The importance of rewarding sustainable transportation for staff
Pollution is one of the great enemies of our era. It is therefore essential that companies promote measures among their employees to alleviate this situation, especially in terms of sustainable transportation.
Encouraging the use of videoconferencing instead of face-to-face meetings, telecommuting, remote work, flexible schedules, and supporting commuting by public transportation, carpooling or electric cars are just some of the beneficial measures that companies can implement to fight the pollution associated with commuting.
CO2 emissions: A serious problem for cities
Exhaust gases from vehicles are, to a large extent, the main source of pollution in large cities. They are also guilty of causing the well-known greenhouse effect. Today, the majority of workers commute alone in their own vehicle to and from work.
Although public transportation connections are continuously improving, there is still a need for governments and institutions, including companies, to commit to better policies that support sustainable transportation. In this sense, the corporate social responsibility of companies is critical in implementing internal measures and raising awareness among employees to encourage them to ride to and from work in a sustainable way.
The value of awareness
Even if companies have an excellent policy of supporting sustainable transportation, the final decision on how to get to the workplace will always be the employee’s. If we want employees to change their habits, we need a twofold practice. First, we need to promote awareness. Second, we can start promoting plans to reduce the number of trips that workers have to make throughout their working hours. Examples of such plans are described below:
Telecommuting
This is one of the most beneficial measures a company can take. With telecommuting, companies can reduce the travel time of their employees and thus keep more CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere. In jobs where location is not relevant for the execution of projects, the advance of telecommunications allows companies to increase the productivity of their employees while also giving them more freedom.
Videoconferencing
The development of new meeting technologies allows companies to maintain their level of services without requiring their employees to travel. Thanks to this technology, employees do not need to travel for conferences or meetings, which means less pollution and a reduction in costs for the company.
Public transportation passes
If telecommuting is not a viable option, companies can offer fewer parking spaces in order to encourage the use of public transportation passes. Companies can also encourage collaboration with the various regional and local transportation authorities to facilitate agreements that benefit all parties.
Use of electric vehicles
Car manufacturers have long been making a strong commitment to bringing to market more sustainable electric vehicles than those currently on the market. According to European regulations, diesel’s days are numbered, and gasoline is following closely behind. Many large cities have already launched collaborative initiatives to reduce their pollution levels, starting with public transportation and industrial production.
Commitment to sustainable transportation
At ULMA, we want to make our employees aware of the importance of the fight against pollution. As such, we want to encourage them to use public transportation, electric cars or other sustainable means of transportation such as bicycles and electric scooters to get to their jobs.
All of the following initiatives are of great benefit in helping reduce pollution in our cities:
- Share your vehicle with other colleagues to reduce fuel costs and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
- Support electric vehicles and car-sharing programs.
- Join the sustainability movement: Use electric bikes or scooters whenever weather permits.
- Take advantage of public transportation passes to get to your workplace.