<News Archive>


		News News Archive: September 06 June 06 May 06 April 06 March 06 February 06 January 06 December 05 September 06 TfW employers rewarded for commuter plans Employers who are encouraging healthy and environmentally friendly commuting were rewarded last night (Tuesday 12th September) at a high profile event. The second annual Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Workplace Travel Plan Awards were presented by Jacqui Wilkinson, Head of Sustainable Travel Initiatives at the Department for Transport at a ceremony on Tuesday 12th September at Peterborough Town Hall. "‘Twenty Two employers received awards, says Richard Bettle, Travel Plan Advisor at the Travel for Work Partnership (TfW) who run the awards in collaboration with the Travelchoice Team in Peterborough. The awards range from the 'Certificate of Commitment', where a company's senior management have signed up to produce a travel plan. This certificate was awarded to TfW employers Papworth Hospital and the Wildlife Trust at Cambourne. At the other end of the range is the 'Travel Plan Excellence Award', for businesses with mature travel plans that are now wedded into the way they do business – TfW employers Cambourne Business Park and the University of Cambridge receive this award last night. TfW Award recipients 2006 In 2007 the awards will again be held in Cambridge. “2007 will see the celebration of ten years of the Travel for Work Partnership”, says Mark. “We are planning to include the Awards ceremony into those celebrations.” Employers wishing for an award in 2007 should contact Richard Bettle on 01223 712429 or email info@tfw.org.uk. The event was kindly sponsored by: Cambridgeshire County Council Peterborough City Council A list of organizations receiving awards is attached. Employers receiving awards in 2006 are: Certificate of Commitment Atkins BNP Paribas Securities Services English Nature EMAP Identity and Passport Service, Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Peterborough Regional College UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UKCEED) Wildlife Trust (Beds, Cambs, Northants & Peterborough) Certificate of Development Cambridgeshire County Council (Sackville House) Huntingdonshire District Council Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT) Certificate of Implementation Axiom Housing Association Greater Peterborough Primary Care Partnership Mott Macdonald Royal Haskoning Tesco distribution centre Travel Plan Award The Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Travel Plan Excellence Award Cambourne Business Park University of Cambridge Certificate of Continuing Excellence Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Wellcome Trust’s Genome Campus CamShare Prize Draw Four lucky winners were drawn on Monday 25 September. Prize winners are: £100 Grafton Centre voucher to spend in all shops, bars and Robert Sayle - Mike Davies of Cambridgeshire County Council Dinner (3 courses + wine) for Two at the Old Fire Engine House in Ely - Gurusimha krishnamurthy of ip Access at Cambourne Business Park WH Smith voucher £20 - Citrix Systems at Cambourne Business Park WH Smith voucher £20 - Sarah Hobson Cambs Constabulary at Huntingdon To win the prize draw registered members undertook a search for a car share match during two weeks beginning 11th and 18th September. See our press release for more information. Imaginary car - real car sharers! Front row Mike Davies driving; Gurusimha Krishnamurthy near side passenger: rear seats left to right Linda Cox, Richard Hales and Lesley Scobell. June 06 Chewing over Travel Plans at Breakfast The previous Breakfast meeting was held on Tuesday, June 6, at the Trinity Centre on the Cambridge Science Park by the Travel for Work Partnership. Over 25 breakfasteers found out how their organisation might benefit from the Guided Busway scheme. They also learned how, and why, the Welcome Trust has embraced travel to work initiatives at its Genome Campus at Hinxton. There was also be ample opportunity for guests to quiz a panel of local employers who have benefited from encouraging their commuting employees to cycle, walk, take the bus or car share. Mark Webb, Development Manager at Travel for Work said: “These initiatives are fun, cheap and can greatly benefit the environment, the health of commuters, as well as the health of the company!” TfW Breakfasts are free and give employers an opportunity to network with others who are developing travel initiatives. The next TfW Breakfast takes place in Huntingdon on Tuesday 31 October 2006. