QUICK WINS
Embed a travel hierarchy into your decision-making when working out if and how to travel. You can embed the most appropriate travel hierarchy into your Business Travel Policy for business meetings and encourage employees to consider it for their commute.
CASE STUDY
Independent Surrey wine merchant, Taurus Wines recently converted 1/3rd of their lease van fleet to 100% electric. Read more....
''We moved one of our vans from diesel to electric - each doing roughly
15,000 miles a year. This electric vehicle is suitable for around 75% of our
deliveries.''
£10,000 E-VAN GRANT
FOR A3 BUSINESSES
For organisations using the stretch of the A3 through Guildford 3 times a week or 150 single journeys a year in a diesel van. £10,000 will be taken off your sale or lease price of an electric van in addition to the £5,000 plug-in car grant.
Telematics are put into the vehicle to check they're being used in the right zone and the grant will be recalled if the terms are not met.
1,000 vans are anticipated to be funded this way. Click here, to find out more.
WHERE CAN I GET FINANCIAL HELP?
Government support for transport measures comes in tranches, so keep checking back for updates:
Surrey County Council's A3 EV Van Grant
Plug-in Electric Vehicle Grant
Workplace Charging Scheme
SDG GOALS
Lowering your emissions from transport and travel moves you closer toward achieving the following Sustainable Development Goals
Air pollution from vehicle emissions contributes to more than 40,00o preventable deaths in the UK every year
Creating sustainable commuinties is impossible without first tackling these emissions
In Surrey, 41% of our emissions are from transport, so sorting your travel plan is a huge contributor to climate action locally & globally
TRANSPORT
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Transport is a whopping 41% of carbon emissions in Surrey, and it's growing.
Switching how you move around the county reduces air pollution - known causes of local asthma, dementia and cancer cases as well as strokes and heart attacks.
Tackling transport can be a huge win for staff morale, quality of life and health and wellbeing, whether they’re a driver, office worker, or out with clients.
We find it helpful to break transport into two categories:
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Business & Commuter Travel
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Local Deliveries, Fleet & Freight.
Establishing a travel hierarchy is an excellent way to reduce your scope 3 travel-related emissions.
You can go even further by incentivising the mode you want and create the environment for change as part of your Travel Plan:
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Instigating the Cycle to Work Scheme is an admin burden but not a big one. It’s a huge health and tax efficient benefit for your team e.g. Bike2work, Cyclescheme,
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EBike salary sacrifice schemes for electric bikes to work e.g. Blike
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Expense 20p per mile for cycling to a meeting
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Cycle racks, clean showers, lockers and a hairdryer are considered essential
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Bus and rail card interest-free loans and/or discounts via the Easit network
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The Electric Guildford Park & Ride , the Cranleigh, Farnham, Longcross, Mole Valley, Tandridge, and West Guildford on demand bus services via Connected Surrey App are cost-effective ways to travel in those areas
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Liftshare is the UK’s established car sharing scheme and the car sharing club operating in Surrey is Zipcar
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Many larger businesses exclusively use EVs as their taxi supplier - this can make sense for smaller businesses too.
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EV salary sacrifice schemes for electric employee cars e.g. The Electric Car Scheme, Lease Plan, Octopus EV, Tusker, WeeVee
For more information about creating a workplace travel plan and shifting transport modes check out government-backed site business climate hub
Lower Your Business & Commuter Travel Emissions
Lower Your Delivery, Fleet & Freight Emissions
The large upsurge in the carbon footprint from transport is due to society’s shift to next day delivery-based consumption.
Are you doing the quick wins:
Coordinated deliveries with my local businesses to ensure we have one supplier / courier arriving on a nominated day of the week, saving everyone time & money
Choosing suppliers with Electric or Zero Emission Vehicle fleets (ZEVs include Hydrogen)
Driving as efficiently as possible - top tips on how to drive an EV efficiently
Using traffic monitoring apps like Waze or Google Maps to avoid and reduce congestion and pollution.
Maximise Your Transport Emissions Reductions
Switching to electric vehicles can reduce running costs by ~50% and avoid Clean Air Zone charges like the ULEZ and Congestion Zone Charges in London. The environmental impact is even bigger if you source 100% green electricity. Check out this myth-busting fact sheet to help you make an informed choice.
Ready to switch your fleet of vehicles? Check out this website for the latest gov-backed advice.
Anyone thinking about Last Mile Delivery needs to make sure E-Cargo Bikes are in the mix. Using electric cargo bikes for local deliveries is increasingly become a key way for some SMEs to improve sustainability and in many cases reduce delivery costs. There are a range of ECargo bikes available depending on requirements. Here are some great case studies from a London Courier Service, Brighton Gin by eBike and Food deliveries in Lithuania as a starter.
Here’s an E-Cargo Bike guide from the Energy Saving Trust and how to build the business case.
Capturing methods of travel, distance, and type of vehicle in your accounting software allows you to work out your travel footprint easily in any carbon calculator.
Top Tip