Commuting and travel
Step two - Intermediate
Once you have received your responses and the survey deadline has been met, you can now start to review your data. This is really good opportunity to spot the ‘easy-wins’ that can help you make the quickest impact. Sometimes, this can also turn up quite surprising results and may result in a positive shift in the way that you do business.
How to review your data
The information is most easy to see in a spreadsheet. If you have chosen to use the online form, your data will be presented in an excel format. Here you can see an overview of all the responses to your survey, as well as useful graphs which are automatically generated as part of the survey dashboard.
You can also use this data to help with your Carbon Footrprint calculations. Just remember to separate out travel that takes place using company owned vehicles into Scope 1, and all other travel into Scope 3.
Look out for key insights, such as:
- Where there is a high reliance on car use for short business journeys
- Domestic flights that could be replaced with other transport options
- Regular in-person meetings that could be replaced with virtual meetings
Making sure this information is easily accessible and available to everyone is a big part in supporting positive change across your business. You could look at highlighting key metrics, like:
- The percentage of employees commuting by car vs. public transport vs. active travel
- Total annual mileage for business travel and associated CO2 emissions
- The number of face to face meetings vs virtual meetings that have taken place
Engaging with the wider team
Reviewing your travel needs and uses as a business provides useful data to help you reduce your emissions, and potentially work more efficiently. Now that you have your data, it’s a good idea to develop a plan of action to find ways to adopt more sustainable travel solutions. Involving your team in this process helps to create buy-in, so make sure to allow people to feedback and share their thoughts on potential solutions. You could explore:
- Barriers to adopting more sustainable transport methods; e.g. offering incentives such as the Cycle to Work scheme, or subsidised public transport
- Offering a pool car for business travel, or making better use of carsharing apps; e.g. Co-Wheels or Car Club
- Implementing changes to your working arrangements; e.g. offering a later start to avoid peak-time travel costs to further incentivise the use of public transport