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Travel for Work on 01223 723429. Clock's ticking to win an Award for your Travel Plan Travel for Work is delighted to announce that the 2006 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Travel Plan Awards will take place on Tuesday 12th September at Peterborough Town Hall. The awards will be presented by Jacqui Wilkinson from the Department for Transport. The deadline for application to the awards is Friday 16 June. May 06 We're giving £££s for Cycle Stands Your employer could benefit from a share of the pot of money to provide or improve cycle parking. To apply for cash towards cycle stands/covers/security sheds see the application form and explanation notes for the "Take A Stand" scheme or phone 01223 712455/2429. The bidding window is open until 11 August 2006. (18 May 06) All organisations in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with a Travel Plan, or working towards one, can apply. Those that received awards last year and have progressed their travel plan can also apply for the next stage award. For more information on the Travel Plan Awards scheme click here. Contact us now on 01223 712429. (28 April 2006) April 06 TfW employers add years to life! TfW employers who are encouraging more sustainable travel are improving air qualty for us all and are helping improve the life expectancy of the public at large, according to a recent consultation statment from the Government. The consultation on new measures to tackle air pollution could extend life expectancy, cut environmental damage from acidic air pollution and generate benefits of £1.4billion a year, the government said. To see the full Dept for Environment press release click here. (10 April 2006) Transport Green Heroes The Observer Newspaper has joined forces with the Energy Saving Trust and Fleet News to find those organisations that do all they can to reduce the cost and environmental impact of their fleets. The Green Fleet Heroes Awards are open to all organisations, public, or private, large or small. For more information and how to apply please click here to go to the green heroes website. The closing date is 30 June 2006. March 06 Happy Valet for CamShare! CamShare, Cambridgeshire's on line car sharing scheme has celebrated its successful launch in Huntingdon with a super Prize Draw. All new members of the scheme from Cambridgeshire Police HQ, Huntingdonshire District Council and Luminus Group had the chance of winning. The lucky winner of the full car valet from Reeves Valeting of St Ives was Lesley Bailey, from Cambridgeshire Police Headquarters. She received her her valet on Friday 17 March. Caroline Higgins at Huntingdonshire District Council has won a meal for two and with a bottle of wine at Prima Italian restaurant in Huntingdon. ‘' I am delighted to be getting a beautifully clean car, inside and out, ‘ said Lesley. ’Although I’ve not found a car share match yet it is early days, and I’ll keep trying.’ Linda Cox and Colin Luscombe from Police HQ facilities team with lucky winner Lesley Bailey '‘I am really looking forward to my meal at Prima’, said Caroline. '‘CamShare has introduced me to others wishing to car share from my home village which we will be doing on an occasional basis.’ ‘'We were delighted with the response to the launch in Huntingdon,’ said Mark Webb. Development Manager of Travel for Work Partnership (TfW), which manages CamShare. Over 75 people at the three Huntingdon employers have placed their details on the database. Travel for Work is planning more Prize Draws through the year. ‘We are confident that CamShare can help many commuters save time, reduce stress and make new friends,’ said Mark. ‘In addition car sharing has a positive effect on congestion and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.’ Already CamShare has been successful for major employers in and around Cambridge. Cllr Bucknell, Chan Abrams, Cmndr Edens and Mark Webb at the launch of CamShare in Huntingdon in Janary 2006 CamShare is available to commuters of registered organisations. Employers wishing to find out more should contact Travel for Work on 01223 712429 or email info@tfw.org.uk. (15 March 06) More Chat, Less Travel, Fewer Pounds! Holding meetings can save time, save money and help save the environment! Unlikely? Read on… The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Travel Plan Awards, held in September 2005, were a joint effort between Travel for Work and Peterborough’s Travel Choice team. We decided to practice what we preach and used the telephone rather than the combustion engine to get ourselves together. We held five teleconferencing meetings during the planning for the event. Doing this: saved 20 hours, that would otherwise been spent driving saved over £700 in staff time and traveling costs stopped 176kg of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. An unexpected benefit was that we found the meetings were very productive, focused and short! However it does help to know the person at the other end of the phone – and if regular meetings are to be held it is useful to meet face to face at the beginning to establish a relationship. The teleconferencing equipment was easy to set up and use; you just