Why is carpooling important for corporate social responsibility? CSR is more than a buzzword – when businesses behave responsibly, they create shared value: not only for themselves, but for their employees and customers. Transport in particular is an area that organisations, from multiple sectors, have reaped the rewards of a commitment to CSR.
- Trucking and logistics company Linfox used carbon footprint modelling software to optimise their supply chain to reduce emissions: changing transport modes and routes, and teaching drivers fuel-efficient driving techniques – all leading to a carbon emissions cut of 50%.
- Australian National University introduced ‘Timely Treadly’ bicycles to assist people in intra-campus travel. With a fleet of over 100 bikes covering over 50,000 km per year, this program not only realised the environmental impact of greener intra-campus travel, but this led to an improvement in the physical and mental wellbeing of the people using them.
- Mater Health Services, a group of hospitals and health businesses saw inefficiencies in their vehicle fleet. Moving the majority of vehicles to lower emissions and changing vehicle eligibility criteria saw a reduction of 41 vehicles, and a financial saving of over $500,000 based on this reduction.
These transport-specific initiatives have helped these organisations grow, become more efficient and realise new and better ways of doing business.
So how can these examples of innovation be applied to an ongoing problem: that of the time and money lost by commuters and workplaces in getting to work?
In densely populated cities, commuting can be costly for both employees and employers. Employees are left with few options: either their workplace pays for a number of parking bays, or more likely, they are left to their own devices. This means using public transport which doesn’t serve all suburbs, or facing peak hour congestion and paying the requisite $20 per day for a bay.
These circumstances don’t favour employers either: the congestion caused by the daily commute costs businesses dearly. RAC WA’s 2015 BusinessWise-CCI Congestion Survey revealed that 87% of Perth businesses cite congestion as a reason for lost productivity. Alarmingly, over one third said they had lost work, accounts, or customers due to congestion-related problems and over two thirds cited congestion as the reason they were unable to take on new work opportunities. These costs all add up: Infrastructure Australia predicts congestion will cost WA $16 billion a year in lost productivity by 2031.
Clearly there’s an inefficiency to be addressed here. RACWA’s survey cited that 61% of businesses state they are ‘not at all confident’ that the State and Federal Governments have adequate plans to tackle congestion. So, what is a proactive solution that also benefits the business that encourages it?
Carpooling
Carpooling is a simple, efficient way to address the problems present in commuting daily. Here’s what carpooling can do for your organisation:
Carpooling For Corporates
Imagine doubling or even tripling the number of available car bays overnight at your workplace with minimal effort and no monetary investment.
Carpooling reduces carbon emissions. Not only is this great for the environment, it’s good for your organisation, showing a commitment to sustainability which looks great to stakeholders, easily co-indices with existing green policies, reduces demand on your vehicle fleet and shows you are people committed to minimising transport emissions.
Employees benefit too: It saves them time, gives peace of mind and reduces the stress of commuting in heavy traffic, which means when they do go to work, they’re happier, less stressed, and more productive. Also, in larger businesses, it allows people to connect and network, fostering communication among teams and projects.
Carpooling For Universities
Student and staff bays are limited on university campuses. Carpooling is an incredibly cheap and easy way to increase the number of bays while allowing universities to position themselves as sustainable and invested in student and employee welfare.
For students, carpooling is a great way to connect with their peers, make new friends, and takes the hassle out of getting to class and the cost out of paying for parking.
Carpooling For Hospitals
Reputation management is hugely important for hospitals. Carpooling is just one tactic to show that the hospital themselves care for their employees, their patients and the environment.
For employees, carpooling represents an ideal way for shift workers to commute. With set start and finish times, carpooling is the logical choice for employees to go to and from work, without the expense and hassle of commuting.
How to Incentivise People to Carpool?
Greater participation in carpooling equals greater benefits for employees and workplaces.
Here are a few strategies to increase opt-in rates for carpooling:
- Offer reduced-rate, or priority parking to vehicles engaging in carpooling
- Promote benefits for employees, such as cost sharing, less stress, and an opportunity to meet new people
- Use a service like Kapuddle that automatically matches drivers and passengers to help employees that live in close proximity of each other
- Offer incentives for participation, such as a gamified approach where carpool teams collect points for trips logged and are rewarded accordingly
Kapuddle is ideal for creating and managing employee carpool programs.
Maximise the financial, economic and environmental impact of carpooling and start reaping the rewards.
If your business is interested in the workplace benefits download our A4 poster. It can be displayed in lunch or break rooms, or emailed out to staff.
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Or contact jamie@kapuddle.com.au