BIGHERTSBIGIDEAS for Business Newsletter

2

November 2013

BIGHERTSBIGIDEAS (BHBI) is an integrated package of transport measures in

southwest Hertfordshire that is delivering a step-change in sustainable

transport provision, far beyond that which could be achieved through

conventional transport funding. The package enables businesses,

employees and residents to travel more easily around Watford, Hemel

Hempstead and St Albans, and leads the way on supporting economic

growth and reducing carbon emissions.

This is the third edition of our Business newsletter – please continue to send us

ideas and input. All methods of contacting us are shown on the back page.

In this issue, we reflect on our inaugural network meeting in October and

give a ‘half term’ report on our programmes funded by the Local

Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF).

Message from Terry Douris

Terry Douris is Hertfordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Highways

and Waste Management:

“I was really pleased with the turnout and reaction to the first

BIGHERTSBIGIDEAS for Business network event on 23rd October. The theme of

Active Travel – Good for Business in Hertfordshire, generated a lot of interest

and discussion. Thanks again to Renewable Energy Systems (RES) for hosting

the event and to the various speakers. I am looking forward to meeting

many of you again at KPMG’s office at Clarendon Road, Watford on 31st

January.”

Inside This Issue

1 Message from Terry Douris

2 BigHerts Network Event

2 LSTF Half Term Report

3 Recent Roadshows

3 Diary Dates

“BIGHERTSBIGIDEAS is

starting to stimulate real

business debate and

changes in behaviour”

VOLUME 1 ISSUE

BHBI NEWSLETTERPAGE 2

BigHerts Network Event

passengers up 7% in 2013

Improvements to cycle routes

and 700+ new parking places

More than 20 people attended the first network event on 23rd October at the

RES office at Kings Langley. Organisations represented included Buildings

Research Establishment, West Herts NHS Hospitals Trust, Warner Brothers,

KPMG, RSK, Freedom Communications, Intu Watford, Serena Software and

Camelot.

The main theme of Active Travel was covered in a varied range of

presentations. The employee health benefits were outlined by Debbie

Fairclough of Business in the Community, whilst rail/bike users were the focus

for First Capital Connect and Harry Scrope of Brompton Dock (pictured).

Kate Jenkins of Watford Cycle Hub talked about bike servicing and training

and her social enterprise background. Presenters from Hertfordshire County

Council outlined our investments in improved car-free cycle routes and

cycle training for children and college students. More information can be

found on the BHBI website, latest news section.

LSTF Half Term Report

Hertfordshire County Council secured £11.7 million from the Department for

Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) for use on numerous

schemes in SW Herts between late 2011 and March 2015. Some of the big

ticket items include brand new buses and routes to major employment areas

in Watford and Hemel Hempstead’s Maylands Business Park. Our investment

in new technology means Hertfordshire now has leading-edge live bus

timetable information and supporting digital access methods like the Intalink

app and QR code and Near Field Communication (NFC) chip delivery to

smartphones.

On the infrastructure side, we have already delivered hundreds of new cycle

parking spaces and major improvements to car-free and other safe cycle

and walking routes.

The business engagement programme is also funded by LSTF.

BIGHERTSBIGIDEAS for Business has been active since February 2013 and to

date we have over 30 large organisations in SW Hertfordshire as core

members. As well as meetings and online interactions, we know that our

promotions and campaigns have started to show good results. For example,

the BigHerts Cycle Challenge for businesses in June attracted nearly 1200

people registering work or leisure rides, including 200 previously lapsed or

even non-cyclists. Nearly 200 monthly and longer season tickets have been

taken up at a BHBI discount from our local transport partners Arriva, First

Capital Connect and Centrebus. We estimate that 200 additional members

of the free hertsliftshare.org service have come from BHBI member

companies.

All of these results show that employees in Hertfordshire can be persuaded at

least to try alternatives to the car as their primary mode of transport to work

Route 10 Watford launch –

Active Travel – Good for

Business in Hertfordshire

and on business.

BHBI NEWSLETTERPAGE 3

Contact us to arrange a site visit

Cyclepods 8-bike storage pod

Recent Roadshows

Design accreditation from the Association of Chief Police Officers).

Diary Dates

Contact us

View our BHBI website hereWWW

The Intalink promotional vehicle visited Leavesden Park at MEPC’s invitation

and we met over 50 staff from BT and other residents of the business park.

Dacorum Borough Council’s annual business exhibition/conference at

Shendish Manor also asked us to attend and we had a stand to promote

sustainable travel at this prestigious event. Next stop for the vehicle is

Maylands Business Park in the New Year.

We have been working with West Herts Hospitals Trust who are the single

biggest employer in the LSTF area with over 4,500 people across three

hospital sites. Promotions were done at staff roadshows in October and we

are pleased to be co-funding a much-needed increase in cycle parking at

the busiest site, Watford General Hospital. Our main cycle storage partner

Cyclepods is doing the design and installation and is offering other

members a 10% BHBI discount for its innovative designs (with Secured by

News of forthcoming events, meetings and announcements for the network

BHBI for Business, network event Friday 31 January 2014, 9:30am to 1pm

The meeting will be held at KPMG’s Watford Offices at Clarendon Road. The main theme will

be rail improvements across SW Hertfordshire. There is a huge amount of change and

improvement happening from early 2014 with many future benefits, but there will be some

local disruption, so we want to help you plan for that accordingly.

For further information or to contribute ideas/queries, please emailbigherts@hertfordshire.gov.uk

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