How your Business can Help Your Staff Commute Sustainably

The leading source of greenhouse gas emissions is transport and this has been the case for some time. If a business wants to help with climate change, this is the perfect place to get started with.

There are many options to choose from, from switching to home-working to upgrading your fleet. This isn’t a possibility for many businesses, and they can find it hard to reduce transport emissions because the employees commute to and from work.

The good thing is there are some steps you can take to incentivize or encourage your team to change how they get to work. They can use means of transport like cycling, walking, car-sharing, and public transport.

Let us go into details on how your business can help your staff commute sustainably.

Improving Your Facilities

One thing that makes it harder for people to switch to ‘active transport’ (biking, jogging, walking, etc.) is the lack of facilities at their workplaces. You should provide access to showers, protecting bike rooms, lockers, and other amenities that can help.

This is going to make it easier for people to commute to work and not have to worry about the safety of their bikes, a place they can get themselves ready, or a place to put their running shoes.

This can be time-consuming and expensive, and it is going to work in situations where employees are close by. This is an investment to consider.

Making it Cheaper

Another challenge to sustainable commuting is it can be more cost-effective to drive to work and park at the workplace.

It is possible to reduce car use by removing parking subsidies, increasing parking prices, and cutting the number of spaces. The additional revenue can be used in making sustainable transport more accessible. For example, subsidizing public transport, or discounting memberships to bike-share organizations.

Public transport providers usually have programs in place that will let you as an employer provide your employees with discounted or pre-tax fare cards.

Employers are going to make it cheaper for employees to use public transport. They can also get some tax benefits from taking part in such programs.

Encouraging Car-Pooling

There are workplaces where active transport cannot work and also don’t have good public transport. In such cases, the best way of reducing emissions is to encourage and foster employees to carpool. You can have a carpool program using a sign-up sheet on the company’s intranet or in the cafeteria.

Car-sharing is a good option for employees that like taking public transport or biking to work but need a car for trips during the day or emergencies, such as a doctor’s appointment, meeting off-site, or visiting their kid at school.

When there is a car-share program at the workplace, employees can have peace of mind as they bike or take public transport to work because they know there is a car they can use if need be. Many people are choosing to scrap a car that is old and causes pollution in favour of a more eco friendly vehicle.

Changing the Culture

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on reducing your transport emissions. You can foster a workplace culture that encourages, supports, and rewards the staff for choosing environmentally-friendly options.

An easy way of doing this is sponsoring an active or sustainable transport month at the workplace. Set a goal and encourage employees to reach the goal. You can make it a competition between the different departments.

Another option is creating a sustainable transport task force that will come up with information materials to educate and encourage sustainable transport. They can offer the members of staff personal travel advice.

You can make a big difference by encouraging and being open to more flexible schedules. This is also going to improve employee satisfaction. This helps employees in avoiding rush-hour traffic, and they can consider other means of transport and not have to worry about timing. This also has the bnenefit of making your brand look good and is a smart reputation protection strategy.

With the above ways of encouraging and helping staff with sustainable transport, there is a good chance one of them can apply to your situation. You will see results and do something positive for the environment.