IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v126y2019icp297-313.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Employer perceptions of the business benefits of sustainable transport: A case study of peri-urban employment areas in South West England

Author

Listed:
  • Bartle, Caroline
  • Chatterjee, Kiron

Abstract

There is considerable interest in the contribution that workplace-based mobility management interventions can make to achieving more sustainable mobility patterns. A number of studies have evaluated the impacts of workplace-based interventions on the commuting behaviour of staff, but the broader potential of such initiatives depends on the willingness of employers to support them. Little research has been carried out examining the perspectives of senior managers. The research which has been conducted has focused on employers located in urban or rural areas. This paper reports on in-depth interviews with senior managers of employers located in two peri-urban areas on the edge of the city of Bristol, south-west England. The research was carried out during a period when public funding was available to support the introduction of sustainable transport measures. The interviews aimed to find out whether senior managers perceived the promotion of sustainable transport as relevant to their business concerns, and how this varied between different types of organisation. The results showed that all managers believed that measures to increase the use of alternative modes for commuting and local business travel could be beneficial for their business, even if these benefits were indirect and difficult to quantify. The perceived benefits of sustainable transport included: helping to ease traffic congestion on the road network, thereby reducing associated delays and stress; helping employers manage excessive demand for car parking; improving staff wellbeing; and widening the recruitment opportunities among workers lacking access to a private car. Employers who perceived the greatest benefits were also the most willing to engage with public authorities in introducing new workplace-based mobility measures. The findings on employer support for mobility management are relevant not only to peri-urban areas but also to employment sites within other areas (in particular suburban areas and the rural hinterland) where the same challenges may apply of encouraging alternatives to single occupancy car use without the means to invest in comprehensive public transport.

