SCHLUMBERGER Oilfields/Western Geco has recorded a 12 per cent reduction in car commuting over the past 17 months through its involvement in the TravelSmart Workplaces program.
This exceeded the 10 per cent reduction of driver only vehicles set in the company’s green transport plan.
In an online staff survey of travel behaviour, the company also found that the number of employees cycling to work had increased by 8 per cent.
The company calculates that it has managed to cut its vehicle emissions by almost half.
Car commuting by employees was estimated to be 5,138 kilometres a week in 2001 and this has been cut to 2,979 kilometres a week.
The TravelSmart Workplaces program is run jointly by the Department of Environment and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure that aims to reduce the number of solo car trips to workplaces in Perth.
In participating workplaces employers and employees are supported to develop a green transport plan to manage car trips and promote alternatives.
Employees are encouraged to choose environmentally friendly alternatives to driving solo for community and business trips such as public transport, cycling, walking, car pooling and working from home.
Schlumberger Oilfields/Western Geco adopted their green transport plan in September 2002 and has implemented actions such as running an awareness campaign and providing a travel choice page on its intranet.
It first conducted a staff survey on commuting methods in October 2001.
