Ford Dunton Campus Recognized Active Travel Efforts

Amid its many conservation efforts, Ford has long promoted cycling as a greener – and healthier – alternative mode of transportation compared to gas-powered vehicles. In fact, the automaker launched a new ad campaign in Europe last year called “Park the Car,” asking its workers to take their bike instead of their car if their journey is less than five kilometers, or 3.1 miles, which accounts for more than 50 percent of most car trips, according to the World Health Organization, and also became the official title partner of the RideLondon Cycling Festival earlier this year. Now, the Ford Dunton Campus in the UK – also the site of some recent environmentally-friendly changes – has been recognized for developing a long-term plan to promote and enable active travel for employees.

The Ford Dunton Campus has been awarded ModeShift Stars Green accreditation, which celebrates businesses, educational establishments, and communities that go above and beyond to bring about a change in travel behavior and reduce the number of single occupancy vehicle journeys to, from, and between their sites. The award stems directly from Ford’s aforementioned “Park the Car” campaign, too.

“The Park the Car team engaged with Essex County Council for Park the Car Day at Dunton last year and have been working closely with them since then,” said Michelle Gasgarth, Ford Sustainability Marketing Manager. “Through this partnership, Ford employees will benefit from access to services such as discounted rail, bike maintenance, and adult cycling lessons. In turn, Essex County Council will support initiatives which ensures residents in the County consider active travel.”

“To achieve ModeShift Stars Green status we had to demonstrate we were committed to a long-term plan to promote and enable active travel amongst our workforce at Dunton and deliver a clear plan to improve facilities and access on site,” Gasgarth added. “We will now work through the plan, in conjunction with Mark Judd and the Dunton site team to deliver improved facilities over the coming year and hopefully achieve Bronze status by December 2024.”

We’ll have more on the Ford Dunton Campus soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.