Grass Routes

Bike Week, the UK’s biggest mass participation cycling event, will take place between 15 – 23 June in 2013. Bike Week events offer something for everyone; from families, schools and companies, to seasoned cyclists and those who have never cycled before.

2012 saw almost half a million people taking part in the celebrations of cycling across the UK. This year, Bike Week is asking the nation to dig out their bikes, get back on the saddle and fall in love with cycling all over again!

Check out the website for more information and how to register.

Other cycling events to look out for during the summer

-     Felixstowe Cycle Festival which is taking place at the Triangle Shelter, Hamilton Road, Felixstowe on Saturday 8 June 10:00-16:00. Go along and learn about cycle safety, bike history, leisure rides, have a bike health check, prizes to be won and more.

-     This year also sees the Grand Final of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series on the Cornhill in Ipswich on Friday 14 June.  This will be the Final event of the 11 round Tour Series professional cycling race series and is anticipated to attract in the region of 15 – 20,000 spectators.  Full programme details are available at www.thetour.co.uk

-     Another event in Felixstowe, which takes place on Sunday 23 June, is the Port Of Felixstowe Bike Day and more information can be found here.

-     Join the Suffolk Cycle Challenge. It’s a free incentive based staff cycling scheme run to encourage and support employees to discover the benefits of cycling. Workplaces across Suffolk will compete from 1 July to 21 July 2013 to win fantastic individual and team prizes. To find out how to get involved visit the Suffolk Cycle Challenge wibsite.

Do you and your work colleagues have what it takes to go up against other organisations in a Walk to Work Week Challenge?

We hope that you can join us for some healthy competition in conjunction with Fresh Ways to Work and Living Streets for Walk to Work Week. Here are some of the incentives:

• Team spirit – compete with your colleagues and walk together
• Better shape – burn calories and get fitter
• Clearer head – blow away the cobwebs and relieve stress
• Fatter wallet – save your bus fare and walk instead
• Hidden treasures – make new discoveries in your area

Adastral Park (BT + IM) has been set up for you to register on the website.

If you can’t walk all of part of your journey to work you can still get involved: from lunchtime walks, to walking meetings, to uploading photos from your walks and see how your steps compare with others as well as converted to distance and calories.

Simply walk to and from work for all or some of your journey, and for any business travel during Walk to Work Week then record your mileage on the website.

BT’s trainline portal is now offering the convenience of print your own (PYO) ticketing for selected routes and ticket types. This new service lets you print an A4 sized ticket from your home or office desktop, via the trainline portal, for a number of key train routes.

PYO is currently restricted to advance tickets only – where a seat reservation is mandatory – on Virgin Trains, Greater Anglia, Cross Country, Grand Central, First Hull, and some routes on First Great Western and East Midlands Trains. East Coast routes will be included shortly.

Currently, PYO tickets can’t be exchanged, so you should only use this method if you are sure you will be travelling on the specified train. Also, when you travel, you will need to carry with your PYO ticket some form of identification specified when booking – usually either the last four digits of a credit or debit card, a driving licence or passport. You can find more information by visiting the BT travel pages.

Adastral Park has the largest number of train bookings by BT employees due to the sheer number of people based on site and the amount of business travel needed to be taken. Because of this BT has installed an on-site trainline ticket dispensing machine which is located centrally in the Hub concourse.

Adastral employees therefore have the convenience of booking their tickets online via the internal BT trainline portal and collect their tickets whilst at work, which can help to save time and money. There are also occassional travel related offers which may be of interest for appropriate eligible journeys.

Using the train for business travel, and commuting, can be an efficient and cost effective way of travelling. This has led to the introduction of a new public shuttle bus between the railway station and Adastral Park, which is free (at point of boarding) for business travellers to use by simply showing their valid train ticket to the bus driver.

