Ditching The Car Commute To Save On Pollution
3 February 2009
James Brown, University Transport and Travel Manager, and Dee Johnson, Senior Administrative Marketing Officer, who has given up her car, with one of the University’s ‘greener’ hybrid vehicles.
The combination of good pool cars and bus services, discounts on staff parking permits for less use and controlling parking on our sites is obviously paying off.
”James Brown, Transport and Travel Manager
Green transport ideas at the University of Derby are enabling its staff to sell off their own cars – saving more than enough miles to circle the globe.
Over the last five years the University has brought in a series of measures to reduce staff’s reliance on cars. These have included:
- pool cars staff can use from on site instead of having to bring their own in (the permanent fleet of ten cars is being replaced by hybrid vehicles, which run on unleaded petrol and electric);
- expansion of the University’s own public transport service to include shuttle buses between sites, such as Kedleston Road and Markeaton Street;
- barring the use of pool cars between sites (not campuses) where public transport can be used and not paying mileage for such journeys, when staff use their own vehicles;
- a sliding scale of discounts for staff who pay for an on-site parking permit, reducing its cost to them the less they use it;
- making parking permits site specific and keeping parking space at the University’s new Markeaton Street site to a minimum;
- provision of more cycle racks and lockers, and giving staff the chance to try out foldable bikes, including the latest powered ones.
A recent snap email survey revealed 15 University staff who said they had been able to sell their cars recently because of the transport initiatives at work.
Together the 15 alone could be saving an average of 28,449 miles travel a year – easily enough to go once around the world – and 8.7 metric tons of vehicle carbon emissions annually.
This is based on the average number of working days per full time University staff member, multiplied by the average British worker’s daily commute of 8.7 miles, multiplied again by a reasonably new car’s carbon emissions of 190.6 grammes per kilometre – the last two averages from research by the RAC Foundation and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Dee Johnson, 37, a Senior Administrative Marketing Officer, sold her Nissan Micra in December but had not used it since March 2008. She now walks or runs the 12 miles between her Alvaston home and the University’s Kedleston Road site.
“I feel a lot better for it and am saving around £860 a year by not having a car. I can use the pool cars at the University,” said Dee.
Sarah Byrne, 27, a Market Research Officer also based at Kedleston Road, either walks in from the city centre, where she lives, or walks as far as the University’s Markeaton Street site and uses the free shuttle bus between sites.
“It used to take me 20 minutes to drive and it’s only 30 minutes to walk, and I feel a lot healthier,” said Sarah.
Clare Foyle, a University Statistician who lives in Ilkeston, gave up her car in October (2008) and uses a combination of Trentbarton and University Unibus services to get to Kedleston Road.
“It’s good having a service that can get me from the city centre right to the University entrance and, at 70p a trip, it’s cheap,”, added Clare.
Richard Hoy, 39, a Systems Analyst, sold his Fiat Punto last summer and now mostly cycles into Kedleston Road from Chaddesden.
“I like the consistency of knowing the journey will always take me around 15 minutes by bike. Also, I can park it in the cycle bay just outside my office,” he said.
James Brown, University Transport and Travel Manager for almost five years, is behind many of the recent transport changes, aimed at encouraging staff to be more environmentally responsible.
He said: “It is no good an organisation simply asking staff to leave their cars at home, without providing realistic alternative ways for them to get around.
“The combination of good pool cars and bus services, discounts on staff parking permits for less use and controlling parking on our sites is obviously paying off, as can be seen by the number of employees who told us they have now been able to get rid of their own cars.”
For further media information please contact Press and PR Officer Sean Kirby on 01332 591891 or 07876 476103, or email s.kirby@derby.ac.uk.
