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Frankwell Quay
Shrewsbury
SY3 8HQ
Travel Trends
Business travel trends - staff
- In the financial year 2001-2002, a total of 172,189 miles were claimed by staff (excluding Housing and Highways sections) at a total cost to SABC of £67,434.61.
The average mileage claimed by an employee was 1,784 miles/year
Cycle mileage:
Nobody claimed the cycle mileage allowance, which is currently available at a rate of 20 pence/mile.
Frequency of travel on Council business -staff
Survey results - Frequency of staff leaving the office on business
Only 11% of these visits are mostly to other council offices, with the majority being to external sites or other organisations. 41% of staff either do not leave the office at all, or do so less than monthly.
Of the staff taking part in the survey, 19% of these always use a car on business trips, 22% walk or use other means of transport within the river loop and 6% never use a car.
The use of a car is linked to the need to carry equipment, time constraints, safety and the need to visit numerous sites one after the other in both rural and urban areas.
Business travel trends - Councillors
Travel by Council Members is all related to business travel due to the nature of the work that Councillors carry out all being linked to SABC business.
The four most commonly visited sites and the frequency of travel are illustrated below:
(Numbers on the left-hand axis relate to number of people)
As expected, the most commonly visited sites are Oakley Manor and the Guildhall, with infrequent visits to other locations such as the Town Centre Partnership, local schools and other outside bodies.
Of Councillors taking part in the survey, 50% drive alone to meetings, 32% use a mixture of transport modes and 9% cycle (9% no data). The 'mixture of transport modes' includes bus, Park and Ride, Cycle, Car-Share and walking. The average journey distance is 5 miles; with the average time taken to travel being 13 minutes.
Commuter travel trends
The following can be stated from the October 2002 survey results:
Distance and time:
The majority of employees live within the Borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham Council with 69% travelling from within 10 miles or less (134 people). However, a number of people do travel from outside of this boundary, expensive house prices being volunteered as one of the main reasons.
- The median distance traveled to work is 3.5 miles, with the average distance of 8 miles. The range is 0.5 to 58 miles.
- The average time an individual takes to get to work is 22 minutes with a range of 2 minutes to 1hour 20 minutes
Current mode of transport:
Results of staff survey, October 2002
Current mode of transport:
- 60% of staff drive to work. Of these, 6% are carrying passengers.
A number of people replying 'I use a mixture of methods' may also drive, but not on a daily basis. This compares to 73% driving to work in 1998.
- 13% of staff walk or cycle to work. This has decreased slightly since 1998 when 19% cycled or walked to work.
- 3% use some form of public transport to commute to work, a slight increase from 2% in 1998.
- 22% of people use a variety of methods to get to work including cycling, walking, public transport and Park and Ride. The method changes depending on:
- Weather and seasons
A number of people cycle, walk or run to work during the light seasons, but change their travel mode during the dark winter months, usually to the car.
- Family or other commitments
School run / nursery or child-minder arrangements / college or gym after work etc. means that the daily pattern may change throughout the week. Car sharing is common, but varies depending on the above.
- Commitments at work
The daily workload affects the way that a number of people travel to work. If a high amount of equipment needs to be carried or site visits are necessary this will influence the mode of travel. Often people who cycle or walk change to using the car when required.
- Time
Public transport, including Park and Ride, is used, but not on a regular basis. The use of this mode of transport depends on the above commitments, but the decision is also made on the time taken to travel. Train and bus times are cited as unreliable and Park and Ride is often only used if people feel they have an extra few minutes to spare on a particular morning.
Business travel impacts:
The following tables indicate the environmental and economic impacts of SABC business miles, including Councillor travel (derived using the 'Impacts Calculator' software). This is based on an average journey distance of 10 miles (16km).
