It’s week 2 of Green Travel Month and already businesses across the Island are cutting carbon and changing the way that their employees are travelling to work. The latest batch of businesses to take part includes Morrisons, The Shaw Trust, Red Funnel, HMP Isle of Wight, Sainsburys, YMCA, Liz Earle and a number of Island school staff who will all be using Smartcards to travel to work in a new way during Green Travel Month. They join hundreds of other employees who are already signed up.
The Chamber has teamed up with Southern Vectis to offer free bus travel to commuters who would normally travel to work by car. As an employer you can sign up for your employees who normally drive to work to receive a free Smartcard, pre-loaded with five days of unlimited travel by Southern Vectis bus, helping to get cars off the road and lower carbon emissions.
Southern Vectis General Manager Matt Kitchin commented:
“It’s great to be able to offer commuters the incentive to try the bus and the response from Island businesses to this initiative has been brilliant so far. The offer gives people the opportunity to consider the bus as a viable alternative to the car for some or all of their regular journeys. Not only is travelling by bus better for the environment but cheaper too with unlimited travel starting from less than £3 a day. Together with the Chamber we hope to encourage people to be a little less reliant on their car for the journeys where alternatives exist, be it walking, cycling or bus.”
The Chamber is also working with Visit Isle of Wight’s Travel Ambassadors to introduce businesses to electric bikes. Employers can sign up for Electric Bike taster sessions for their employees in partnership with the Island’s newly launched Red Squirrel Electric Bikes. It’s an opportunity to see if this form of power-assisted cycling is for you! The Red Squirrel team will be delighted to answer any questions you may have about hiring or buying an electric bike.
And if you feel your cycling skills may be a little rusty or you lack the know-how to undertake a basic repair, don’t worry – during Green Travel Month you can also take part in free Adult Cycling and Maintenance sessions.
James Lucas, Care and Support Initiatives Officer for Southern Housing Group welcomed the opportunities on offer.
“As part of our Local Sustainability Strategy we are exploring various ways in which our staff can make use of different means of transport, other than their petrol or diesel powered vehicles. We have trialled electric bikes courtesy of Red Squirrel and in Green Travel Month we have a handful of staff with free smartcards courtesy of Southern Vectis trying out the bus as an alternative way to get to work. We are keen to find out more about Green Transport (including the Co-Wheels project) and other Green themed initiatives and look forward to working further with the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce.”
The Chamber has developed a range of green travel plan templates suitable for small, medium and large businesses to adopt for free. Travel plans can make a real contribution towards encouraging and promoting alternatives to single-occupancy car trips such as encouraging car-share schemes, cycling, public transport, etc. A plan encourages an organisation to look at their impact on the environment and the well-being of their team and look ahead in identifying positive changes.
The Chamber of Commerce is holding informal drop-in advice sessions every Thursday throughout February, 12-2pm at the Innovation Centre, St Cross Business Park, Newport. If you’d like advice on running a travel survey in your workplace, picking up one of the free green travel plan templates or finding out the best ways to promote active travel amongst your staff, then pop in and say hello.
Tracy Underwood, LSTF Officer at the IW Chamber says “It’s fantastic that so many Island employers, large and small, have taken the opportunity to get involved in Green Travel Month. With their employees swapping the daily car commute for the bus during February it will make a really significant improvement to the environment and hopefully encourage people to make more use of the bus in future, as well as looking at other ‘healthy’ options such as walking or cycling. We can offer employers a wide range of advice relating to encouraging active and sustainable travel in their workplace. Email me attracy.underwood@iwchamber.co.uk or call 554545.”
