Case Study Summaries - Richard Armitage Transport Consultancy ...

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MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORK CASE STUDY SUMMARIES these tend to be those who have worked for the organisation for a long time, for much of which they have enjoyed unrestricted car parking. Below are a couple of comments from scheme users, illustrating their range of views on it. “Car sharing helps us work smarter and more efficiently. If you know you’ve got to get something done before your lift leaves, you get on and do it.” “It’s a bit galling when you see empty parking spaces that we could have used, but instead we’ve been made to struggle in on the bus, or spent additional time and money using park and ride. This is a particular problem at certain times of year, like during the school holidays.” “Those with childcare responsibilities face the greatest problems, as they have less scope to be flexible, and may not have the capacity to share their vehicles.” “It’s a shame that the preoccupation with car parking has distracted attention from the fact that we’ve moved into this fantastic new building. We’ve got loads of facilities, like state of the art IT, catering facilities and the gym, which means people don’t need to travel off site as much as they used to.” “If the scheme was abandoned I’d definitely go back to using my car every day, as the alternative public transport option takes so much longer.” Other General Issues 3.25 Due to the customer requirements for more work by GCHQ against a range of threats, the volume of staff at GCHQ is set to rise well above the level anticipated when the ‘doughnut’ was conceived and designed. If desk-sharing and other measures fail to absorb this increase, the only capacity available to accommodate more building and employees on the site, would be at the expense of car parking. One the scheme promoters commented: “At present we are in the calm between two states. We’ve negotiated the initial difficult hurdle of halving car parking spaces, but staff accepted this in part as they were told it would only be temporary until May 2005. I’m not sure what the reaction will be if/when it becomes apparent that GCHQ may need to cut parking spaces more severely than forecast permanently in the future.” 3.26 In gaining planning permission for the Doughnut development GCHQ made significant Section 106 contributions towards the improvement of supporting local infrastructure. It has established a good working relationship with Gloucestershire County Council and Cheltenham Borough Council, forming a committee that meets to discuss how the Section 106 contributions should be spent. All three organisations are keen to see improvements for non-car modes, and GCHQ is committed to reducing the volume of its car parking as wider improvements for cycling, walking, public transport and park and ride are introduced. While the current 1,800 parking spaces is set to rise to 2,890 at the end of the construction period in May 2005, there is a long term commitment to reduce the number of spaces to 2,476 by 2012. Car parking spaces prior to the relocation programme numbered 3,400. Final V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 22 -
MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORK CASE STUDY SUMMARIES 4 THE MET OFFICE AND EDF ENERGY General Background 4.1 For 140 years the Met Office has been the UK’s national weather service, providing advice to government departments, businesses and the media. However, it does not just focus on weather forecasts. It is an international science-based business, looking at the wide-ranging impacts of weather. 4.2 EDF Energy is the new name for the former London Electricity and SEEBOARD group of companies. However, in 1999, London Electricity Group acquired the supply business of South Western Electricity Board (SWEB). EDF Energy is one of the UK’s major energy providers involved in supplying around five million customers nationwide. Overall the group employs around 11,300 staff with major centres in south-west, south-east and north-east England. 4.3 In 2002 The Met Office initiated a relocation of its head office from a relatively costly, cramped and constrained base in Bracknell to a purpose-built site in Sowton Business Park (pictured right), on the eastern fringes of Exeter. As a condition of planning permission for the new office, the company was required to submit and agree a staff travel plan with Exeter City Council and Devon County Council. Consultants Steer Davies Gleave were commissioned to help develop ‘STEP’, the Met Office travel plan. In relocating, the Met Office wished to carry as many of its specialist employees with it as possible, so offered an attractive relocation package. However, to facilitate the objectives of the travel plan, the package was only available to those who moved to within an hour’s travel time of the new office. It was anticipated that a good proportion of the Met Office staff would choose to move to attractive villages within an hour’s drive of Exeter, but not well served by public transport. Therefore, a central element of the travel plan was the proposal to develop a formal car share scheme. Nevertheless, STEP does include a package of other measures to encourage alternatives to car use including walking, cycling, motor cycling, the use of buses and trains, and Park and Ride. It also facilitates flexible working, home working and video-conferencing to help reduce the volume of travel undertaken by Met Office staff for both commuting and business journeys. 4.4 The image right is a sample of the information the Met Office prepared for staff in advance of relocation. Final V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 23 -
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