Smarter travel

Each year we travel more than 20 million miles on council business in our own cars and council vehicles. This costs millions of pounds, generates thousands of tonnes of carbon and adds to the congestion on our roads. This mileage is the same as 40 trips to the moon and back or 800 around the world trips!

We're facing large reductions in the grants we receive from government, the effects of inflation and increasing pressure on services for adult social care and vulnerable children.

We need to examine every penny we spend and this is what Smarter Travel is helping to do. We all need to think about the need to travel and how you make your business trips to help save money and protect services.

Smarter Travel aims to:

• reduce the need for you to travel to do some parts of your job
• review and make better use of our core fleet vehicles
• provide efficient, fit for purpose transport for people using our services
• reduce the cost, financially and environmentally, of any travel done
• help you travel more sustainably and cheaper to and from work

Smarter Travel covers:

• promoting alternatives to travel where possible - the use of technology
• grey fleet mileage - employees using their own vehicles
• core fleet vehicles in our livery
• non-employee travel - use of buses and taxis for people accessing our services
• cheaper and sustainable transport at work - increasing the use of electric pool cars, public transport, bicycles, walking and car sharing for work journeys
• Miles Better - our campaign to increase sustainable transport to and from work - walking, cycling, public transport and car share