Environmental Social Governance (ESG) has increased in priority and visibility to public transport organisations in a relatively brief span of time. It could be seen as an evolution of and/or a complement to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The growing awareness of ESG in public transport is driven by broader policy goals such as Net Zero, evolving organisational strategies and cultural expectations around sustainability, and the need to improve performance, transparency, and risk management. Reputation, workforce expectations, and regulatory requirements also play a key role in shaping how organisations adopt and report on ESG practices.
BOLTS is the first group within TSC aiming to transform the Environment success dimension within the KPI Balanced Scorecard to Environmental Social Governance (ESG). In this context, a virtual workshop was held to bring together ESG subject matter experts within BOLTS to begin building a network, review responses to the ESG Survey covering reporting, priorities, and benchmarking, and examine findings from desktop research on ESG benchmarking practices. Members also discussed, and agreed on a set of ESG KPIs to pilot during 2024, followed by an open discussion and questions among attendees.
