Commute Smart Week – staff travel a great cost to cut

Smarter ways of working and a reduction in the amount of time and money spent on business travel are key themes of Commute Smart Week which starts today.

Set up by the not-for-profit Work Wise UK which unsurprisingly promotes flexible working, the week will highlight one issue each of five days as follows:

• Monday – flexible working and travel plans;
• Tuesday – walking (get off a stop or station early and walk);
• Wednesday – cycling (why spend hours in the gym?);
• Thursday – health benefits of smarter working and commuting;
• Friday – road congestion and road safety (including car sharing).

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, believes that more efficient business travel could become vitally important for businesses looking to reduce costs during the downturn.  He says:

Now being green and commuting smart has never made more commercial sense.

The Confederation of British Industry has estimated that road congestion alone is costing the economy around £20 billion each year.

Work Wise UK claims that even a limited take up of some of the options highlighted by Commute Smart Week could lead to savings of up to £1.9 billion per year.

[Picture credit: Flickr – Mark Hillary]