Car, motorcycle, bus, metro, bicycle or, one of the last, scooter. These are some of the means of transport used by Spaniards to get to the office every day. The private vehicle continues to be the majority option to fulfill work obligations. Although more and more that trip that used to be done alone, is now done with co-workers.
It is the shared car or what the Anglo-Saxons and the new generations call carpooling. Before, that ‘get together’ to go to work was done in the dining room with people who live nearby, now there are applications that allow you to connect with neighbors in the neighborhood and share expenses and vehicles to go to work.
However, these alternative measures are still in the minority. “85% or 90% of emissions to work come from private transport,” warns the NGO Greenpeace in a March 2021 report. “With confinement, CO2 in cities decreased drastically,” the same document points out.
That is why commuting to work is one of the main concerns of government officials, since plans for sustainable mobility to work are included in the Spanish legal system. Thus, at least, they are established, for the time being, by the draft Sustainable Mobility Law, which will have to be ratified as a rule in the Council of Ministers “before the end of the year,” says the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.
“It is a path still to be explored by companies”, highlights Ana Solá, CEO of Cinesi (Catalan mobility and transport consultant). “So far there is no state regulation, there is some regulation at the regional level,” she adds.
“With confinement, CO2 in cities decreased drastically”
Although it will be mandatory throughout the country “within 18 months from the entry into force of this law”, determines article 26 of this still draft. “Although each plan will be adapted to the specific circumstances of the case, the preliminary draft establishes a series of matters or solutions that every plan must include,” points out Eva Díez-Ordás, counsel in the Labor Department at Garrigues.
The regulations establish minimums, since not all companies will have to design and plan a series of plans so that workers get to their jobs in the most sustainable way possible. According to the regulations, “public sector companies and those companies that have more than 500 workers in a work center or 250 per shift” will have to develop it. In addition, “sustainable transport plans to work will be the subject of negotiation with the legal representation of workers,” says the ministry led by Raquel Sánchez.
“Sustainable transportation plans to work will be negotiated with the legal representation of workers”
Telecommuting, a strategic ally
Until now, many companies had already opted for mobility plans, but to guarantee the safety of their workers when traveling to the different work centers. “At Indra we have been betting for a long time on implementing measures to rationalize the movement of our employees,” replies his communication department.
One of the star measures is telecommuting. “It is one of the good things that the pandemic has brought us,” Solá highlights. “Surely it is one of the measures that will be taken into account the most,” he adds.
Greenpeace has put figures on remote work: “it could save 406 tons of CO₂ daily in Madrid or 612 tons in Barcelona,” they note in their report. Some numbers that are more than double if of the five days of work, two are done from home. “It would represent 5% or 6% of the emissions produced by the mobility of people in these cities,” they note. “In 2021 we have managed to reduce commuting emissions by professionals by more than 50% thanks to remote work compared to 2019,” they advance from Indra.
A line that those responsible for the energy company Endesa have also followed. “With the pandemic, both the implementation and the results of these actions have been transformed with the promotion of teleworking, which has favored the reduction of displacement with a positive impact on air quality,” says his communication office .
Car or bus sharing
“The most demanded line is the company bus,” says Grifols. The bus chartered by the company is one of the most common solutions among large firms with work centers far from the center. “In Asturias, we have strengthened the collective transport service to our plants, we have also made improvements in accessibility to public transport services near the factory,” explain those responsible for communication at Arcelormittal. “It is an interesting measure, because public transport does not always arrive and that does not depend on the center’s management, but on another Administration,” warns Solá.
It is in these cases where car sharing applications have seen a business opportunity. Mobility companies such as Uber or Cabify offer a service for companies or, simply, the taxis of a lifetime. «It is one of the most successful initiatives, both in terms of the figures achieved and the perception of users (100% satisfaction among them). In 2021, 70% of the journeys have been made with ‘eco’ vehicles and 32% of the passengers have shared the service”, shares Endesa.
The energy company has also promoted a fleet of “100% electric” cars for the “use of employees in work procedures,” they add. A “car e-sharing” system, as they have called it, so that the employees of their centers in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville avoid the use of the private car “with the consequent reduction of emissions that this entails,” they point out.
From flexible pay to flexible hours
These are two of the most common in the measures of business mobility plans in Spain. Flexible remuneration is a type of remuneration that allows the employee to allocate part of his gross salary to the consumption of certain products or services. “There are many workers who do not agree with this,” reveals the CEO of Cinesi.
“We make it available to our professionals to receive part of their annual remuneration through certain income in kind,” they explain from Indra. The transport card is one of the options offered. “In recent years, an average of 760 employees have taken advantage of this product,” adds Endesa.
Along with flexible plans, companies are also committed to opening the range when it comes to ‘signing’. “In relation to work centers with more than 1,000 workers located in municipalities or metropolitan areas with more than 500,000 inhabitants, public entities and companies must include measures that reduce the mobility of workers during peak hours and promote the use of means of transport with low or zero emissions”, details the preliminary draft of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Public Agenda.
More bicycle and electric
The fever of the electric not only stays in the fleets, there are more and more areas reserved for electric cars, collective chargers and “there are some more advanced”, says Solá.
Six out of ten Spaniards, according to Ipsos, refuse to go to their office in this medium due to lack of security
Micromobility is a reality and commuting to the workplace on a scooter, when possible, is an alternative to public and private transport and even cycling. “The demand for these has increased lately,” they comment from Siemens Gamesa. “We have promoted the reservation of spaces for light vehicles, such as bikes and scooters, in the different locations of the company,” they add.
However, the bike is not yet for work. Six out of ten Spaniards, according to Ipsos, refuse to go to their office in this medium due to lack of security. “Our mobility plan for employees at the Barcelona airport has a bike lane connecting with the surrounding municipalities and covered car parks for them,” Aena details. “We will be expanding it to our network as soon as possible,” they add.
“It is not always easy, because if the use of the bicycle is promoted, it is also necessary to make changing rooms available to the workers, for example, to wash up,” recalls Solá.
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