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The new West Midlands TravelWise Website has merged its earlier projects into one comprehensive site covering Businesses, Schools, Residential Developments and Community Facilities. It will be finished by December and ready for use in the New Year. This Website provides bespoke information to all these types of premises including real time information, walking and cycling routes, journey planning, timetables, meeting time journey plans as well as opportunity to buy travel passes, join car club or carshare schemes, find out about salary sacrifice or offers in your region. The website now has a comprehensive travel survey tool that will allow personalised information requests for employees as well as give the employer the opportunity to compare their results with others in their area. The site now also has an in-built wizard that takes the users through registering with the scheme and setting up their individual portal. Work has begun in the Region to get information onto the site in readiness for take up. It provides all information links for each authority which the user can then establish their own portal within their relevant section. The merges site has been improved and all the new features were added to the existing sections e.g. school travel surveys. The site will be available outside of the West Midlands in the early spring and will compliment LSTF work. In a time of cuts it is clear it will support officers in their role promoting sustainable travel across all types of development in their region. SchoolsWest Midlands ACT TravelWise Schools Groups representatives have been working with the Youth Parliament and will culminate with the Youth Parliament Conference - Transforming our Transport at Millennium Point in December with representatives from DfT, Sustrans, Living Streets, ACT TravelWise, London Midland Trains, National Express and bus operators. |
WorkplaceThe West Midlands ACT TravelWise Workplace Group has a Travel Plan Workshop on 6th February at the Copthorne Hotel, Waterfront, Brierley Hill where we shall be launching Company TravelWise Website. Worcestershire, Herefordshire Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Warwickshire, Birmingham & Dudley and Coventry & Sandwell are working on their Tranche 2 bids are all working on their LSTF projects and Centro is putting the final touches to their bid for submission on 20th December. Birmingham City Council has joined forces with Amey, Ferrovial, Digital Birmingham, University of Surrey and Centro for the Outsmart Project. Outsmart if successful as one of the clusters from the European funding source, will provide incentives, support, information and benefits through technological innovation and advances to increase sustainable travel. The aim will be to support economic growth through improved accessibility, reduced congestion and an improved environment to live and work. The project will utilise the support of Business Improvement Districts, Local Enterprise Partnerships, Chamber of Commerce, major trip generators, building owners, developers and management companies to take advantage of bigger markets for sustainable transport promotion, development and offering of incentives. Outsmart will develop current and future technology to increase, support and encourage the use of sustainable transport through better services, information, benefits, accessibility and fiscal benefits.
Gill Hunt |
WINTER 2011
