Companies Participating in Travel Smart Scheme

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Transport (a) how his Ministry plans to increase the number of companies participating in the Travel Smart scheme from the current 12; (b) what is the Ministry's target number of participating companies; and (c) what tangible incentives does the Government plan to give companies to implement flexi-work options so as to spread out peak-hour commuter load on public buses and the MRT.

The Travel Smart project is a pilot study to help understand the impact of various organisational practices and interventions in shaping the travel patterns of employees. The 12 participating organisations, with a total of 25,000 employees, will develop and implement Travel Smart Action Plans, which include initiatives like flexi-work measures, and installation of shower and locker facilities and cycling facilities, amongst others. Each of the 12 organisations can claim up to $20,000 from LTA's Travel Smart Reimbursement Grant to subsidise their costs. We will also be looking into customising travel incentive programmes, together with the Travel Smart organisations, to further encourage their employees to shift their travel times outside of the morning peak period.

Preliminary feedback has been encouraging. We will review the results in early 2014 before deciding how best to expand the programme.

Aside from Travel Smart, MOM and WDA had launched a one-stop programme called "WorkPro" on 1 April this year to build progressive workplaces for their employees. WorkPro includes a Work-Life Grant that provides funding support of up to $160,000 to help employers implement and sustain the use of flexi-work arrangements, such as flexi-time, to improve work-life harmony.

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