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You are here: Home >>  Getting Started >>  Understanding the Budget Implications of a Travel Plan

Understanding the Budget Implications of a Travel Plan

A Travel Plan can deliver financial benefits to an organisation. Transport costs are often significant and there is always potential to reduce them.

It is worth remembering that a Travel Plan itself will incur costs in terms of money, time and resources. Some measures can be implemented very cheaply, others require a greater investment. It is often the more expensive measures that look most attractive when evaluated against the cost-savings that they can deliver.

It is important that your organisation allocates sufficient funds to allow your Travel Plan to deliver the benefits that you know it can. 

In some circumstances a Travel Plan can pay for itself. For example, measures could include the introduction of car parking charges or a focus on reducing business travel in private cars and so cutting expensive mileage claims. Where parking charges are introduced it is a good idea to try and ring fence the revenue to support other sustainable travel options. This can help to gain acceptance for the scheme. 

Here is a checklist of things to consider when developing a business case for a Travel Plan that is designed to pay for itself through achieved savings. This checklist indicates the savings and expenditure that will be required as well as possible income opportunities.

Through the development and implementation of a Travel Plan, there is potential for the following savings:

  • Savings on business travel expenses.
  • Savings on car parking – reduced car park rental costs as well as maintenance costs.
  • Savings on accommodation costs – more use of existing sites and buildings, homeworking and satellite office working.
  • Savings on company cars – savings to be made by no longer offering company cars as part of “perks package”.
  • Savings on the reduction of grey fleet (vehicles not belonging to a company but used for business travel)

Through the development and implementation of a Travel Plan, there is potential to generate income by:

  • Charging for car parking.
  • Potentially selling part of car park. 
  • Charging bus fares on any Shuttle Bus type services that may be offered – allowing your organisation to recoup a proportion of the costs of the service.

To develop and implement a Travel Plan you will require funds to cover:

  • The Travel Plan Coordinator.
  • Travel Plan Surveys and Audits.
  • Staff Time.
  • Publicity and Marketing.
  • Monitoring Costs.
  • Various initiatives – for example installation of cycle lockers, setting up of car share scheme, providing free cycle training. 
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