Air pollution
Commuter travel impacts:
The following tables indicate the environmental and economic impacts of SABC commuter miles.
|
Annual emissions to air - business miles | ||
|
One car |
Organisation | |
|
CO2 |
1753.11 |
268,225.22 Kg |
|
CO |
44.72 |
6,842.03 Kg |
|
VOC's |
4.04 |
617.57 Kg |
|
Nitrous oxide |
3.95 |
603.65n Kg |
|
Particulates |
0.14 |
21.04 Kg |
|
SO2 |
0.19 |
28.65 Kg |
Note: compare with the equitable CO2 figure of 1684 kg/person/year
|
Economic impacts - business miles | ||
|
One car |
Organisation | |
|
Health costs |
31.0 |
4,770 £ |
|
Climate change costs |
54.0 |
8,315 £ |
|
Accident costs |
274.0 |
41,890 £ |
|
Congestion costs |
542.0 |
82,908 £ |
|
Noise costs |
8.0 |
1,187 £ |
It is estimated from these figures that business related transport costs the authority around £363,000 (including external costs) and adds 268,225 Kg / CO2 in total into the environment every year. Any allowances paid on top of the cost of fuel consumption will be extra to this figure.
A summary of the situation is shown in the table below:
|
Summary of annual impacts of SABC business miles | ||
|
|
One Car |
Organisation |
|
Fuel consumption |
489 |
74,768 Litres |
|
CO2 emissions |
1,753 |
268,225 Kg |
|
Total external cost |
394 |
60,251 £ |
|
Total car cost (This includes fuel, insurance, maintenance etc) |
2,373 |
363,048 £ |
Commuter travel impacts:
The following tables indicate the environmental and economic impacts of SABC commuter miles.
|
Annual emissions to air - commuter miles | ||
|
One car |
Organisation | |
|
CO2 |
5,337.75kg |
1120928.39 kg |
|
CO |
218.17kg |
45815.91 kg |
|
VOC's |
6.11kg |
1284.05 kg |
|
Nitrous oxide |
22.91kg |
4812.05 kg |
|
Particulates |
0.45kg |
93.73 kg |
|
SO2 |
0.6kg |
125 kg |
Note: compare with the equitable CO2 figure of 1684 kg/person/year
|
Economic impacts - commuter miles | ||
|
One car |
Organisation | |
|
Health costs |
£111 |
£23276 |
|
Climate change costs |
£165 |
£34749 |
|
Accident costs |
£1198 |
£251546 |
|
Congestion costs |
£542 |
£113795 |
|
Noise costs |
£34 |
£7127 |
It is estimated from these figures that commuter related transport costs each individual around £10,381 (including external costs) and adds 5,337 Kg / CO2 into the environment every year. This is based on an employee driving a 16km roundtrip (10 miles). A summary of this situation is detailed in the table below:
|
Summary of annual impacts of employee commuter miles | ||
|
One Car |
Organisation | |
|
Fuel consumption |
10,612 Litres |
311501 Litres |
|
CO2 emissions |
38,173 kg |
1120928 kg |
|
Total external cost |
£ 1,636 |
£ 110947 |
|
Total car cost |
£ 10,381 |
£ 2,180,069 |
It can be seen from these results that transport emits a high level of pollution and contributes considerably to climate change. In actual fact, transport only attributes to approximately one third of all emissions of CO2 in the UK.
Car parking - current situation: staff
Currently SABC employees park at a number of locations through the town depending on their place of work. Of staff surveyed, 44% park directly at their place of work, and 30% park in another location and walk to their place of work. All park for free. Of those who park away and walk to their place of work, the following parking locations are used based on a system of passes:
NB. 'Other' refers to locations such as the Music Hall, Countryside Unit etc.
Car parking - current situation: Councillors
Predicted travel trends - single office accommodation
SABC employees and Councillors were asked how they intend to travel to the new offices at Frankwell Quay. The results are as follows;
It is encouraging to see a shift in the predicted travel trends, with less than half of staff (49%) stating that they would drive alone every day to the new offices.
There is a noticeable increase in the mode of transport suggested with an increase in walking, car-sharing, use of public transport and Park and Ride. The greatest increase is in cycling (from current rate of 4% to 12%), perhaps due to the fact that better facilities are expected within the new offices than currently available.
It is encouraging to note that there is a slight decrease in the number of Councillors who will drive alone to the majority of their meetings (currently 50%), and a use of a variety of transport methods.