Travel Smart
We want Scottish businesses to commit to choosing train over plane for UK trips.
In particular, we want businesses to switch to the train for all travel between Edinburgh/Glasgow and London. Making these journeys by train is one of the most straightforward ways we can cut carbon emissions from travel.
To help achieve this, we’ve teamed up with partners across Europe in the Travel Smart campaign. Travel Smart is a global campaign led by European transport NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) and partners across Europe, North America and Asia, aiming to reduce corporate air travel emissions.
Why it’s needed
Businesses which are serious about reducing their climate emissions and meeting their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments must tackle business travel. Many organisations are finding that having made significant progress in cutting carbon via energy efficiency and renewables, travel is now making up an increasingly significant part of their carbon footprint.
To seriously reduce emissions from travel, responsible businesses must reduce their number of flights. Offsetting is not enough, and neither is waiting for new aviation fuels and technologies which won’t be available until the mid-2030s – far too late to tackle the climate emergency.
The experience of remote working gained during the pandemic makes it easier than ever to fly less. And for trips in the UK, there’s no need to head to the airport when the train provides a ready alternative.
Our action and impact
Through the Travel Smart ranking, we’ve highlighted how Scottish and UK companies compare to 230 businesses across the world on their commitments to reduce corporate travel and report air travel emissions. The best-performing companies have a target to reduce corporate air travel emissions by 50% or more from pre-covid levels, by 2025.
Through the Travel smart employee poll, we’ve shown that an overwhelming majority of staff want their employers to take action to cut climate emissions by permanently cutting back on corporate flying.
In partnership with train operator LNER, we encouraged people to “Think Rail First” for UK trips. We met Scottish politicians, government, business and transport leaders to challenge common misconceptions about rail travel and get the message out that taking the train is faster, cheaper and more reliable than plane or car.
Two Scottish companies among top 10 in global study on corporate travel and reporting air travel emissions
15 March 2023
Two companies headquartered in Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Abrdn, feature in the top 10 of 322 businesses ranked by the ‘Travel Smart’ campaign. The ranking reviews how companies are…
Connecting Scotland: The climate case for online working
22 February 2023
The case for online working Scotland’s ambitious climate targets have put pressure on businesses to reduce their emissions and meet their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments. To address the…
Majority of employees expect businesses to set corporate flying targets | New survey
3 November 2022
Three in five business travellers report having curbed their flying habits as a result of the pandemic in a new survey by the Travel Smart Campaign conducted by Ipsos. The survey…
Too few Scottish businesses pledge to reduce business flying, new corporate ranking finds
10 May 2022
Together with Transport & Environment (T&E), Europe’s leading campaign group for clean mobility, Transform Scotland is today launching the Travel Smart campaign to encourage companies to fly less while achieving…
THINK RAIL FIRST: Changing perceptions of train travel
1 December 2021
In autumn 2021, we worked in partnership with train operator LNER to encourage people to “Think Rail First” and chose train over flying or driving for UK trips.
Get involved
If you’d like to find out more or be involved in our Travel Smart work, please contact the Programme Manager, Elspeth Wray, at elspeth.wray@transform.scot.
Related articles/projects/publications
Aviation Strategy consultation response
27 January 2022
Transform responds to Transport Scotland’s Aviation Strategy consultation, noting how the proposal fails to take into account the role played by aviation on climate change.
Rail overtakes plane as most popular method of transport between Edinburgh-London; Glasgow-London must now do the same
2 November 2022
For the first time in many decades, rail has overtaken flying as the most popular mode of transport between Edinburgh and London. Between April and August 2022, 57% of travellers…
A Green Journey to Growth
21 August 2017
This report looks at the carbon savings achieved in recent years by shifting travel from air to rail between Central Scotland and London.