Case studies - Scottish Power

When Scottish Power established a network of Environmental Champions to promote awareness of environmental matters, their initiatives included a staff survey to find out more about staff's travel habits. This revealed strong support for the idea of a car-sharing scheme, and so they evaluated potential providers before choosing liftshare.

Although the main reason Scottish Power run their scheme is as an environmental initiative, they have also recognised the benefits for individuals (cost reduction) and for the transport system (reduced congestion), and seen improved availability of the limited parking spaces at their office.

The scheme has been marketed well, including:

• corporate emails and log-on splash screens to encourage people to set themselves up
• promotional events
• tax disc holders and recycled tyre coasters made featuring their liftshare logo (“Who are you going home with?”)
• articles in internal newsletter
• leaflets and posters and distributed round the site
• introduction of dedicated car parking spaces and a procedure for accessing them
• prize giveaway (2 x £100 petrol vouchers) for BUDi groups
• introducing a ‘guaranteed ride home' procedure

Within six months of launching the scheme, Scottish Power had over 400 members and a 34% match rate.

Car-share manager Steve Field told us:

“We've had a lot of positive feedback from people who have seen their travelling costs and carbon footprint reduced, and who enjoy the social aspect of sharing their journeys.  It forms part of our work to develop a Green Travel Plan, and we'll continue to promote the scheme through our Environmental Champions initiative.”