NEWS

TPS are growing, and we are delighted to announce the appointment of Rob Bettison who will be joining our team from the 1st August.

Rob joins TPS from the University of Sheffield where he has occupied the position of Travel Plan Co-ordinator for a number of years, previous to which he was in post as Countywide TravelWise Co-ordinator in South Yorkshire.

These roles have enabled Rob to gain a vast and wide ranging set of skills and experience in not only the development of travel plan strategies, but also their detailed implementation.

Rob notes his general areas of work/interest as being:

 Sustainable travel planning, implementation and assessment;Individualised travel planning;Public transport planning and delivery;External funding applications;Consultation and promotion;Car park management and capacity planning.

As part of our role as Travel Plan Co-ordinator for the 1.8m sq ft office development at Thorpe Park (Leeds) TPS have held a series of workshops aimed at helping businesses occupying the site to reduce their demand on car parking. The workshops, which were attended by businesses including Atkins, Faithful & Gould, Republic, Innovate and IBM, have proved a great success with further sessions planned for the future.

The workshops included:

 A demonstration of the Thorpe Park Car Share scheme;A presentation by Metro on the availability of public transport discounts;A review and demonstration of the range of travel information available at the business park;An introduction to the new Thorpe Park Shuttle service

The last few weeks have seen a flurry of activity at Thorpe Park as a number of travel plan initiatives are rolled out across the business park.

The 2008 staff travel survey was completed at the beginning of April, with over 1000 staff from over 20 organisations participating both online and in hard copy.

April will also see the launch of a new peak period shuttle bus service operating between the business park and the nearby Crossgates rail station. It is the latest in a range of measures rolled out to reduce the need for staff to travel to work by car and one which we hope will deliver much success over the coming months and years.

To assist with the launch of that bus service, and as part of a drive to increase communications across the site, TPS have been heavily involved in the development of a new community brand and website enititled 'Park Life'. The website, which is to be launched next week, will provide a focal point for the ongoing delivery of the travel plan, alongside a wide range of useful information and services available to all staff based at Thorpe Park.

In order to inform organisations based at the park of these latest developments, TPS only this morning presented as part of the business park management team at the occupier meeting, and on the back of much positive feedback, look forward to a achieving further travel planning success over the coming months.