Travel planning, according to a 2007 Department for Transport report [1], is one of a range of “smarter choices”, also including measures such as car sharing, car clubs, tele-working and video-conferencing, which aim to reduce carbon emissions by reducing traffic and improving accessibility to services. They found that an intensive ten year programme of these smarter choices could cut urban peak-hour traffic, off-peak traffic, and national traffic volumes by 21%, 13% and 11%, respectively.
Rather than simply planning or combining journeys to reduce mileage, which is also good practice, travel planning involves considering different many aspects of travel requirements and then implementing actions and practices so that overall car usage is reduced. In businesses, travel plans can be used specifically to encourage staff to reduce single-occupancy car use and can include flexible working practices [2] to facilitate this; as an example, the Department for Transport travel plan is available to view online [3]. Long-term travel plans have been used for many years to promote sustainable travel when developing new residential or industrial sites or extending existing ones. They vary in detail and scope depending on the size of the development and are outlined in documents which are submitted at the development planning stage and then regularly reviewed [4]. For example, when planning a new residential site, developers must consider that sites need to be integrated into existing towns and cities without introducing major impacts on their transport systems. Achieving this successfully depends on the design and location of the new developments, so that they have easy access to local shops and services, include open spaces that encourage walking, cycling and recreational use, have good access (both physical and financial) to public transport and limit car parking facilities so that both the need to travel, and reliance on car use, are reduced. The site developers create a travel plan, based on the travel plan pyramid provided by the Department for Transport, and monitor and update the plan before handing it over to residents [1]. Companies can develop their sites to encourage use of sustainable or public transport, for example by offering vouchers for public transport, subsidising bicycle purchases, providing showering facilities and restricting access to car parking.
Personal travel plans can also be implemented for individual households or people, with the same aim of reducing individual car usage. While this is now commonplace in countries such as Australia, it is relatively new in the UK [5]. In 14 pilot projects to test how effective personal travel planning could be in reducing car usage in urban areas, over 300,000 households were given:
- targeted information on travel choices, such as local bus maps, travel guides and walking and cycling routes
- motivation (through conversations with trained travel advisors) and incentives including free pedometers, water bottles and bus passes
- ongoing support and advice
In the people targeted by these projects, car use was typically reduced by about 11%, with the distance travelled by car falling 12%. Other benefits to participants and the wider community included:
- health benefits associated with a more active lifestyle due to increased walking and cycling activity
- increased use of public transport, in turn making services more viable to run
- improved local air quality
- increased viability of local shops and businesses
- reduced carbon emissions
Success was most likely in areas where there was, for example, easy access to local facilities, a public transport network which was not oversubscribed and a good local sustainable travel network – introduction of personal travel planning has coincided with improvements to these features in some cases [5]. This links back to residential travel planning involving access to local services, good public (particularly for those unable to walk or cycle) and sustainable transport networks and restricted car parking spaces. All of these things need to be implemented in conjunction with each other, as there is no point having plenty of local shops and services with limited parking spaces if nobody can get to them using the local public transport network.
Currently one-off grants are being used to support personal travel plan schemes in specific areas [5]. However, for those who don’t want to wait for a scheme to be introduced in their area, but think they may be in a position to reduce their personal car usage, the personal travel planning idea could be an ideal model to follow. This will obviously depend on the facilities available in the local area, particularly the existing public transport provision; local public transport network maps and timetables are freely available and there may be local schemes, both through local authorities, environmental charities or employers, offering incentives to increase public or sustainable transport use.
Although setting up a DIY personal travel plan requires more input than having a travel advisor supplying help and information directly, sustainable transport is currently being promoted in a number of ways so that information should be readily obtainable online or through local authorities, and the benefits of minimising car use are well established. Reducing personal car use saves money and reduces individual carbon emissions, and may also lead to a healthier, more active lifestyle due to increase walking or cycling activity, or a feeling of greater social inclusion through car sharing.
The Department for Transport pilot projects did target urban areas, where services often lie within easier reach of homes, and public transport is more substantial, accessible and reliable than in rural locations. However, the pilot projects found that personal travel plan schemes implemented by the government cost £20-38 per targeted household, but provide a return of £30 per £1 invested over 10 years. As more of these schemes and site-specific travel plans are set up, personal travel plans, whether personally or government induced, will become increasingly easier to implement as access to local services and public transport networks and financial incentives improve accordingly.
[2] http://www.dft.gov.uk/topics/sustainable/travel-plans/
[4] http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/travelplans/tpp/goodpractice-summary.pdf
[5] http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/travelplans/ptp/makingptpwork1summary.pdf
