‘Cost and time’ among the key barriers to adopting sustainable travel practices

Cost and time, low employee uptake, and perceived administrative and logistical challenges are among the key barriers preventing UK-based companies establishing more sustainable travel and commuting policies – that’s according to a new report conduct by Thinks Insights & Strategy on behalf of the UK government.

The anticipated cost and time involved in implementing and maintaining sustainable travel initiatives was highlighted in the report as one of the biggest barriers to getting them off the ground, although most companies surveyed acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic had reduced the volume of commuting and business travel, leading to sustainability benefits.

However, the report noted that “it was felt that these changes were driven by the pandemic context rather than a conscious environmentally motivated effort amongst their businesses or employees.” It added that there was “widespread recognition that working patterns were still shifting post-pandemic, which meant that commuting and business travel behaviours were yet to stabilise.”

In the sample of businesses that had introduced commuting and domestic business travel initiatives, among the most common were the decarbonisation of company vehicle fleets and the facilitation of lift share schemes. The report added: “Many businesses were encouraging employees to take meetings online to save on time and money, and, in a minority of cases, to keep their carbon emissions low.”

The businesses interviewed for the study recognised a range of benefits that sustainable travel and commuting policies can deliver, including enhanced business image, improved recruitment and retention, and, to a lesser extent, protecting the environment.

The last of these points “was a primary driver for a small number of businesses in the sample that had strong societal and environmental values and were willing to forgo some financial profit to realise their values.”

Although there were high levels of recognition that business travel and commuting account for a significant proportion of businesses’ carbon emissions, and that sustainability is having growing influence on business decisions, “such factors were often regarded as subordinate to cost and logistics, particularly in the context of an economic downturn.”

The study was commissioned to inform a potential Commute Zero programme that would include accreditation for UK businesses who adopt sustainable commuting and travel policies.