The campaign to urge civil servants to shun car commutes paid off in yesterday?s trial run with bus and ferry use up by about 20 percent.

Transport Permanent Secretary Marc Telemaque said: ?It seems to have been very effective.

?Both the ferry and bus service reported a marked increase in their use ? about a 20 percent increase.?

Most of the travelling was done from the congested West End said Mr. Telemaque.

?The car park for the Rockaway ferry was full to overflowing while the most significant increases in the bus services were the western services ? numbers seven and number eight.?

Government had called on its 4,000 civil servants to switch from their cars to buses, bikes and ferries to show commitment to a day of action to highlight the issue of sustainable development and to try and lead to more lasting efforts towards conservation.

Assistant Cabinet Secretary Warren Jones said he was pleased with the turnout for yesterday?s green commute by Government workers.

He said more than 150 civil servants had emailed him to report they had shunned solitary car journeys ? with most opting to car pool.

He said: ?I am happy with that. And we don?t have the final figures.?

If there were several people in each car then it could have kept hundreds of cars off the road, said Mr. Jones, 48, who ran from his Spice Hill, Warwick home.

He is considering repeating the feat on a more regular basis after gaining a 45-minute lie-in despite his exertions.

He explained: ?I always go running along South Shore between 5.30 and 6 a.m. so I have to be up at 4.45 a.m.

?But this morning I was up at 5.30 so I gained 45 minutes.?

But he said his German Shepherd Shem who normally accompanies him on his early morning runs felt left out by yesterday?s change of plan.

?When he saw me running to the gate he looked at me as if to say: ?What?s going on here???

However Mr. Jones admitted taking his exercise later put him in more danger.

?Normally when I run there is no traffic. I was surprised about the number of big trucks heading west. I had to take evasive action. But I would definitely do it again. It was nice running and I got here at the same time as I normally do.?

Mr. Jones said running the return journey ? normally taken between 6 and 7 p.m. ? would save him time because of the volume of westbound traffic at that time.

Another civil servant keen to plug the benefits of healthy ways of getting to work was Maryellen Goodwin who pedals everyday from her home off Collector?s Hill to her Botanical Gardens base.

That journey takes her only ten minutes ? three minutes longer than if she took the car.

The 41-year-old said she also cycles home everyday for lunch. The combined commuting means she gets a healthy does of exercise without having to take time out during her leisure hours.

The bike is also far handier for nipping into town for meetings and court appearances said Ms Goodwin who is a compliance officer for the Department of Environmental Protection.

The downside is other traffic and rainy days.

?When people try to overtake they sometimes come very close. You also have to plan a little bit better than normal. I can?t take a whole lot of stuff to work.?