ALMOST half of Bucks commuters still travel singly by car, according to a new survey of 70 Bucks companies.

The findings come from a questionnaire carried out by Buckinghamshire County Council's travelchoice team on staff working in businesses which claim to "promote sustainable transport".

Commuters were quizzed on information last month about their journey modes on the way to work - with the aim of recording reduced single occupancy car use compared to the last survey in 2006.

The results showed that single occupancy car use stands at 46 per cent - dropping from 59 per cent- with an increase in walking from nine per cent to 11 per cent and cycling went down from six per cent to 3.12 per cent on the daily commute.

Working from home had increased from 4 per cent to 10 per cent.

Councillor Valerie Letheren, cabinet member for transportation said: "We really want to encourage more and more people to car share.

"We do contact individual companies and try to promote the benefits of car sharing. So many company owners look at a car and it has just one person in it.

"Car sharing saves money and it cuts down on congestion and pollution generally. "

She added that the council would be stepping up its efforts by leading by example.

The travelchoice department works with schools, businesses, the public and council staff, to encourage people to think about using alternative kinds of transport such as cycling, walking, car-sharing and public transport to reduce their impact on the environment, save money and reduce congestion around the county.

It aims to cut single occupancy car use, congestion and pollution by devising a travel plan'.

Another survey shows two thirds of motorists do not have any idea about how much their car pollutes the environment.

Produced by the motoring organisation Environmental Transport Association (ETA), the report says that two out of three motorists "don't have a clue" about how much CO2 is being produced by the car they drive.

The online YouGov survey of more than 2,000 adults found the environmentally least well informed drivers were in the south, with 67 per cent not having any idea how much CO2 is emitted by their car. This is despite high-profile Government advertising campaigns and vehicle excise duty now based on emissions.

Andrew Davis, director of the ETA, said: "The debate about emissions and climate change moves on, but the results of our survey show it may be leaving people behind - awareness of the CO2 produced by cars is incredibly low."