Sustainable Projects

A Travel Plan is a package of measures aimed at promoting sustainable travel within an organisation.

They can be used by organisations of all sizes, from schools to universities, small businesses to corporate Headquarters and shopping centres to football stadiums.

Travel Plans can help reduce the impact of travel on the environment, reduce costs to business and improve the accessibility of an organisation.

Examples of measures range from providing cycle parking or bus timetable information to encouraging car sharing, providing tele-working opportunities or managing car park facilities. Several thousand organisations around the UK have implemented travel plans. The main benefits have proven to be:

• Economic: cost savings from reduced car parking demand, reduced congestion, improved visitor or delivery access, improvements in staff productivity and better corporate image.
• Environmental: reduced air pollution, noise pollution, climate change emissions and overspill parking.
• Social: improved health, reduced stress and better quality of life amongst employees. 

SEStran is helping public sector organisations develop their own Travel Plans and also offers free advice on Travel Plan Development to the business sector.

If you would like more information about how Travel Plans could benefit your organisation. contact us on 0131 524 5159.

SEStran’s own travel plan, with links to further sources of information, is available here.

Car sharing makes more efficient use of vehicles on our road, helping reduce congestion and pollution. The benefits for individuals are that:

• It increases travel choices
• Provides options in rural areas with little public transport alternatives
• Reduces their travel costs
• Can reduce the need for car ownership

For businesses, it can improve accessibility of employment centres, especially in areas with poorer public transport provision. If everyone shared a car just once a week, the number of journeys would be reduced by 20%. 

SEStran has been operating TripshareSestran.com since October 2006. Tripshare is the free, web-based car-sharing scheme to link car drivers or passengers who are making similar journeys in South East Scotland and wish to share the costs. The system can also match taxi, cycling or walking journeys.

To find out more about TripshareSEStran.com, please click here.

Cycling is the often the fastest, always the healthiest and, other than walking, is the most environmentally sustainable form of transport. Cycling is frequently the fastest door-to-door mode for urban journeys of up to 3 miles, modal shift to cycling will reduce climate change emissions and helps individuals meet recommended levels of physical activity of 30 minutes per day.  

SEStran and its partner authorities believe that the improvement of cycling facilities will assist present day cyclists, and encourage more people to consider cycling as a potential mode of transport, since exposure to traffic is a significant deterrent for some. The promotion of cycling can bring major health and environmental benefits. Cycling contributes to several of SEStran’s key objectives, especially:

• To improve access to employment.

• To contribute to the achievement of the UK’s national targets and obligations on greenhouse gas emissions.

• To promote more sustainable travel.

• To increase transport choices, reducing dependency on the private car.

One of SEStran’s key targets is to increase the proportion of all trips by walking and cycling by 5% over 15 years, 1.5% after 5 years.