Businesses in Wisbech are being urged to act fast in order to claim Travel 4 Cambridgeshire’s green grants to combat the county’s every-growing congestion problem.

Aimed at getting Cambridgeshire to work, TfC - a partnership organisation based within the County Council in Cambridge - is willing companies on to claim a slice of the original £1 million given to them by the Government’s Department of Transport from the ‘Local Sustainable Transport Fund’ before the December 31 deadline.

This is in order for employers to increase the number of travel services and facilities on offer to their staff, so that sustainable transport solutions that battle town and city congestion can be achieved.

Kate Day, TfC Project Manager, said: “Ultimately we are trying to achieve a change in commuting behaviour by employees. However, we recognise that this is not a straight forward option for many people, so the grants are there to try and increase travel choices. By changing to a car free or car sharing journey for one day a week, we can all make a huge change to the congestion issues, saving money, as well as improving our health and that of the environment.”

The ‘Workplace Sustainable Travel Grant’ is available to improve the travel infrastructure at workplaces. This is worth up to 75% of the costs to a maximum of £3,000 per company and can be spent on car park management, lockers, showers, pool bicycles and cycle parking.

The ‘Workplace Sustainable Travel Event Grant’ gives up to a maximum of £500 per business for running and promoting sustainable travel events at the workplace for employees such as Bike Week, Liftshare Week, or the launch of a pool bike scheme or travel plan.

For businesses who promote car sharing, there is also the ‘Guaranteed Ride Home Grant.’ It means that if an employee is unable to car share, the grant will help pay for the costs of alternative travel to get them to and from work as part of a scheme that will be set up.

For employers to be eligible, they need to be members of TfC and must be located within the Cambridgeshire LSTF 2015-2016 area, details of which can be found on the TfC website.

To join the scheme, email info@tfw.org.uk or phone 01223 715550 to find out how to submit an application before December 31.