August 21, 2006 - RAC FOUNDATION BACKS DRIVE FOR COMMUTERS TO STAY HOME
The RAC Foundation is the latest organisation to back Work Wise UK. Supported by Government, business and the unions, the five-year initiative aims to encourage the widespread adoption of smarter working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote working and working from home.
The RAC Foundation is supporting the campaign as it believes any change in working patterns which reduces the need to travel, or staggers the time when travel occurs, will have an effect in reducing congestion on the country’s already over-congested roads. It predicts that smarter working could cut commuter traffic by up to 10 per cent within five years. Edmund King, executive director, said: “Even if people only worked from home one day a week, the impact would be significant: just look at what happens during the school holidays.
“Road congestion costs the UK economy some £20 billion per year. If there is a reasonable take-up of smarter working, we predict that £1.9 billion per year will be saved within five years.”
Phil Flaxton, chief executive of the IT Forum Foundation, the not-for-profit industry organisation behind Work Wise UK, said: “One of the key benefits of most smarter working practices is less or more flexible travel requirements.
“ Reducing congestion and overcrowding on public transport has a double benefit: not only do those people not travelling benefit, the experience for those that have to travel is far more tolerable.”
The UK has one of the longest average working weeks in Europe. “Travel is an important element,” said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC. “T he working week figures do not take into account travel time, which in some areas of the country is very significant. Simply reducing that element, or enabling the staggering of the rush hour, will have a fundamental impact on people’s lives both in terms of time and stress.”
Phil Flaxton continued : “ British workers spend by far the longest time travelling in Europe – as much as 47 working days per year (Samsung research 2004), with commuters in the South East facing an average of eight hours per week – a whole extra working day! Simply by working two days a week from home, workers would save 19 working days per year.”
urther information about Work Wise UK, and how organisations can participate in Work Wise Week, can be found on the website (www.workwiseuk.org).
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Notes to editors:
Work Wise UK is being organised by the IT Forum Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation. - Further information about Work Wise UK can be found on the website www.workwiseuk.org.
- A dedicated electronic news room has been established for journalists to obtain further information, to download print-quality materials, and to register for media updates about Work Wise UK. This can be accessed either through the main website or directly at www.pressrooms.net/workwiseuk.
- Supporters of the Work Wise UK campaign include the TUC, Henley Management, Scope and the British Chambers of Commerce.
For further information, please contact:
Work Wise UK: Michael Hardware, Chelgate PR, on 020 7939 7939, 07775 925 274 or meh@chelgate.com.
RAC Foundation: Shelia Rainger, Campaigns Manager, on 0207 747 3485 or srainger@racfoundation.co.uk