rewarding employers who demonstrate commitment to improving the health and ultimately the performance of their workforce. A source of support and advice on increasing physical activity in and around the workplace.
Healthy Working Lives
Energy Saving Trust
The EST provides free travel plans in Scotland for organisations with a minimum of 50 employees and/or 10,000 visitors per annum.
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/fleet
How to produce active travel directions for your visitors and staff
Active Travel Scotland and NHS Health Scotland have produced a practical guide to help organisations provide active travel directions to help staff and visitors choose healthier ways of travelling.
Active travel - How to produce active travel directions for your visitors and staff (pdf)
Active Commuting guidance
Active Travel Scotland's guidance sheets Active Commuting for Your Business(pdf) and How to promote walking and the workforce(pdf) explain how active travel benefits both business and staff, and provide ideas and resources for encouraging staff to walk or cycle to work.
Cycle Friendly Employer Award
Cycling Scotland's Cycle Friendly Employer Award gives employers national recognition for promoting cycling in the workplace.
www.cyclingscotland.org/cyclefriendlyemployer.aspx
Paths to Health - workplace walking
Paths to Health offer workplace pedometer packs for a small charge, training courses on setting up a workplace walking project and workplace grants to help support projects which promote walking in the workplace.
Paths to Health - workplace walking
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT)
The SPT website has details of travel plan officers, grant schemes and events, seminars and new travel plan initiatives in the area.
www.spt.co.uk
Wales
Active Travel Workplace Toolkit
Active Travel Cymru has produced the bilingual Active Travel Workplace Toolkit which gives advice and ideas for employers who would like to encourage their employees to walk or cycle to work for the benefit of their health and the environment.
Download the bilingual Active Travel Workplace Toolkit
Health at Work: The Corporate Standard
The Corporate Health Standard is the national mark of quality in Wales for health and well-being in the workplace. Encouraging staff to walk or cycle to work is an effective means of attaining the physical activity element of the Standard.
Corporate Health Standard
Keeping Cardiff Moving - Travel Planning
Cardiff Council offers advice and support to organisations in Cardiff who are promoting sustainable travel through a travel plan.
www.keepingcardiffmoving.co.uk/travelplans/
South West Wales Integrated Transport Consortium (SWWITCH)
The SWWITCH website contains useful information on the stages in setting up a travel plan, example plans, and useful contacts in the SW Wales region.
www.swwitch.org.uk