Suggested Citation

  • Bartle, Caroline & Chatterjee, Kiron, 2019. "Employer perceptions of the business benefits of sustainable transport: A case study of peri-urban employment areas in South West England," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 297-313.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:126:y:2019:i:c:p:297-313
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2019.04.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856418305202
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2019.04.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Van Malderen, Laurent & Jourquin, Bart & Pecheux, Claude & Thomas, Isabelle & Van De Vijver, Elien & Vanoutrive, Thomas & Verhetsel, Ann & Witlox, Frank, 2013. "Exploring the profession of mobility manager in Belgium and their impact on commuting," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 46-55.
    2. Vanoutrive, Thomas & Van De Vijver, Elien & Van Malderen, Laurent & Jourquin, Bart & Thomas, Isabelle & Verhetsel, Ann & Witlox, Frank, 2012. "What determines carpooling to workplaces in Belgium: location, organisation, or promotion?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 77-86.
    3. Sebastian Bamberg & Guido Möser, 2007. "Why are work travel plans effective? Comparing conclusions from narrative and meta-analytical research synthesis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 34(6), pages 647-666, November.
    4. Tom Rye, 1999. "Employer transport plans-a case for regulation?," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 13-31, January.
    5. Roby, Helen, 2014. "Understanding the development of business travel policies: Reducing business travel, motivations and barriers," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 20-35.
    6. Cairns, S. & Newson, C. & Davis, A., 2010. "Understanding successful workplace travel initiatives in the UK," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 473-494, August.
    7. Tørnblad, Silje H. & Kallbekken, Steffen & Korneliussen, Kristine & Mideksa, Torben K., 2014. "Using mobility management to reduce private car use: Results from a natural field experiment in Norway," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 9-15.
    8. Rye, T., 1999. "Employer attitudes to employer transport plans: a comparison of UK and Dutch experience," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 183-196, July.
    9. VANOUTRIVE, Thomas & VAN MALDEREN, Laurent & JOURQUIN, Bart & THOMAS, Isabelle, 2010. "Mobility management measures by employers: overview and exploratory analysis for Belgium," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2229, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    10. Bueno, Paola Carolina & Gomez, Juan & Peters, Jonathan R. & Vassallo, Jose Manuel, 2017. "Understanding the effects of transit benefits on employees’ travel behavior: Evidence from the New York-New Jersey region," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-13.
    11. Rye, Tom, 2002. "Travel plans: do they work?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 287-298, October.
    12. VANOUTRIVE, Thomas & VAN CDE VIJVER, Elien & VAN MALDEREN, Lautrent & JOURQUIN, Bart, 2012. "What determines carpooling to workplaces in Belgium: location, organisation, or promotion?," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2418, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    13. Mingardo, G. & van Meerkerk, J., 2012. "Is parking supply related to turnover of shopping areas? The case of the Netherlands," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 195-201.
    14. Ko, Joonho & Kim, Daejin, 2017. "Employer-based travel demand management program: Employer’s choice and effectiveness," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-9.
    15. Roby, Helen, 2010. "Workplace travel plans: past, present and future," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 23-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bakare, Bukola & Motuba, Diomo & Szmerekovsky, Joseph, 2022. "Do corporate social responsibility ratings have any effect on traffic congestion?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 98-119.
    2. Julio César dos Santos & Paulo Ribeiro & Ricardo Jorge Silva Bento, 2023. "A Review of the Promotion of Sustainable Mobility of Workers by Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Hao Lu & Jie Bao, 2022. "Spatial Differentiation Effect of Rural Logistics in Urban Agglomerations in China Based on the Fuzzy Neural Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-23, July.
    4. Pilar Jiménez & David María-Dolores & Stephany Beltrán, 2020. "An Integrative and Sustainable Workplace Mobility Plan: The Case Study of Navantia-Cartagena (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Urbanek, Anna, 2021. "Potential of modal shift from private cars to public transport: A survey on the commuters’ attitudes and willingness to switch – A case study of Silesia Province, Poland," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Timmer, Sebastian & Merfeld, Katrin & Henkel, Sven, 2023. "Exploring motivations for multimodal commuting: A hierarchical means-end chain analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Peng & Yang, Xiankui, 2023. "Revisit employer-based travel demand management: A longitudinal analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 22-31.
    2. Guzman, Luis A. & Arellana, Julian & Alvarez, Vilma, 2020. "Confronting congestion in urban areas: Developing Sustainable Mobility Plans for public and private organizations in Bogotá," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 321-335.
    3. Vanoutrive, Thomas & Van De Vijver, Elien & Van Malderen, Laurent & Jourquin, Bart & Thomas, Isabelle & Verhetsel, Ann & Witlox, Frank, 2012. "What determines carpooling to workplaces in Belgium: location, organisation, or promotion?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 77-86.
    4. Van Malderen, Laurent & Jourquin, Bart & Pecheux, Claude & Thomas, Isabelle & Van De Vijver, Elien & Vanoutrive, Thomas & Verhetsel, Ann & Witlox, Frank, 2013. "Exploring the profession of mobility manager in Belgium and their impact on commuting," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 46-55.
    5. Wu, Jiyan & Tian, Ye & Sun, Jian & Michael Zhang, H. & Wang, Yunpeng, 2023. "Public or private? Optimal organization for incentive-based travel demand management," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    6. Jun Guan Neoh & Maxwell Chipulu & Alasdair Marshall, 2017. "What encourages people to carpool? An evaluation of factors with meta-analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 423-447, March.
    7. Hrelja, Robert & Isaksson, Karolina & Richardson, Tim, 2013. "Choosing conflict on the road to sustainable mobility: A risky strategy for breaking path dependency in urban policy making," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 195-205.
    8. Laurent Van Malderen & Bart Jourquin & Isabelle Thomas & Thomas Vanoutrive & Ann Verhetsel & Frank Witlox, 2011. "Employer Mobility Plans: Acceptability, Efficiency And Costs," ERSA conference papers ersa10p291, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Saad AlQuhtani, 2022. "Ridesharing as a Potential Sustainable Transportation Alternative in Suburban Universities: The Case of Najran University, Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    10. Van Malderen, Laurent & Jourquin, Bart & Thomas, Isabelle & Vanoutrive, Thomas & Verhetsel, Ann & Witlox, Frank, 2012. "On the mobility policies of companies: What are the good practices? The Belgian case," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 10-19.
    11. Neoh, Jun Guan & Chipulu, Maxwell & Marshall, Alasdair & Tewkesbury, Adam, 2018. "How commuters’ motivations to drive relate to propensity to carpool: Evidence from the United Kingdom and the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 128-148.
    12. Julie Bulteau & Thierry Feuillet & Sophie Dantan & Souhir Abbes, 2023. "Encouraging carpooling for commuting in the Paris area (France): which incentives and for whom?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 43-62, February.
    13. Wang, Yaoli & Kutadinata, Ronny & Winter, Stephan, 2019. "The evolutionary interaction between taxi-sharing behaviours and social networks," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 170-180.
    14. Hebes, Paul & Menge, Julius & Lenz, Barbara, 2013. "Service-related traffic: An analysis of the influence of firms on travel behaviour," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 43-53.
    15. Yi, Xu & Lian, Feng & Yang, Zhongzhen, 2022. "Research on commuters’ carpooling behavior in the mobile internet context," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 14-25.
    16. Benita, Francisco, 2020. "Carpool to work: Determinants at the county-level in the United States," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    17. Moritz Kersting & Eike Matthies & Jörg Lahner & Jan Schlüter, 2021. "A socioeconomic analysis of commuting professionals," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2127-2158, October.
    18. Gheorghiu, Alexandra & Delhomme, Patricia, 2018. "For which types of trips do French drivers carpool? Motivations underlying carpooling for different types of trips," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 460-475.
    19. Wenyuan Zhou & Xuanrong Li & Zhenguo Shi & Bingjie Yang & Dongxu Chen, 2023. "Impact of Carpooling under Mobile Internet on Travel Mode Choices and Urban Traffic Volume: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-15, April.
    20. De Vos, Jonas & Witlox, Frank, 2013. "Transportation policy as spatial planning tool; reducing urban sprawl by increasing travel costs and clustering infrastructure and public transportation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 117-125.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:126:y:2019:i:c:p:297-313. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.