Strategies to Reduce Energy Use for Commuting by Employees

In the last decade, there has been a paradigm shift in the realisation of the environmental costs of transport, on a societal level and the failure of supply side infrastructure to reduce congestion and its negative impacts. Studies show urban areas with a population above 8 million, consume on an average 16,000 million litres of fuel daily. Cars and two-wheelers contribute to a majority of consumption, accounting for approximately 60 to 90 per cent of the total emissions produced by all modes of transport in various types of cities. This situation will be aggravated (more than twice the current fuel usage), if we continue the paradigm of satisfying increased travel demand with increased capacity. Travel Demand Management (TDM) strategies become imperative in this context. Work trips contribute to a major share of the trip profile in major cities and in Bangalore they constitute about 58 per cent. The paper summarizes the anticipated impact of work commute reduction strategies by a single organisation in Bangalore, in terms of vehicle kilometres travelled and energy use. The work trip profile of employees in an organisation is analysed, to understand the travel behaviour. This paper reviews existing research on policies and programs to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and discusses the possible impacts of various strategies based in the survey responses.