Bristol NHS Trust slam brakes on emissions through journey-sharing app

The interactive map-based ‘joinmyjourney’ app allows Bristol NHS Trust workers to specify the start and end points of their journey from four Trust sites (Southmead, Frenchay, Cossham and Blackberry Hill) via postcode. Users can specify their preferred mode of transport to identify potential sharers on the route, helping staff to lower emissions and save money by cutting commuting costs.

Bristol NHS Trust director of facilities Simon Wood said: “As one of the largest healthcare providers and employers in the region, we recognise the environmental impact of providing healthcare services to the local community. joinmyjourney is now part of an award-winning travel plan to provide safe, accessible and environmentally sustainable travel choices for all, and reduce the number of single occupancy journeys being made to our sites in private vehicles.”

Developed by South Gloucestershire-based resource efficiency specialist ecosurety, the interactive map enables staff to message other users who most closely fit their needs to plan their journey share. Once registered, users can also specify other key information, such as the days and times that they usually travel and state their preferences which include options on smoking or to only share with somebody of the same sex.

ecosurety’s commercial director James Piper said: “ecosurety wholeheartedly supports sustainability. Our decision to run with the project and invest significant amounts of time, money and resources underlines our commitment to our local business environment and community, as well as to our core value of striving to continuously eradicate all forms of unnecessary waste.”

Sharing economy

A series of recently launched sharing economy platforms have served to mitigate a number of environmental issues including population growth, congestion and air pollution.

Last year, the Football League announced a new partnership with Liftshare.com to launch a similar platform – Get to the Game – which encourages fans to use lift shares when travelling to matches.

Transport for London (TfL) launched a ‘Car Club Action Plan’ last summer to grow the sharing economy idea into a mainstream alternative to private cars. Recently released survey findings revealed that 25,000 fewer cars are on London’s roads as a result of ‘car club’ members that are helping to fight congestion and improve air quality in the capital.

Energy consultant Ecuity’s programme leader Clare Jackson recently told edie that embracing a sharing economy could allow hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to carve out a niche route to accelerate into the mainstream vehicle mix, but only if efforts to boost infrastructure productions are increased.

George Ogleby