Centro is committed to sustainable forms of transport which benefit the environment and help to reduce global warming. When you consider that road congestion on the West Midlands' busy roads costs regional businesses more than £2.3 billion a year.

 

We became the first regional transport authority to sign a declaration on climate change. The 'Nottingham Declaration' addresses the challenge of tackling global warming and we are working towards curbing climate change through promoting more sustainable forms of transport, and by monitoring our operations as an organisation.

 

Centro's congestion-busting Park & Ride scheme takes 2.75 million journeys off the region's gridlocked roads and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 6,200 tonnes each year.

 

It is an important part of our efforts to encourage more people onto public transport. £14 million has been invested since 1997 and the vast majority of the 37 car parks have Safer Parking Accreditation for the dramatic reduction of vehicle crime and antisocial behaviour in station car parks across the region.

 

There are now over 6,400 free Park and Ride car parking spaces in the West Midlands as a whole. These spaces are calculated to take over 53,000 journeys off the road per week, saving 66,000 litres of fuel. This is the equivalent to 94 tankers a year.

 

Hundreds of bus shelters have been fitted with solar lighting and many more will be installed over the coming years – so that passengers waiting for the bus can be seen more clearly. They will also have enough light to read new improved timetable information.

 

The initial cost of £242,000 for 200 shelters will be paid for out of Government funding and the money raised by Centro from bus shelter advertising. Solar-powered lighting, which recharges its batteries during the day to light the shelter at night, costs £600 less than a mains-powered unit and can save about £100 a year in electricity bills per shelter.

 

Our aim is for all shelters in the West Midlands to be fitted with cost-effective lighting.

 

Centro is an active member of the national ACT-TravelWise association. Alongside the 14 local authorities, we aim to reduce the economic and environmental costs of traffic congestion and the personal health consequences of car dependency.

 

As part of this role, Centro's Sustainable Travel team works with the region's schools, businesses and large trip generators (e.g. hospitals, airports), to help implement their travel plans and launch initiatives to encourage behavioural change and promote sustainable travel.

 

We're backing the Birmingham Mail's Go Green campaign as it will provide the sort of practical help and advice that people need in order to do their bit for the planet.

 

Good public transport, along with other sustainable ways of travel such as walking and cycling, has a major role to play.

 

We're working hard in partnership with local councils and private bus and rail operators to give people the sort of public transport that makes it easier for them to choose to leave the car at home and cut their carbon footprint.

 

Centro works with over 400 schools in the West Midlands, providing advice and guidance on public transport issues, to support their school travel plans. A key part of this work is delivering interactive public transport workshops for Year 6 pupils, to encourage sustainable travel prior to their move to secondary school. In 2007 the team delivered over 50 workshops, to over 2,000 pupils.

 

In 2008 Centro's Sustainable Travel Team launched a new website, www.letzgogreen.org, for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils, teaching them how and why to use public transport and linking into all areas of the National Curriculum.

 

This is the only free internet public transport resource centre for teachers in the UK, with downloadable lesson plans and pupil worksheets.

 

Centro works with over 500 employers in the West Midlands (over 300,000 employees), promoting the Company TravelWise scheme. The scheme provides assistance to companies in writing their travel plans, enables easy purchase of annual travel cards for staff and provides literature and support to employers to help them promote sustainable travel modes to staff.

 

Centro is working with local authorities to launch a suite of bespoke TravelWise journey planning websites for schools, community centres and residential developers. These sites encourage sustainable travel choices by large-volume potential public transport users and are a useful resource for schools, community groups and developers producing and implementing effective travel plans.

 

Centro's Sustainable Travel team promotes cycling and walking to public transport interchanges, and facilities at stations, to encourage healthy travel, easy access to public transport and reduce dependency on car use and Centro's parking facilities.

 

In 2008 Centro is promoting the launch of 30 new cycle facilities at rail stations throughout the West Midlands.