University of Warwick uses car-sharing to achieve Green Travel Plan success

30th July 2010

The University of Warwick has been ‘highly commended’ for its Green Travel Plan at the annual Business in the Community (BITC) Awards 2010. Car-sharing is a central component to its Green Travel Plan, which was also ranked among the best in the UK in 2008, coming 2nd out of 64 institutions.

The university’s Green Travel Plan identifies single-occupancy cars as a mode of transport that it aims to reduce, not only to alleviate traffic congestion but also to help reduce CO2 emissions. A key tactic used to reduce single-occupancy cars on the campus was the launch and promotion of a car-sharing scheme, firstly amongst staff and then students.

Within six months of launching its staff car-sharing scheme in 2008 called ‘WarwickShare’ the scheme had nearly 350 members registered, more than 150 of whom were actively car-sharing. Less than two years later, it has almost doubled its target, with nearly 10% of all staff signed-up.

Following the success of the staff scheme, the university’s transport manager Graham Hine launched a dedicated student scheme called “Take A Mate” earlier this year.

Graham, as project leader, organised groups of ‘Street Teams’ – volunteers to hand out leaflets around campus. “Giving the students ownership of the scheme has definitely made a difference,” he says. Graham also used posters, banners, car stickers and ID cards to raise awareness among the students. The result? Just six months in, ‘Take A Mate’ was already well on its way to meeting its 5% take-up target.

“Introducing a formal car-share scheme does not need a large budget or financial incentive,” explains Graham. “We had a very small, limited budget to develop and launch the scheme, but one of its greatest selling points has been that car-sharers have clearly marked priority parking spaces in all of the campus’s car parks.”

Ongoing promotion and awareness of the benefits are key, he adds. “We have regular updates on the intranet, leaflets inserted in every induction pack for new employees, regular leafleting and advertising at strategic car parks, and ad hoc promotions and incentives advertised on the intranet.”

Following extensive research, the university chose liftshare because, “it offered a cost-effective and flexible solution and it was evident that they had experience of developing schemes for the public sector.”

Both of the University of Warwick’s car-share schemes demonstrate that a successful car-share scheme does not require substantial capital investment or financial incentives to encourage or influence membership. And, the impact can be significant. In the 20 months since the launch of the university staff scheme, more than 800 tonnes of carbon-related emissions have been saved.

To find out more about setting up your own car-sharing scheme and how it could complement your Green Travel Plan, visit www.liftshare.com/business  or call 01953 451166.