Workplace Sustainable Travel
Find out about the benefits of developing workplace travel plans.
Workplace travel plans
Travel and transport play a significant role in carbon emissions and congestion across Brighton & Hove. Employers and organisations can help address these challenges by encouraging active and sustainable travel choices.
A workplace travel plan can help your organisation:
reduce traffic congestion
lower transport-related carbon emissions
improve local air quality
support staff health and wellbeing
reduce pressure on parking
demonstrate corporate social responsibility
Encouraging people to choose active and sustainable transport options is one of the most effective ways to achieve these benefits. It can also help make Brighton & Hove a cleaner, healthier and more attractive place to live, work and visit.
Whether the planning process requires a travel plan or you develop one voluntarily, we can provide guidance and support to help you create and implement it successfully.
This information is particularly relevant for anyone responsible for workplace travel and transport, including facilities managers, premises managers, sustainability leads and Travel Plan Coordinators.
Active and sustainable travel hierarchy
The active and sustainable travel hierarchy encourages people to consider the most sustainable travel options first.
The hierarchy is:
- Digital communication.
- Walking and wheeling.
- Cycling.
- Public and shared transport.
- Electric vehicles and car sharing.
- Private vehicles and car sharing.
- Air travel.
Options at the top of the hierarchy are the most sustainable, while those at the bottom generally have a greater environmental impact.
What a travel plan is
A travel plan is a long-term strategy designed to influence travel behaviour and encourage active and sustainable journeys.
Travel plans can be developed for a range of settings, including:
- education
- businesses and workplaces
- community organisations
- residential developments
A travel plan is typically created to reduce single-occupancy car journeys associated with places such as:
- workplaces
- schools and colleges
- places of worship
- transport interchanges
- sports and entertainment venues
- residential developments
A travel plan should provide enough information for someone with no prior knowledge of the site to understand its travel and transport arrangements.
Travel plans should be informed by evidence, consultation and a clear understanding of travel patterns.
What to include in a travel plan
Site audit
The site audit should provide information about:
- existing and planned transport links
- walking, wheeling and cycling access
- public transport availability
- parking arrangements
- organisational policies that support sustainable travel
Travel surveys
Consultation with staff, visitors and other stakeholders should explore:
- how people currently travel to and from the site
- how they would prefer to travel
- barriers to choosing sustainable travel options
- opinions and experiences of existing transport facilities
Travel and transport issues
A summary of the key travel and transport challenges that need to be addressed.
Aims and objectives
Clear details of what the travel plan is intended to achieve.
Targets
Specific, measurable targets that can be monitored over time.
Action plan
A detailed programme of activities and measures that will support behaviour change and encourage sustainable travel. This is often the most important part of the travel plan.
Monitoring and review
Details of how progress will be measured, reported and reviewed to ensure the travel plan remains effective.
Workplace travel support
Brighton & Hove City Council can provide support to workplaces and organisations.
Support may include:
- advice and guidance on active and sustainable travel
- workplace active and sustainable travel events
- free Dr Bike sessions for staff
- support for workplace engagement initiatives
- information about available travel behaviour change programmes and projects
Active and sustainable travel projects, partners and resources
Beryl bikes and scooters
The Beryl Brighton & Hove scheme is a shared micromobility service that provides residents and visitors with access to pedal bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters, offering a convenient and sustainable way to travel around the city.
The network includes over 100 designated Beryl Bays and hundreds of vehicles, helping people make everyday journeys, connect with key destinations, and reduce reliance on private car use.
OurBike
The OurBike Brighton & Hove scheme is a community-led shared e-cargo bike service that enables residents and businesses to hire electric cargo bikes for everyday journeys such as shopping, school runs, transporting equipment, and local deliveries.
Operated in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council and the University of Brighton, the scheme provides affordable access to bikes hosted at local community venues, helping reduce car trips and support sustainable travel across the city.
Adult Cycle Training
Brighton Bike Hub delivers subsidised adult cycle training on behalf of Brighton & Hove City Council, helping people of all experience levels build cycling skills and confidence.
The courses take place monthly at Preston Park, with tailored instruction for beginners through to experienced riders, supporting more residents to choose cycling for everyday journeys.
Brighton & Hove online cycle map
The Brighton and Hove Cycle Map is an interactive journey planning tool that helps cyclists find the most suitable routes across the city, whether they prefer the fastest, quietest, traffic-free or family-friendly options. It also highlights cycling infrastructure and facilities such as cycle lanes, parking, bike hire locations and repair shops, making it easier for people to plan safe and convenient journeys by bike.
easitBRIGHTON & HOVE
The easitBRIGHTON & HOVE network is a sustainable travel benefits scheme that helps employees access discounted public transport, cycling, car-sharing and other low-carbon travel options for commuting, business travel and leisure journeys.
Launched in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council, the scheme offers members a range of incentives and discounts designed to make sustainable travel more affordable and attractive.
Wave Community Bank discounted bus travel
The B&H Buses Annual Ticket Discount scheme, offered through Wave Community Bank, enables members to save 20% on adult annual Brighton & Hove Buses CitySAVER and NetworkSAVER tickets, with a 10% discount available on children's annual tickets.
The scheme also allows customers to spread the cost through affordable loans, making bus travel more accessible and cost-effective for regular commuters.
Guidance for Travel Plan Champions
Travel Plan Champions play an important role in promoting sustainable travel within their organisation. Our guidance explains the role and provides practical advice on encouraging travel behaviour change. Download the Travel Plan Champion guidance.
Staff travel information guidance
A staff travel noticeboard can be a simple and effective way to promote active and sustainable travel. Display your noticeboard in a prominent location and update it regularly to keep staff informed about travel options, events and initiatives. Download the staff travel information noticeboard checklist.
Contact us
For support or guidance about workplace travel planning, contact us:
- 01273 292 480
Contact the team to get help with helping residents, businesses and visitors get around the city efficiently and safely.
Travel plans and the planning process
The information on this page applies primarily to voluntary travel plans. However, Transport Assessments, Transport Statements, and Travel Plans are required by chapter 15 of the 2026 update to the National Planning Performance Framework (NPPF) in support of development proposals that are likely to generate significant amounts of movement. These documents should reflect the transport vision for the development and the transport strategy for the area in which it is located.
Transport Assessments look at movement patterns and the impacts of proposed development, whilst Travel Plans indicate how sustainable transport objectives will be delivered, monitored and managed over time.
Under NPPF, development proposals that will severely impact the transport network in terms of capacity and congestion, or unacceptable impacts on highway safety should be refused.
But because Travel Plans set out a transport vision for the site, they can demonstrate how the expected behaviour of future residents and occupants can be changed. As such, they can show how any severe or unacceptable impacts of development will be mitigated. Travel Plans thus form a vital part of the evidence base upon which planning applications are determined.
Development-related Travel Plans typically operate from first occupation of a development for at least 5 years; they are usually secured via planning condition and are subject to monitoring fees paid through S106 agreements.
This Planning Practice Guidance Note sets out the government's position on when they are required, and what they should achieve with a level of detail not possible in the wording of the NPPF.
If you have any questions about planning-related Transport Assessments and Travel Plans in Brighton & Hove, read our transport and highways development control webpage.