Travel by public transport requires a lot more thought and planning than just getting into a car.

 

Potential bus and train users need simple, effective measures that will make them aware of the public transport options available to them for the journey to and from the site, as well as for business travel and for travel during lunchtimes. 

 

Visitors not familar with travelling to your site/s might also need travel details and this is an opportunity to increase use of alternatives to driving.  Guidance on how to provide visitor travel information  can help with development of site specific travel information.

 

Coordinators should talk to employees and visitors about the types of information they think would be useful when it comes to trying out public transport. Also, there's no substitute for the Coordinator going out and trying journeys for themselves so as to get first hand experience.

 

1. Company intranet sites are great places to advertise bus services that are available and provide access to external public transport websites. Relevant local websites can be bookmarked within an Intranet system for easy access. 

 

Visit Traveline Scotland for up to date public transport information.

 

2. Printed timetables are always useful for people to keep in a briefcase or handbag etc. They might also be useful for employees who are not office-based or don't have access to web or intranet based links. They can also be given to visitors.

 

Bulk copies of timetables may be available from local authority contacts or direct from bus operators. Small volumes of timetables might also be available at local libraries, neighbourhood centres, bus stations and tourist information centres. PDF versions of individual timetables can also be printed off from many bus operators’ websites and the Traveline Scotland website.

 

3. Printed timetables are OK as a relatively quick solution however it's worth bearing in mind that many people don't know how to read traditional timetables and just get confused by them. Many train companies now allow you to produce and print your own point to point, personal timetables from their websites. You put in some basic details such as your start and end points and the times around which you want to travel. The train company databases then generate the timetable information automatically and present it in an easy to read format ready to print off.

 

It's more complicated for bus companies to generate the same point to point timetables because their networks and the sheer number of bus stops makes it more of a challenge. However, Traveline Scotland now has an easy to use point to point timetable generator.     

 

4. The Travel Plan Coordinator could generate point to point timetables for bus stops nearest the site and places known to be important origin and destination points. These might include bus services to the nearest centres, or areas where clusters of staff are known to live. The information should be posted up on the Travel Plan noticeboards,  together with other travel plan related information for employees and visitors.

 

5. The Coordinator could also consider producing simplified credit card size versions of timetables, illustrating the times between your site and other main destinations

 

6. Fares information can be difficult to come by. Bus related web sites don't tend to provide fares information in the same way as they provide timetables. The Coordinator might have to contact bus companies directly to find out this information. Remember also that different bus companies have different types tickets from one day to annual season tickets. Again, the main fares information should be provided on Travel Plan noticeboards.