COMMERCE Recommendations

Here are some transferable recommendations we have drawn from our activities:

Working in a consortium of Leader and Learner partners allows for swift and efficient transfer of knowledge, expertise, empowerment and buy-in. This model is recommended for future STEER projects.
Branding is a vital tool in the embedding of Travel Plans into a local framework, both in the eyes of prospective adopters of Travel Plans, and also to the policy makers in making it a tangible service. Branding examples include the logos of the Golden Mile and Pro-Mobilité.

The most effective method of business engagement is direct contact: One to one meetings. Individual contact is important. Identifying a reference person is very helpful for the companies, because it’s always difficult to find the right person. The reference person helps to create permanent contact between public partner and the company, and to be more reactive to answer the company’s questions. Business engagement events, such as evening drinks receptions, are another tried and tested approach.
Work simultaneously on developing the incentive framework. Experience shows the importance of a legal framework: it has a real leverage effect on the development of WTP. For example in Paris, there is the air protection plan, and London planning rules making travel plans mandatory in many cases. The framework can create incentives or obligations to implement WTPs, but in both cases, it helps to put WTPs on the political agenda.
Staff time and political support needed. A key point to succeed in promoting WTPs on a territory is to keep in mind that it takes time. To succeed in implementing a WTP strategy, on a long term and on a large scale, you need staff time and political support to change behaviour. That can be one of the main difficulties to develop local strategies: most often travel issues are seen as infrastructures projects and investments costs.
There is a necessity of evaluation of WTPs, to be able to demonstrate why and how it’s is profitable for public and private sectors to spend money on WTPs.
Insist on the pragmatic approach - WTPs are not a theoretical tool, they help to define a global approach in a long term whilst at the same time making it possible to get benefits in the short term. You should consult the COMMERCE WTP Standards publication (via the COMMERCE website or www.allinx.eu / COMMERCE Group) to see a step by step process of developing a top quality travel plan. This document will help employers understand immediately the grander context.
Quick wins - It’s important to work on some quick win actions as part of a travel plan to rapidly show the employer and employee what exactly a travel plan can offer, to build support and momentum.
Corporate and Social Responsibility - when possible, go and see the big companies which have (sometimes mandatory) social and environmental responsibilities, or which want to improve their image, and use these big firms afterwards as a showcase to other firms.
Flexibility - We have learned that each partner city has adopted different approaches to gaining support on WTPs. Budapest went direct to businesses as lack of political support; Bucharest and Plovdiv both concentrated their efforts first on the public sector to embed WTPs in transport strategy.
Skill share programme - A cost effective technique of successfully training up local stakeholders giving them the power to take forward the WTP agenda.
Stakeholders - Collaboration with public transport authority, Trade Unions, Ministry of Regional Development, Local Authorities and Business Associations can create the incentives for WTPs.
Translation - All partners agree the need of good practice examples, experience exchange, promotion of standards and other materials translated into local languages.
Economic benefit of WTPs - Examples of economic benefits of adopting WTPs as well as a good range of WTP good practice examples from everywhere in Europe, to show the diversity of actions and of topics.

COMMERCE lessons learned

Significant progress can be made in integrating WTPs into public and private sector strategies, in cities with little previous awareness, providing you have a comprehensive support package available: Working in a consortium of Leader and Learner partners allows for swift and efficient transfer of knowledge, expertise, empowerment and buy-in. This model is recommended for future STEER projects.
Branding is a vital tool in the embedding of Travel Plans into a local framework, both in the eyes of prospective adopters of Travel Plans, and also to the policy makers in making it a tangible service. By branding, one refers to the logos of the Golden Mile and Pro-Mobilité.
Whilst Travel Plans afford organisations four broad areas of benefit: health, economic, environmental and social, in general, the best way currently of convincing businesses to adopt a Travel Plan is to provide examples and case studies showing the economic benefit, i.e. the potential cost savings to employers and employees.

The following documents are also available to download: