“We’ve reduced the amount of carbon emissions produced by employees travelling into work by 24% over the past four years by raising awareness and encouraging them to think through how they get into work,” says Jones.

When it comes to business travel, the Co-operative has established a section on its intranet site which provides practical guidance on best practice.

Jones adds: “If it’s determined that there’s a need for a journey which can’t be done by public transport, then we encourage colleagues to consider using either one of the two electric cars which we have in place.”

Another organisation which has adopted a travel plan that covers both the way that staff commute and travel for work is St Edmundsbury Borough Council in Suffolk.

The council shares its headquarters in Bury St Edmunds and pool car fleet of six cars with Suffolk County Council.

Fleet manager Phil Clifford says: “Over the past four years, we’ve seen the use of pool cars go from 27,500 miles in 2008/09 to 70,800 miles in 2012/2013. We’ve also seen a decrease in grey fleet miles.

“One of the reasons for these results is because the travel plan discourages colleagues from driving into work.

“For a start, we charge them for a parking space if their cars have emissions higher than 110g/km CO2.

“In 2009, that figure was 120g/km but we reduced it last year after noticing that colleagues were increasingly driving vehicles that were eligible for a space.”

Journey planing: the role of fleet management software and telematics

Fleet management software and telematics are playing an increasing role in assisting businesses to meet the objectives of their travel plans while simultaneously providing a competitive advantage.

For a start, scheduling and routing tools help ensure that the best journey is consistently taken according to a company’s needs.

Telematics can provide a platform which links carbon emissions with fuel usage and cost.

And both technologies provide invaluable data that can be used to monitor the success of travel plans in driving down business miles and costs.

Tony Neill, vice-president at Navman Wireless, says: “Having the ability to continually report on carbon reductions and demonstrate the positive effect this has on the bottom line is invaluable.

“It makes green fleet practices, including route optimisation, a boardroom priority.”

However, while planning routes in advance has its benefits in bringing down mileages, not every business has the luxury of setting fixed routes.

“Many reactive businesses, mainly in the service sector, need to respond to customer calls, which occur during the working day,” says Neill.

“This is where vehicle tracking and telematics really comes into its own.

“Responding to emergency calls efficiently not only ensures that routes are optimised but enables businesses to enhance customer service, giving the business a significant competitive advantage.”

Robin Fellows, product manager at Tracker, adds that fleet management software and telematics also ensure that “vehicle utilisation” is maximised.

He says: “We’re witnessing the increasing integration of telematics with routing and scheduling tools with larger fleets.

“Financially, it makes sense for organisations to be able to track the use of their vehicles once they’re on the road using real-time data.”