Corporate Benefits

For many employers, car parking is a scarce resource. A Department for Transport study concluded that the average annual cost of each parking space was £400. Building additional parking capacity can be as expensive as £10,000 per space for multi-storey parking. Some organisations need to lease off-site parking and provide a shuttle bus service – another costly solution to excess employee parking demand.

Staff generally travel in from a similar catchment area and often work comparable hours. Employees travelling together reduce their costs of commuting. Employers benefit from reduced demand for car parking and there is significant evidence of decreased absenteeism and employee turnover.

Priority parking bays for car sharers can be a primary incentive where spaces are at a premium. Carbon heroes® has functionality to create parking permits for active sharers and reporting to ensure that the priority spaces are only occupied by those who have shared.

The carbon emissions related to employees commute is overlooked by most organisations when considering their environmental impact. Many also don’t consider business travel within their calculations, as it isn’t included within the current form of the Carbon Reduction Commitment. Working with carbon heroes® reduces single occupancy travel, resulting in carbon emissions savings as fewer cars are on the roads.

Many organisations have employees making similar journeys, whether between offices, to visit key suppliers or clients, or to airports for international travel. These journeys are typically taken without any consideration of efficiency, so several colleagues could drive, or book private cars, to travel nearly identical routes. Carbon heroes® allows employees to list these journeys, creating the opportunity to match with colleagues with similar plans.

HM Revenue and Customs allows for an additional allowance of 5 pence per mile for each passenger carried on business travel. This creates an incentive for employees to share such journeys and a saving for their employer, by processing one expense claim rather than two or three.

The taxi sharing function allows for further direct savings on private vehicle hire.

Research by the National Business Travel Network (www.nbtn.org.uk) demonstrates that a well-managed travel plan, which should include a car sharing scheme, can reduce employee turnover and also staff absenteeism. In more general terms sharing the commute to work can be made more pleasant when shared and business trips become less stressful.

When managed poorly, a company car sharing scheme can be perceived as an imposition from management, restricting employees’ travel choices. When managed well, such a scheme can be seen as saving employees’ costs and making work a more sociable place. Carbon heroes® specialises in employee engagement, working to ensure that schemes are seen as a positive development.