West Midlands business leaders are to be shown how to cut congestion and save money by providing more travel choices for their employees.

The free seminar in Birmingham will also help to unlock Government funding for a more environmentfriendly approach to working life.

Regional public transport promoter Centro and Birmingham City Council are encouraging bosses to sign up for the event, which they have organised with the West Midlands TravelWise Group.

The idea is for companies to develop a package of measures, tailored to their own needs, to encourage employees to ditch the car and use more sustainable forms of transport for their daily commute.

An inflexibility in working hours in Birmingham was highlighted in a recent Government rail strategy for the West Midlands, which showed New Street Station experienced a far narrower morning rush hour than London.

This has led to proposals to charge less for fares at different times to spread the peak. "The seminar we are organising will offer the opportunity for companies to hear directly from companies that already have developed a travel plan and the benefits they have achieved," said Centro TravelWise officer Kerry Slater.

"Moving around is something that is important to all of us, whether it be to work or meeting, taking our children to school or getting out and about at the weekend.

"Improving travel choice means we have the opportunity to address issues of traffic congestion, air quality and health."

B& Q spokesman John Miller, who will speak at the Birmingham seminar, said: "It is still a big challenge to get people out of their cars and to think about the advantages of car sharing, cycling, walking or using public transport for their journey to work."

TravelWise claims Birmingham companies could save more than £1,000 per member of staff by persuading employees who drive to work to switch to public transport instead.

In an opinion poll conducted for the campaign, more than 70 per cent of people in the West Midlands said their employer provided car parking spaces for staff.

At the same time, the price of a leasing a car parking space in central Birmingham has rocketed to more than £1,700 per car.

The free Travel Plan seminar is at Austin Court, Birmingham, on November 24.

Companies need to book before November 18 to guarantee a place and the details can be found by visiting the Centro website at www.centro.org.uk/travelwise