Large employers in the Dublin area may be required to draw up "mobility management plans" to reduce car-commuting by their staff, and thereby contribute to achieving a more sustainable transport system. Already, the requirement is being included as a planning condition for major developments.
Dublin Corporation's decision on August 3rd to sanction the proposed national conference centre and set a ceiling of 4.6 million sq. ft for the Spencer Dock site specified that the developers must draw up a mobility management strategy for the entire scheme, to be approved in writing by the planning authority.
This strategy would have to set out modal split targets for each mode of transport - rail, bus, bicycle and car - for the 51-acre site and to provide for the appointment of a "mobility co-ordinator" with responsibility for the implementation of "sustainable commuter plans" for each building or company operating there.
In line with the views of the Dublin Transportation Office, the corporation's decision drastically reduced the level of on-site car parking from almost 7,000 to just 2,000 and specified that measures would have to be taken "to limit access to and egress from the car parks at peak traffic hours", to reduce traffic congestion.
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council laid down a similar set of conditions for a huge motorway office park in Leopardstown, on lands formerly occupied by the Legionnaires of Christ. Its decision to approve some 1.65 million sq ft of office space on the site was also tied to a Luas light rail extension to serve the development.
Citibank, which is about to move into a large office block in the International Financial Services Centre, also had a problem. With 1,200 staff and only 130 on-site parking spaces, it commissioned a firm of transport consultants to prepare a commuter plan - this is probably a first for any company operating in Ireland.
Dublin Corporation itself is having to face up to the fact that it can no longer provide off-street parking for all its staff employees who drive to work; an overflow car park in the Coombe is due to close within 12 months, with the loss of about 400 spaces. What happens then is now the subject of talks with staff unions.
One of the aggravating factors in Dublin's traffic chaos is that so many employees have guaranteed off-street car parking spaces at or near their workplaces. The availability of these spaces, usually free of charge, is a sure-fire guarantee that the employees who have them will drive their cars - often also supplied free - to work.
Some time ago, the DTO came across a case of an AIB executive who used to take the DART to work. When he was promoted, the perks included a company car and a parking space. When he chose to continue using the DART, he was told that it could mean losing the car and the parking space. As a result, he now drives to the office.
"Company cars are generally viewed as status symbols, which gives companies an incentive to provide them and their drivers an incentive to use them, even when alternatives are available," according to a paper for Earth-watch by Ms Sadhbh O'Neill, and typically, company cars "carry only the driver, without any passengers".
A recent study of 17 British cities found that 43 per cent of urban off-street parking was provided free to drivers of company cars and that four out of every five cars coming into London at peak hours were company cars. Quite apart from encouraging unnecessary driving, they are also generally larger and less fuel-efficient than other private cars.
In the Republic, company cars account for a staggering 40 per cent of new car sales. Dishing them out is one of the most convenient ways for an employer to reward valued executives, given our still relatively high rates of income tax. Although benefit in kind tax is charged, the DTO says it works out on average at just £1,000 a year.
Consideration is now being given to the possibility of extending benefit in kind to off-street parking spaces, but Dublin Chamber of Commerce, which essentially represents those who enjoy such perks, has a point in saying that anyone already paying benefit in kind on a company car will certainly drive to work if they are forced to pay it for their parking too.
The DTO's long-term objective is to "get rid of" these parking spaces, according to its director, Mr John Henry. He cites the example of Dell computers in Bray, which wants to double the size of its call centre but finds that the existing building is "surrounded by cars". It wants to get some of the spaces back by giving staff public transport passes.
The EU Commission has estimated that the cost of providing off-street parking works out at £3,000 for an open-air parking space, £6,000 for a space in a multi-storey car park and £12,000 for a space underground. Thus, the savings to companies which take steps to reduce the number of workplace parking spaces are quite considerable.
"Compelling companies to provide a mobility plan for their employees is one way of inducing them to promote cycling among their staff," the Commission says, adding that some employers now offer "an entire panoply of incentives" to encourage employees to cycle, including mileage allowances, showers and changing rooms.
Ciba Geigy, the multinational pharmaceutical company, has been encouraging its staff to cycle to work for the past 20 years. In 1989, it offered new bikes to 400 employees who gave up their spaces in the company's car park. It saved on parking, cut down on traffic jams in the locality and yielded health benefits for the staff involved.
Boots, the British chain-store chemists, is in the process of implementing a "green commuter plan" at its headquarters in Beeston, on the edge of Nottingham, where 6,000 staff are employed. Here again, the impetus came from the need to expand on the site, and Boots agreed to draw up the plan as a condition of its new planning permission.
A survey found that 80 per cent of the 4,500 staff getting to work by car were travelling alone. The plan aims to reduce commuter car trips by 20 per cent over the next five years through the promotion of cycling, public transport, car pooling and walking, as a contribution to realising Nottingham City Council's sustainable transport policy.
What's in it for employers? Well, for a start, it is should be obvious that traffic jams cost companies dearly in terms of accessibility for their staff, customers and suppliers. Secondly, it has been found that staff who cycle are in better form physically and psychologically, so companies benefit from greater productivity with a switch to cycling.
Even the car industry is becoming sensitive to changing attitudes to urban traffic, according to Green Futures magazine. Vauxhall, for example, has launched a scheme called Congestion Challenge to test the feasibility of some of its staff working from home, as well as promoting car-sharing and the use of public transport.
The Royal Automobile Club in Britain recently redefined itself as a mobility organisation rather than just a motoring one. "With the last 20 years of car-dependence, society has developed so that it is easiest for people to go by car," a spokesman said, "but we want people to question whether automatically getting into the car is the best way."
Earthwatch is seeking to establish an electronic database covering the top 100 companies in greater Dublin, especially those with large numbers of car commuters, and to work with them on developing more sustainable mobility management plans. This would be done in partnership with local authorities in the region.
The project would start with an audit of the commuter patterns and transport needs of staff, followed by a promotional campaign for public transport, car-sharing, cycling and walking as alternative ways to get to work. The modest aim is to achieve a 10 per cent reduction in single-occupancy car commuter trips among those involved.
The DTO is also working on drawing up a template showing how to organise "green commuter plans". Ms Marian Wilson, one of its senior executives, says the promoters of all major office developments should be required to provide them. "It should not be just lip-service. They need to have proper procedures, including a mobility manager".
As for what to do about the company car perk, the DTO's director, Mr Henry, says: "There's nothing wrong with company cars - provided you leave them at home."