Edinburgh Park commuters go green
11/11/08
Edinburgh Park has today released the results of its employee travel survey, revealing a marked increase in green travel at Scotland’s leading business park in West Edinburgh.
The survey carried out by transport planning and consultancy, Steer Davies Gleave reported a 500% increase in the number of employees choosing to cycle to work, rising from 1% of staff in 2007 to 5% this year and employees choosing to drive to work decreased from 61% to 55%.
There has also been a rise in the number of commuters using public transport, with more employees using both bus and train services to the Park.
Pamela Grant, development director at New Edinburgh Limited, the developers of Edinburgh Park said: “These are positive results for the Park and it’s encouraging to see that so many of our employees are choosing greener modes of transport for their journey to work. Edinburgh Park benefits from strong public transport links and easy access to Edinburgh’s cycle network and we are continuously looking to build on the green travel initiatives we offer to companies based at the Park.”
As home to more than 7,000 employees, the survey achieved a good response rate, with double the number of responses of the last survey in 2007. The travel survey was carried out through Edinburgh Park’s new website, which was launched for employees earlier this year.
Fiona Simon of Steer Davies Gleave said: “We were impressed by the findings in this survey and received responses from every company on the Park. Green travel is hugely important and the initiatives in place at Edinburgh Park are clearly having an impact on employees. As well as helping to reduce their carbon footprint, commuters will also find green travel is much more cost effective, which is particularly important in the current economic climate.”
Edinburgh Park has a comprehensive green travel plan to promote sustainable transport options. There are a number of initiatives and facilities available to staff including bikes available for hire free of charge to its employees, along with bike parking, dedicated cycle tracks and showers to encourage commuters to cycle to work. The Park has also recently relaunched its car share scheme, which matches employees who share a similar route to work.
Ends 16 October 2008
New Edinburgh Limited (NEL) has been developing Edinburgh Park since 1990 and is a joint venture between The Miller Group, the UK’s largest privately owned Housebuilding, Property Development and Construction business, and CEC Holdings Ltd, part of the City of Edinburgh Council. The Park is established as one of the top business parks in the UK and has a development programme spanning a further 10 to 15 years.
Occupants of Edinburgh Park include; Aegon UK, BT Scotland, Diageo, and The Miller Group. Issued on behalf of NEL by Weber Shandwick.
For more information please contact: Jenny McMahon on Tel: 0131 556 6649 or via e-mail at jmcmahon@webershandwick.com