Further tips for travellers  to save on rail fares:

• Book as far ahead as you can to take advantage of the cheapest Advance fares
• Avoid purchasing last minute and on the day of travel unless in an emergency, as this will be the most expensive way to travel
• Travel Off Peak:  Avoid arriving into London before 10am, and departing between 1700-1830 if possible
• Split your tickets at Manningtree or Colchester if you do need to travel in peak time to save against the full fare from Ipswich <> London (can save up to £19 per return)
• Best Fare Finder:  this allows you to view the cheapest ticket for the journey by week and month, allowing you to plan your journey in the most cost effective way.
• Advance fares are non-refundable, but they are exchangeable up to 2 hours before the original departure time for the same route subject to any fare difference.  

Use of the ticket machine by other non-BT organisations based on site is available providing they have a corporate account with thetrainline and agreement from the site team.

We are always seeking ways of encouraging more sustainable forms of travel, which can also be more convenient and cost effective. Do let us know if you have any suitable suggestions.

Andrew Cassy
Adastral Park Travel Plan Manager

On Friday 21 September 2012 we launched our first publically accessible charging post for electric vehicles (EV) in a collaborative event with Port of Felixstowe. The event was started with a personalised message from Norman Baker MP and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport and concluded with a convoy of electric cars driving down to Felixstowe to launch their charging post too.

EV post launch

After the video from the Minister there were brief presentations from Keith Bevis, Source East and Heather McInroy Business in the Community ways2work. The BT post was ‘launched’ by the Adastral Park travel plan manager, Andrew Cassy, alongisde Steve Watson, BT Fleet with the recharging of two of the electric vehicles on display that day.

After the launch, a selection of EV’s currently on the market were on display for employees to see and test drive, including three of the iconic Vauxhall Ampera, a Peugeot iOn and VW Kangoo van. A small convoy of electric vehicles then travelled down to Felixstowe Port where Stewart Bethell launched their post and gave a guided tour of the port.

Visitors travelling to the site can recharge their electric vehicle with their Source East card (also available for short term loan from reception if required). Other charging posts on this network can be seen by checking the Live Availability online map.

Employees working at Adastral Park can also make use of two further charging posts with dedicated parking bays next to the central Hub building. These posts were put in place back in 2008 as an early signal to encourage people to consider electric vehicles as those vehicles become more accessible.

Andrew Cassy says “Until recently the wider network of retaillers and charging points has been a significant  constraint for all bar the enthusiasts. The time is now right though as these barriers are coming down, with battery and vehicle technology improving, coupled with the financial incentives from the Government. All the mainstream manufacturers now having an EV or hybrid car available to buy or soon to be launched. So I expect to start seeing more vehicles needing to use the charging posts in the near future.“

FAQs:

• Q: Are there any plans to roll this facility out to other GDC sites
• A: As far as we are aware no plans for any other sites as they do not have a travel plan nor sponsor to fund these local initiatives.
• Q: At Adastral Park,  is there some online detail, or documentation about the trial / EV charging points.
• A: The two original charging  posts next to the Hub are shown on the site map (the charging points shown near B56 are for electric bicycle recharging only!), plus the newer public post in the visitor car park by reception is shown on the SourceEast website, along with details for how to join that scheme.  Long term loans for RFID keys to the Hub charging posts are available to Adastral Park employees via reception. Short term loan of cards for the Source East posts are also available from reception if you don’t have your own card.
• Q: Do the Charging parking spaces need to be booked in advance?
• A: No, first come first served basis until this becomes an issue.
• Q: How many of them are there?
• A: two 3amp by the hub plus two in visitor car park (one 3Kw  & one 7Kw Mennekes)
• Q:  Is there any guarantee of visitors being able to hook-up and recharge, most electric cars have a limited range and without a re-charging facility I would probably not have enough battery power for my return journey.
• A: Not at the moment, but with current usage this is not an isue.
• Q: Is there a charge for the facility, or electric used?
• A: Not at present thoalthough this could change as demand increases, there maybe a cost for the public Source East network usage
• Q: Are there any limitations or restrictions on charging time?
• A: Not at the moment.