Getting to Work Greenly, Converting from Car to Walking
Sep
13
The most obvious trip to consider converting from car to other forms of transport is your journey to work. Many initiatives set up to encourage a more balanced approach to car use rely on a major player in society – the workplace.
Talk to your employer about changing your start and finish times so that you can travel on public transport when it isn’t so busy. If you’re the boss, think about whether you really need all your staff to start work at the same time and especially at the same time as all the other workplaces in that area. If not, institute staggered schedules for your employees. The Government’s business advice service Business Link gives information on how to bring flexible working patterns into your business.
If you don’t have reasonable access to public transport from where you live think about driving to the nearest train station or bus stop and leaving your car there. Or, consider the possibility of moving closer to where you work. If that’s a realistic option you can then walk or cycle.
Changing your travelling to work habits is beneficial to the environment, your peace of mind, and your wallet. The relative cost savings can be substantial. A non-car user who uses a combination of public transport and taxis over the year, with the odd hire-car thrown in, usually runs up lower bills than someone who buys and runs a car, with its insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs. Imagine the costs for families with two or more cars per family.
If you have to use your car, find out whether you can share driving with someone else travelling the same or a similar route – check the previous section ‘Sharing the driving – and the car!’ for advice. People park at a pre- agreed location and are picked up by colleagues for the rest of the journey. Informal arrangements like this have led many local authorities to provide official park and share areas. You can make a difference.
These legs were made for walking (and pedalling)
The reality is that many people live too far from their work to walk all the way. Or do they? An increasing trend in many cities around the world is for people to live close to their workplace and social attractions, so they walk to work via the many shops and services that exist in inner urban areas.
If the walk to work is too far, walking to a nearby train or bus stop is a much healthier and less expensive transport option than driving.
Cycling is also becoming an increasingly popular mode of transport – largely as a result of many cities and towns investing in good, safe, and direct cycling paths that don’t compete with other traffic. In some cases, using a bicycle to get to work may be quicker than dealing with traffic congestion.
The key to cycling to and from work is doing the necessary planning:
- Make sure that your workplace has good cycle parking and locker facilities, ensuring your peace of mind that no one is going to cycle off with your treasured transport investment.
- Check that you have accessible showering and changing facilities. If there are no washing facilities at your workplace talk to your boss about the possibility of making them available and why you think they’d make a difference to the work environment as well as the wider environment. Many employers just haven’t considered washing facilities a necessity because no one has ever brought up the subject.
- Research the route you use – look for roads or paths that are well surfaced and wide enough to avoid conflicts with other vehicles.
If you’ve done all that then what are you waiting for – on your bike!
If you take up cycling to become a greener traveller, don’t forget to stay safe. Make sure you have good lights on the bike and wear a helmet, highly visible clothing, and reflecting bands. Motorists need to be able to see you easily in the dark or in poor visibility.
About two-thirds of people in the UK live within cycling distance of a train station but very few of those get to work by train because facilities for bikes at stations and on trains are scarce. Some train operating companies are very strict about the number, size, and type of bike they allow on board and some allow them only on particular trains, if at all. Check out the situation before you travel and lobby hard for more facilities for bikes at stations and on trains.
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