1. Smarter Choices – changing travel behaviour through soft policies Dr Sally Cairns Senior Research Fellow TRL and UCL Email: scairns@trl.co.uk ECOMM 2005: 27 th -28 th October 2005, Parma, Italy

2. Measures assessed Travel plans Workplace travel plans School travel plans Information and marketing Personalised travel planning Public transport information and marketing Travel awareness campaigns More efficient use of cars Car clubs Car sharing schemes Tele options Teleworking Teleconferencing Home shopping

3. Study details Research for the UK Department for Transport, 2003-2004 Study team: Sally Cairns Lynn Sloman Carey Newson Jillian Anable Alistair Kirkbride Phil Goodwin Main report published in conjunction with the 2004 UK White Paper on The Future of Transport

4. Background 7 previous UK assessments of the potential impact of such measures Wide range of results, with both optimistic and pessimistic conclusions Rapidly developing evidence base

5. Methodology Worldwide literature review 24 case studies of current local authority practice Looked at effectiveness and cost of current schemes, and their potential scale in 10 years time Two scenarios: low intensity and high intensity High intensity scenario: assumed a step-change in activity and resources, but within the limits of what would be practically achievable

6. Results of high intensity scenario: Potential traffic reduction in 10 years Findings consistent with re-interpretation of previous studies

7. Costs and benefits For every 1000 vehicle kilometres removed: Average cost = £15 Average benefit = £150 (for congestion relief alone) Benefit : cost ratio is at least 10:1 Higher ratios (up to 30:1) in congested city streets

8. BUT…. Benefits will only be realised if traffic reduction is locked in with restraint measures

9. Example: Workplace travel plans a package of measures that an organisation puts in place to encourage and enable staff to travel more sustainably Support for: walking cycling public transport car sharing local recruitment / relocation teleworking Car park management

10. Reductions in car driver trips to work Typical reductions: 10-25%

11. Local authority role in workplace travel plans Having advisers who work with businesses Using the planning processes Offering grants or other incentives Having a plan for their own staff Local authorities have promoted workplace travel plans by:

12. Scale of workplace travel planning Future scale: two urban areas estimated 40-50%; one rural area estimated 15%.

13. What happens next? Research has shown the cost-effectiveness of individual Smarter Choice measures …But they will only deliver major cuts in traffic if they become mainstream The next stage: large-scale local Smarter Choice Programmes Now being developed in London, and in three Sustainable Travel Towns - Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester.

14. What an intensive Smarter Choices Programme might involve Workplace travel plan team who also consider car-sharing, telework, teleconferencing over 10 years, reach half the workforce target larger employers first School travel plan team over 10 years, cover every school Personalised travel planning over 10 years, reach a third of households target 5-10,000 people per year Smarter Choices Programme

15. Marketing of bus and rail increase ridership by 2-3% per year Over-arching travel awareness campaign Innovative projects: car clubs, home shopping (prepare for next phase) Smarter Choices Programme

16. Cost of an intensive Smarter Choices Programme Step-change in priority / resources Annual revenue spend ~ 8 per person to achieve high intensity scenario Capital funding needed too e.g. safer crossings near schools, cycle route networks etc. Smarter Choices Programme

17. Conclusions Smarter choice measures could reduce traffic by up to 21% in urban peak areas if they are given more priority if the benefits are locked in with demand restraint measures Such measures are relatively cheap £15 to remove 1000 vehicle kilometres Benefit: cost ratios better than 10:1 Local authorities have a critical role to play To achieve their potential, smarter choice measures need to be given more priority at national and local level

18. For the study reports, go to: www.dft.gov.uk then Sustainable travel then Smarter choices