This guide is designed to give you the most useful public transport resources to inform staff of their options.
Why promote public transport to staff?
Encouraging staff to travel by public transport can reduce car parking congestion and support local services. People are not always aware of their options so providing information can help staff make informed choices about how they travel to work.
For staff, public transport can also be a great stress-free and low-cost way of getting to work. Taking the bus or train can give passengers more time in the mornings to prepare for the working day, or time to catch up with their personal lives. Recently studies have shown that people who use public transport daily are healthier and happier than people who drive to work.
Subsidised or discounted travel for staff
Stagecoach South West works with a number of employers in Devon to offer discounted season ticket travel to staff. If you are interested in offering this to your own employees, please find the corporate travel contact for your area on the stagecoach website.
For information about corporate rail tickets, check out the links below for each rail operator:
To enable staff to purchase public transport season tickets, you can offer interest free loans. These tickets offer better value for money than individual or short-term tickets. Another way to encourage staff to purchase bus season tickets is to offer a salary sacrifice scheme. It is, however, important to seek detailed guidance from HMRC on both of these types of schemes to make sure your organisation is still in compliance with tax regulations.
Park & Ride and Park & Change (Exeter)
For people travelling into Exeter, the Park & Ride and Park & Change sites across the city offer a convenient alternative to driving into town and trying to find somewhere to park.
Park and Cycle spaces are available at all Exeter Park and Ride sites. Park and Cycle works in the same way as Park and Ride but with bicycles. Visit the Travel Devon website for more information about Park and Cycle permits, how to apply for these and the exclusion zones that apply to the scheme.
Circulating information to staff
To make sure you reach as many members of staff as possible, it is a good idea to use a variety of communication channels, like:
- Informative email or an internal newsletter
- Staff induction packs. Find out more in the Staff induction pack toolkit
- Providing travel information such as bus and rail timetables at reception
- Screens in communal areas displaying travel information e.g. live bus information (see below)
Please see our Staff travel information template for guidance on what information to include.
Campaigns
The campaigns World Car Free Day and European Mobility Week can also provide an opportunity to promote using public transport as an alternative to get around or to work.
Live bus information
A lack of information about the journey is a perceived barrier to bus use. Live bus information takes the uncertainty out of waiting for the bus and is available through Traveline SW’s journey planner.
You can also display the live feed, or next scheduled stop for arrivals at your closest bus stop from screens in your reception or waiting areas. Please email devonbus@devon.gov.uk for details on how to get live departure information set up for your business.
Further information
The suggestions listed in this toolkit have hopefully inspired you to promote public transport within your workplace. If you would like more information, please visit: