Step 1 - Senior Management Buy-In

This is vital to ensure the success of any Travel Plan and should be secured from the outset as they will need to:

• Lead by example by travelling sustainably whenever they can.
• Fund the Travel Plan - according to the Department for Transport, organisations implementing  Travel Plans have been found to spend an average £50 per employee, although this varies widely depending on the size of the organisation.
• Secure the release of staff time for work concerned with the Travel Plan.
• Support any changes in working practices that come from implementing the plan.

The Business Case

To ensure the support of senior management there needs to be a sound business case for the Travel Plan.

Identify potential savings, costs and income streams. In some circumstances a Travel Plan can pay for itself. For example through car parking charges or reduced business mileage claims.

The Travel Plan should also be linked to high level objectives such as health and well-being or environmental policies such as ISO14001 accreditation.