Isle of Wight Workplace Travel Planning

THE CHALLENGE

The Isle of Wight has an economy which performs below the average for wider Solent LEP and South East areas as a whole. Many employees are mainly based in the Medina Valley (between Cowes and Newport) and there is strong planning policy approach towards facilitating sustainable employment provision within this area, but the area has poor air quality, congestion, and high single-occupancy vehicle use.

Isle of Wight Council has secured £1.35m from the Department for Transport (DfT) Access Fund for Sustainable Travel; a three-year sustainable transport investment programme which seeks to improve the local economy by supporting access to new and existing employment, education and training, and actively promote increased levels of physical activity through walking and cycling.

SYSTRA’S ROLE

Since 2017, SYSTRA has been working with Isle of Wight Council to deliver the ambitious workplace travel plan programme, seeking to engage with 30,000 employees across the Island. Working with 20 key employers including the NHS Trust, Council, and BAE Systems, our role includes achieving formal sign-up by the businesses, collating baseline data, developing site-specific Travel Plans, working with the businesses to deliver interventions, and monitoring success.

By developing comprehensive travel plans and facilitating walking, cycling, car sharing, and public transport initiatives, SYSTRA aims to reduce the number of vehicle trips and ‘normalise’ walking and cycling. We have worked with Liftshare to launch a car share platform on the Island and are working closely with local suppliers of cycles and electric bikes with the goal of reducing single occupancy car trips to work.

We are working in collaboration with Isle of Wight Council and other Access Fund delivery partners to maximise effective delivery and will monitor the success of the programme throughout the 3-year commission.