Making Car Sharing and Car Clubs Work - Case ... - The Civil Service

MAKING CAR SHARING AND CAR CLUBS WORKCASE STUDY SUMMARIES4.5 Around the same time as the Met Office move, EDF Energy – already based in Exeter – wasplanning a move to new and larger offices in Sowton Business Park, to accommodate anexpansion from 500 to 1000 staff. This company was also required to develop a travel planas a condition of planning permission for itsnew building (pictured right). The twoorganisations realised they faced a number ofcommon issues, relatively large numbers ofstaff travelling to neighbouring sites beingpotentially the most problematic. As both werein the process of implementing a travel plan,they agreed to run a joint car share scheme –recognising that the larger the pool of schememembers the greater the potential forsuccess.Operating Structure4.6 Having done some research on the options available, the Met Office and EDF Energyeventually decided to use Intrinsica software for their joint car share database. Briefly,employees of either company register using an intranet system, both drivers and non driversare encouraged to use the system. They provide details of where they live, and can registerpreferences such as gender of the person they would like to share with, whether they wouldprefer a non-smoker, etc. The software then provides enquirers with contact details ofcompatible sharers, and it is left to the individual to make contact with these people todiscuss the logistics of setting up a sharing trial or arrangement. The Met Office has issuedguidelines for car sharers, covering issues such as driver responsibilities, insurance, what todo if an arrangement breaks down at short notice, etc.4.7 230 Met Office staff are currently registered on the database, from a total of 1200 who areeligible to join. A year ago this was 150, and two years ago – when the scheme was initiated– the number was 50. However, as will be seen below, not all those who are actively carsharing are registered scheme users. 350 EDF Energy staff are currently registered on thedatabase from a total of 780 who are eligible to join. Those registered numbered 100 a yearago and 30 two years ago.Impact and Effectiveness4.8 The modal share for travel to work before and after the introduction of the Met Office’s STEPtravel plan is summarised in the table below. It is worth noting that while the overallproportion of staff travelling by car remained static at 70%, car sharing increased from 5% to30%. As 1200 workers travel to the Met Office at Sowton Business Park, this represents areduction in the number of cars used for commuting from 804 to 624, assuming an averagecar share occupancy of 2.5 persons (based on interviews with a sample of users).Final V1.1, Dec. 2004 - 24 -