Business park focuses on green transport (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Business park focuses on green transport

10:59am Tuesday 15th April 2008

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CHINEHAM Park is a champion of sustainable travel.

Bosses at the business park, on the outskirts of Basingstoke, have identified key areas in which sustainable travel can be made easier for the 3,000 people who work there.

At the end of last year, travel co-ordinator Wendy Fletcher sent the park's first-ever travel survey to more than 40 companies, ranging from local enterprises to international headquarters, to find out about their methods of transport.

The survey revealed that 39 per cent of respondents expressed an interest in a possible car-share scheme, which would reduce fuel costs, decrease congestion and give users a more sociable and less stressful way of travelling.

The survey also showed that 15 per cent of respondents utilise the courtesy coaches as their main form of transport.

A complimentary bus service runs between Chineham Park and Basingstoke railway station every 15 minutes at peak hours.

In 2007, the coaches carried 150,000 passengers - 10 per cent up from 2006.

And a significant portion of survey respondents expressed an interest in embracing healthier ways of travelling to work, such as walking or cycling.

Miss Fletcher said: "The feedback and views from surveys such as this help Chineham Park to understand, then meet, the needs of everyone who works here.

"It's only by receiving such feedback that improvements can be made."

With the Environment Agency estimating that we need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, sustainability is high on Chineham Park's agenda.

"We are in the process of creating a car-share scheme, Share & Care', which will help our occupiers to adopt more sustainable ways to travel to work," added Miss Fletcher.

Chineham Park plans to conduct another travel survey in December.

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