Smarter ways to travel across South East Wales.

Energy Savings Trust Case Study

The challenge

Staff at Bron Afon Community Housing are aiming to reduce car usage by 20% with the help of the Energy Saving Trust.

During Sustainability Week, the Energy Saving Trust transport team advised staff that leaving the car at home and making better use of other modes of transport, such as public transport, cycling or walking can make a big difference to the climate and the wallet.

The benefits

Adopting smarter driving techniques reduces fuel consumption and wear and tear on car components. By following a few simple steps you can help stay on top of increasing fuel prices. Drivers who make small changes to their habits could see savings of 15% to their petrol bills, with an average saving of up to £250 each year.

The solution

In order to meet the reduction target, the rear car park was transformed into a car-share only car park for the week. Each person reducing their car usage qualified to take the wheel for the Smarter Driving Challenge on the Energy Saving Trust’s driving simulator.

Simon Morgan, Environmental Manager at Bron Afon said:

“It’s pleasing to see so many of our staff making the effort to be a little greener. We have over 250 members of staff, so if each of them adopted some of these measures we can make a big collective difference and save some money too. I’m confident that we can achieve our target of reducing car usage throughout the company by 20 per cent. Quite a few staff have actually tried to make the effort to change their transport habits for at least one day this week and whilst I can’t say our car-park has been quiet one or two people have commented that spaces have been more readily available this week so something is happening and we now need to continue to build on this in the coming weeks.”