plug into power and phone sockets and dial the number! If you would like more information on teleconferencing and how it can save your organisation time and money please contact TfW. January 06 Fewer and fewer lonely drivers! The Travel for Work Partnership (TfW) is delighted to report that employers on its network have achieved their lowest ever figure for driving alone into work 40% of all journeys were undertaken by this mode - down by 4% on last year! The significance of this is highlighted by comparison with the last census figure for Cambridgeshire which was 59.5% for the same travel mode. "Once more TfW employers are making a real difference to their own business success and the health and fitness of their employees," said Mark Webb, Development Manager at the Travel for Work Partnership. "They are also making significant contributions to the reduction in CO2 emissions." The results also show increases in cycling, walking, motorbiking and teleworking. "These are very positive figures," said Mark. "We shall continue to work hard with employers, throughout 2006 to maintain and hopefully improve on these figures." The figures for car sharing and bus use were 11% and 7% respectively - the same figures for the Census are 5.55% and 3.36%. Whilst these are good results, the percentage share for these two modes has remained fairly static over recent years. Travel for Work is preparing a number of initiatives for 2006 that will help get numbers of bus and car sharing commuters up. "On car sharing, for example, we have just significantly improved CamShare our car sharing website," enthused Mark. "We were delighted to welcome three employers from Huntingdon onto the scheme in January," (see below). The yearly survey is of a varying group of employers. It is therefore important that TfW (with assistance from data managers at the County Council) use a reasonable calculation that allows the report of year on year trends. This is done by combining and weighting the results of ten TfW employers who have taken part in the survey for the last five years. Click here to see details of the TfW Core Group Results 2005. If you have any questions about the survey please contact call Mark Webb on 01223 712429 or email info@tfw.org.uk. (updated 25 Jan 06) MultiBus gives multi choice Travel for Work is delighted to report a major breakthrough for bus travel in Cambridgeshire. MultiBus, a new ticket, has been launched that can be used on the virtually any bus in the county. The tickets are purchased on the bus (simply state your destination and ask for a MultiBus ticket). Travelers can purchase daily Multibus for £6 or a seven-day Multibus for 25. 'This is really great news for commuters,' says Paul Nelson, Local Passenger Transport Manager at the County Council. 'For example someone living in Huntingdon and working at Addenbrooke's Hospital will be able to take either the Hunts & District or Whippet Coaches bus to Cambridge bus station and then change to a Stagecoach bus to the hospital - with only having to purchase one ticket!' 'If that person buys a weekly Multibus,' continues Paul, 'They could also use the ticket to go shopping in Peterborough at the weekend. It really is very simple - and very convenient.' Mark Webb at TfW, said, 'This is a major development and we hope that TfW employers will do all they can to promote MultiBus to their staff. Let someone else do the driving! When its this easy why not!' For more information on MultiBus and details of the area covered by the scheme go to the County Council's website. MultiBus allows unlimited travel on buses run by the following companies: A & P Coaches Burton Cambridge Blue Cavalier Cedar Coaches Huntingdon & District Myall Stagecoach Whippet Employers wishing to promote MultiBus can receive posters and leaflets via TfW. Please contact us here. (Jan 06) December 05 University gets parking praise for park and cycle site The country’s first ever Park & Cycle facility was set up by TfW Steering Group member, the University of Cambridge, in 2001. Four years on it is proving extremely popular and has just received a Safer Parking Award in recognition of the high standard of its facilities. Situated just off Madingley Road, next to the University’s growing science and technology campus at West Cambridge, there are spaces for 292 cars, and 300 secure sheltered cycle lockers. From there, staff can ride safely into the town centre along the Coton footpath in just ten minutes. Good for traffic congestion, good for the health of University staff and good for security, the Park and Cycle is proving another winner in the University’s range of transport for Work policies. Some spare parking spaces and cycle lockers are available to University staff only for a one-off charge of only £1 per year. Click here for further information on Park and Cycle. (Dec 05) That's the way to do it! -University staff Park and Cycle