Sustainable travel and team dynamics among mobile health professionals

Melia, Steve

Abstract

© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This study explores the potential for more sustainable patterns of travel by mobile health professionals. It also explores the relationships between their travel for work and their modal choices in commuting and private travel. It uses as a case study a health trust in the UK that introduced a pioneering scheme involving the use of electric bikes and pool cars designed to reduce the use of employees' own vehicles for work travel. Using self-categorization theory, it explores the role of work group social norms in explaining the differential take-up of the scheme. The study used an online survey completed by 306 staff, telephone interviews, a focus group, and analysis of carbon emissions. The main alternative to private car use was cycling, used by 15% of staff. Several operational constraints were identified, but the differences in participation were also strongly related to work group cultures. Local managers embodying prototypical norms exerted a significant influence on the work groups that had embraced the scheme. A focus group with a team using electric bikes found evidence of increased staff motivation, and benefits to client groups, due to strengthened in-group social identity. The findings suggest considerable potential for modal shift in the travel of mobile health professionals in urban areas.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 7, 2016
• Deposit Date: Nov 26, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2017
• Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Transportation
• Print ISSN: 1556-8318
• Electronic ISSN: 1556-8334
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 131-138
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2013.869705
• Keywords: work travel, business travel, health professionals, carbon reductions, mobile staff, cycling, pool cars
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/914421
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2013.869705
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Sustainable Transportation in February 2016, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15568318.2013.869705
• Contract Date: Mar 18, 2016