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Ground transportation (and specifically ‘last mile’ journeys, which are short ground transportation trips taken in taxis, rental cars or public transit) accounts for the vast majority of business travel trips.
But while these trips are the most common for business travellers, studies have shown that they’re also the least safe. And despite the safety risks associated with this sort of travel, business travellers don’t fully acknowledge or understand the risks involved.
In this article, we’ll look at why companies have a duty of care to prioritise ground transportation safety when managing last-mile transportation risk during business trips. And why partnering with taxi ride-hailing apps can help boost employee duty of care.
Using exclusive data from the 2024 GBTA-FREENOW report, we’ll explore actionable insights into how you can protect your employees by creating a robust ground transportation safety framework using data, safety protocols, and preferred vendors.
But first, let’s take a look at what traffic safety data tells us about the risks of ground transportation during business trips.
Taking short car trips - whether in taxis, rental cars or public transit - is such a normal part of everyday life that we rarely think seriously about our safety when moving from A to B.
When FREENOW and the Global Business Traveller Association (GBTA) surveyed business travellers across four countries (Ireland, Spain, Germany and the UK) a perception gap emerged regarding ground transportation risk.
In three out of the four countries surveyed, less than half of business travellers recognised ground transport as the least safe form of transport. Most respondents inaccurately selected air or rail travel as the most dangerous.
Why is this important? Because if business travellers don’t fully understand the risk, it’s likely they won’t take adequate precautions.
While business travellers don’t always fully acknowledge the safety risks involved in last-mile transportation, travel managers certainly do. More than half of the travel managers surveyed (56%) said safety risks are one of the top two challenges they face and 30% said safety risks are the single greatest challenge.
There are many reasons ground transportation is considered a high-risk form of travel. But for business travellers, the risks can be narrowed down to a few main points:
Unfamiliar traffic laws and customs- While Europe’s roads are statistically some of the safest in the world, this can actually increase risk for those employees travelling in less safe regions. Even though these activities are generally safe in much of Europe, they could have a different risk profile outside of Europe where road conditions, traffic laws, and driver behaviour are different.
Driver fatigue -Employees have a responsibility not to drive on business trips late at night, when they’re tired or have consumed any alcohol. That’s when it’s best to book a taxi with a professional driver, like with the FREENOW app.
Lack of risk awareness -If employees don’t understand the realities of risks involved in last-mile transport, they may pose a risk to themselves. As an employer, the company also has a duty of care to make staff aware of the risks involved in ground transportation on business trips. That’s why trusting government-regulated taxis is the best way to go - especially with a ride-hailing app like FREENOW.
So now we know the risks involved, what can you do to protect your employees?
As with any duty of care strategy, managing risk for last-mile transportation relies on taking a proactive rather than reactive approach. There are a few core actions you can take to reduce risk and keep employees safe when using ground transportation on business trips.
One thing that became clear from those we surveyed was that ground transportation isn’t central to many companies’ travel risk management (TRM) policies.
While a substantial 85% said they do have risk-related policies for business travel, only about half (55%) of these policies address ground transport.
And while most travel programmes (63%) conduct a formal analysis of their company’s unique “risk profile” (as recommended by ISO 31030), only 41% “always” or “often” include ground transport risks in this analysis.
Given the clear statistical risks involved, integrating and centralising ground transport in your travel risk management policy should be a priority. This should include clear guidelines for approved transportation modes and transport partners. Generally, taxis are the most regulated type of ground transportation. And partnering with a taxi ride-hailing app allows you to boost safety and acquire important data.
Most business travel programmes (62%) involve conducting regular safety training for employees regarding business travel best practice. However only about half (56%) “always” or “often” include ground transport risks in these trainings.
Last-mile transportation safety relies on a shared responsibility between employees and the company, and training staff in safety protocols is key to this.
Data tracking is crucial to duty of care when managing staff travel, but was revealed as a particular weakness in the survey.
Whilst a large majority of travel programmes (89%) have a traveller tracking system in place, only one-quarter (24%) track employees using ground transport data specifically.
Real-time tracking is crucial for incident reporting, vendor performance monitoring and identifying risk patterns that could inform protocol and keep travellers safer.
Companies can easily receive real-time data if they work with a ground transport technology company that supports this.
Which takes us to our final point…
Taxis are viewed as the safest third-party mode of ground transport – and for good reason. Drivers need to be qualified, with appropriate licensing and vehicles that pass regular safety inspections.
As local residents, they also have a strong knowledge of the roads and regulations.Taxis are viewed as the safest third-party mode of ground transport – and for good reason. Drivers need to be qualified, with appropriate licensing and vehicles that pass regular safety inspections. As local residents, they also have a strong knowledge of the roads and regulations.
Travel managers were asked to rank the safest modes of ground transport for business travel. A larger number ranked taxis (50%) as one of the safest options, followed by rental cars (43%) then public transit (26%)
Travel programmes can have a formal relationship, contract, or business account with a ground transport vendor that will reduce risk when travelling in foreign places. They can prioritise safety when choosing a vendor and encourage employees to book with them. Virtually all business travellers (94%) surveyed agreed that this kind of relationship would increase efficiency too.
Explore the survey results in full in Maximising Duty of Care: Choosing Your Safest “Last Mile” Option for Business Travel whitepaper and to learn how FREENOW can become a trusted ground transport technology partner to your business and keep your business travellers safe, get in touch to book a demo.
