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Promoting public transport

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This guide is designed to give you the most useful public transport resources to inform staff of their options.  

Why promote public transport to staff?

Encouraging staff to travel by public transport can reduce car parking congestion and support local services. People are not always aware of their options so providing information can help staff make informed choices about how they travel to work. 

For staff, public transport can also be a great stress-free and low-cost way of getting to work. Taking the bus or train can give passengers more time in the mornings to prepare for the working day, or time to catch up with their personal lives.  Recently studies have shown that people who use public transport daily are healthier and happier than people who drive to work. 

Subsidised or discounted travel for staff

Stagecoach South West works with a number of employers in Devon to offer discounted season ticket travel to staff. If you are interested in offering this to your own employees, please find the corporate travel contact for your area on the stagecoach website. 

For information about corporate rail tickets, check out the links below for each rail operator: 

To enable staff to purchase public transport season tickets, you can offer interest free loans. These tickets offer better value for money than individual or short-term tickets. Another way to encourage staff to purchase bus season tickets is to offer a salary sacrifice scheme. It is, however, important to seek detailed guidance from HMRC on both of these types of schemes to make sure your organisation is still in compliance with tax regulations. 

Park and Ride/ Park and Change 

For people travelling into Exeter, the Park & Ride sites across the city offer a convenient alternative to driving into town and trying to find somewhere to park. Exeter also has a number of Park and Change sites from where you can change to a more sustainable mode of travel of your choice.  

Park & Cycle is also available at all Park & Rides in Exeter. This allows commuters to park up and complete the last stretch of their journey by bike. Find out more about how to apply and exclusion zones at the Travel Devon website.   

Circulating information to staff

To make sure you reach as many members of staff as possible, it is a good idea to use a variety of communication channels, like: 

  • Informative email or an internal newsletter. 
  • Staff induction packs. Find out more in the ‘Staff Induction Packs’ toolkit  
  • Providing travel information such as bus and rail timetables at reception 
  • Screens in communal areas displaying travel information e.g. live bus information (see below). 

To help you promote public transport in your workplace, we have put together some text you can copy below. 

Bus 

Avoid the stress of driving and finding somewhere to park. Walking as part of a bus journey can help you achieve your recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day.  

Ticket offers

You can save money by making use of the various bus ticket deals on offer. For more information visit Travel Devon website or the Stagecoach website.   

Planning your journey

Plan your journey at www.travelinesw.com or ring 0871 200 22 33. You can also download area timetable booklets and view an interactive map on the Travel Devon website. Printed timetables/maps are also available and can be picked up from bus stations, as well as other outlets such as libraries and tourist information centres.     

Train

Travelling by train provides a fast, frequent, and direct travel option, without the worries of driving and parking. Please visit the Great Western Railway, South Western Railway or the Cross Country websites for train timetables and schedule updates.  

Tickets offers

You can save money by making use of the various train ticket deals on offer. For more information visit Travel Devon website or www.nationalrail.co.uk.  

Planning Your Journey

To plan your journeys by train go to www.nationalrail.co.uk.  For journeys which combine train with other modes of travel, please visit www.travelinesw.com. Printed timetables/maps are also available and can be picked up from rail stations and other outlets, such as libraries and tourist information centres. 

Cycling by Train

Bicycles can be carried on trains in Devon although there are some restrictions in place. General information on train travel with bicycles can be found on the National Rail website. You can find more detailed information on the website of individual operators: 

Folding bikes can be carried on all trains, at no extra cost. However, there are a few additional requirements on some services. Find out more on the National Rail website.

If you are travelling to or from Exeter St David’s or Exeter Central station, you could consider renting an electric co-bike to start or continue your journey.  

Combined travel

If you can, why not combine public transport with walking, cycling, or car sharing. You could cycle to the train station or try getting off the bus a couple of stops early to get a bit more exercise into your day. Another option could be car sharing to the train station or to the park and ride. 

Live bus information

A lack of information about the journey is a perceived barrier to bus use. Live bus information takes the uncertainty out of waiting for the bus and is available through Traveline’s National Journey Planner.   

You can also display the live feed, or next scheduled stop for arrivals at your closest bus stop from screens in your reception or waiting areas. Please email devonbus@devon.gov.uk for details on how to get live departure information set up for your business.  

Further information and support

The suggestions listed in this toolkit have hopefully inspired you to promote public transport within your workplace. If you would like more information, please visit: 

www.traveldevon.info 

www.travelinesw.com

www.nationalrail.co.uk 

Want to encourage smarter travel to work at your workplace? Devon County Council can offer support* to organisations who want to enable their staff to travel more sustainably and actively. Please get in touch via traveldevon@devon.gov.uk for more information.

*Support offered will depend on availability of funding and engagement and commitment of your workplace.

 

 

This page was last updated February 2023.

URLs

traveldevon@devon.gov.uk