Save Money and Cut Carbon: How Public Sector Organisations Can Better Manage Their Business Travel

This is a synopsis of the presentation given by Martin Higgitt to the ACT TravelWise annual conference ‘Sustainable Travel in a Changing World’, held on 17 January 2017 and sponsored by SYSTRA. Martin’s presentation slides can be downloaded here

A recent report by BVLRA Getting to Grips with Grey Fleet (July 2016) showed the enormous cost of grey fleet in the UK, accounting for over 12 billion miles driven annually at a total cost of £5.5bn. Of these 12 billion miles, 1.5 billion come from the public sector at a cost of £786 million.
The grey fleet is also old and dirty and relatively unregulated (do employers know for certain that vehicles are roadworthy, insured and have a valid MOT?).

An opportunity exists for cash-strapped organisations to save money whilst significantly improving their management of business travel. Implementing a Business Travel Hierarchy where staff are encouraged to avoid travel, use sustainable alternatives, use clean, modern hire or car club cars. Using grey fleet becomes a ‘mode of last resort’ can typically save 25%-40% in business mileage and a lot more in emissions.

In turn, these savings can improve staff productivity (who spend less time travelling on business) and reduce pressure on workplace parking as people no longer have to drive to work because they are essential car users.

This presentation shows, with reference to case studies, how this can be done.

Martin Higgitt is Market Director for Sustainable Travel and Transport at SYSTRA. For more information, contact him at mhiggitt@systra.com or on 07854 594828.