The Property Management Consultancy team at the Bristol office of GVA, the UK’s largest independent commercial property adviser, has been helping staff and visitors at one of Europe’s largest business & technology parks, Thames Valley Park (TVP) in Reading have a really comfortable – and green – trip into work.
GVA acts as managing agent on behalf of TVP Management Ltd, where the company has been closely involved in the implementation of the Park’s Green Travel Plan. This includes the recent introduction of a new fleet of buses which operate a courtesy service between TVP and central Reading, and are some of the most luxurious seen in the UK and Europe.
Through paying attention to existing passenger traffic, the service has been designed requiring fewer journeys per day compared to the outgoing service, with a commensurate reduction in environmental impact. On top of this, vehicle volumes for peak time operation have increased from eight minutes to six minutes, providing more services when they are actually needed.
TVP is home to some of the best known names in the business and technology market sector, notably Microsoft, Oracle, Computacenter, ING Direct and BG Group, to name but a few. Apart from having sizeable workforces of their own, all these companies welcome visitors in large numbers, many of whom arrive from some distance away by other forms of public transport.
GVA works closely with the TVP Transport Steering Group (TSG) whose members include representatives from all the major park occupiers. GVA and the TSG ensure the transport systems and adopted strategies support the requirements of the 9,000 people who visit and work in the park on a daily basis. This free/courtesy transportation service has operated to and from Central Reading since the Park opened some years ago. In the summer of 2011 the TVP shuttle bus service was put out for competitive tender and setting ambitious new criteria for the service, with Stewarts Coaches Ltd consequently appointed.
Based on the Mercedes Benz Citaro chassis, complete with the very latest, environmentally-friendly Euro 5 specification engine, the eight new buses will cosset occupants like never before on this type of commuter service.
High back, supportive part-leather seats with 36” pitch, special tinted glazing, additional sound-proofing, ambient lighting, climate control, free Wi-Fi and mahogany coloured, wood effect floor, will together create an experience akin to being sat in a contemporary café bar. Passengers are guaranteed a smooth ride too, thanks to Mercedes Benz’s latest pitch and roll controlled, self-levelling independent suspension.
The technology on board the vehicles will be extended to provide passengers with mobile phone applications developed specifically around the live service. The new vehicles will also come with on-board real time passenger information display systems, giving passengers confirmation of the “next stop” details via TV monitors, in addition to an audio announcement. This technology can then be combined with Real Time Bus Stop Displays, informing waiting passengers of the next service availability, something that the TVP community is currently assessing.
Kathy Matthews, Chairman of the TVP Transport Steering Group said: “The Green Travel Plan is an essential element of being based at Thames Valley Park. This new fleet clearly positions Thames Valley Park at the forefront of green travel.”
Tam Meechan, GVA’s Estate Manager at TVP commented: “More people will now be able to benefit from the service, since the new buses have larger capacity than those previously used. The historic passenger travel data has been analysed and the service adjusted to maximise the core peak time running as a six minute service whilst reducing the negative environmental impact of running empty buses in those quieter periods.”
