COMPANIES which reduce car usage by their staff through 'greener' travel strategies should be given tax concessions, according to the RAC. At the launch of the 'RAC Report on Motoring - 2000', Sir Trevor Chinn, chairman of Lex Service, of which RAC Motoring Services is now part, said that while workplace parking was far from being a satisfactory solution to reducing traffic congestion, if measures were introduced then companies which tackled car dependency should be rewarded.

He told Fleet NewsNet: 'There could be relief from workplace parking tax for those companies that had appropriate green travel plans because since workplace parking charging is just an additional tax on business and little more than a revenue earner for the Treasury, rewarding companies in this way would offer a strong incentive towards greener policies, plus meaning something positive was being done to reduce congestion.'

The RAC report - successor to annual Lex Report on Motoring - proposes that in order to encourage more people to switch to public transport, real incentives should be introduced. The RAC Group advocates initiatives such as setting companies targets for reducing car dependency, encouraging the use of environmentally-efficient cars and increased use of teleconferencing and home working.