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Travelling effectively

In and around Swindon, cars are an essential means of transport for many of us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use them more effectively.

Tips on travelling effectively

  • Find someone to share your car journeys and cut your fuel and parking costs.
  • Consider purchasing a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Electric vehicles have very low running costs and help cut air pollution in our towns.
  • Motorcycles and mopeds can have cheaper running costs but look out for newer, more efficient vehicles. Advanced driver training can help cut your fuel costs as well as keep you safe.
  • Think about reducing the number of cars in your household. Joining a car club or occasional car hire can be cheaper than running a car if your mileage is low.
  • Think about replacing part of your journey with walking or cycling. Park further from your destination to include some walking, or take a folding bike in your car and cycle the last leg of your journey.
  • Improve your driving skills with Advanced driver training.
  • If you’re travelling to Salisbury or Oxford, use the Park & Ride. If you are travelling anywhere else in the county, you could try using our journey planner to see if there’s an alternative solution.
  • Try to combine trips into one e.g. you could pick up your shopping on the way home from work.
  • Encouraging your children to cycle, walk or take the bus to school can help you cut down on your driving and avoid congestion. For younger children ask your school about walking buses, or try to find neighbours so you can take turns escorting the children.

Cycling and walking are the cheapest forms of transport and they can help you get in shape and stay healthy. For shorter journeys, cycling can often be quicker and more reliable than the car. For some longer journeys, taking the train can cut journey times.

Eco-driving tips

Smarter driving can help you cut your fuel consumption by up to 15% and annual running costs by £200-250. The following tips can help you achieve it:

  • Consider travelling at a quieter time of day
  • Use our journey planner to find your best route
  • When accelerating, change up to a higher gear early – between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm.
  • Cut your speed. At 85 miles per hour (mph) a car uses approximately 25% more fuel than at 70mph. The optimum driving speed for fuel efficiency is usually around 50 mph.
  • Anticipate the road conditions ahead. Avoid unnecessary breaking and acceleration.
  • Step off the accelerator when going downhill or slowing down. Make sure you remain in gear – coasting uses more fuel and can be dangerous.
  • Don’t carry unnecessary weight around. Remove heavy items from your car when they’re not needed. Remove roof racks and bike racks when they’re not being used. They make a car less aerodynamic and greatly increase fuel consumption at higher speeds. Similarly, keep windows closed at speeds of over 45 mph to reduce air resistance.
  • Use Air Conditioning sparingly, as this uses fuel.
  • Make sure your tyres are correctly inflated.
  • Turn off your engine if you think you’ll be stationary for more than a minute.
  • Try to avoid using the car for short journeys as cold engines burn more fuel. It is often quicker and cheaper to walk or cycle instead.
  • Find someone to share your car journeys and cut your fuel and parking costs.

Did you know?

Turning off an engine and restarting it after a minute or longer causes less pollution than keeping the engine idling and uses less fuel.

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