Who responds to smarter measures? Lessons from the Sustainable Travel Towns in England and Scotland.

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Who responds to smarter measures? Lessons from
the Sustainable Travel Towns in England and
Scotland.

• Dr Jillian Anable The Centre for Transport
  Research, University of Aberdeen
• Lynn Sloman, Carey Newson Transport for Quality
  of Life
• Sally Cairns Transport Research Laboratory
• Phil Goodwin University West of England
• Derek Halden DHC Ltd

• What Works in Behaviour Change? 28 June 2010,
  Victoria Quay, Edinburgh

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What are Smart Choices?

• techniques for influencing travel
• behaviour towards more sustainable
• options
• sometimes called soft measures
• more psychology than engineering
• engage with people about their travel choices
• may involve
• better information about existing travel options
• marketing and communication
• new transport services, closely focussed on
  target market
• carrots and sticks, working together

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How we Get Smarter
Initiative Mechanism
Promotion Promotion
Information and skills PTP, Information/knowledge, Travel Training
Marketing, campaigns and ticketing Targeted publicity and persuasion approaches, Tourist travel management, public transport ticket options, events.
Financial incentives Parking, Public transport, Promotion of tax incentives
Regulatory measures and managing demand Restrictions vehicles, workplace destination parking, intelligent systems
Complementary measures E-substitution, influencing housing and business choices , health education publicity
Provision Provision
Making sustainable choices more attractive Security, lockers, showers, back up in emergencies
More sharing of vehicles Car clubs, Cycle sharing/rental, trip sharing, pool cars/vans
Infrastructure and services Improved cycle routes and networks, public realm upgrading, new interchanges and services
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Questions

1. How effective are smarter choices?
2. Who responds to smarter choices?
3. What are the ingredients that influence
   effectiveness?
4. What are the psychological processes that lead to
   travel behaviour change?
5. How can these processes be tapped more
   effectively?

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Questions

1. How effective are smarter choices?
2. Who responds to smarter choices?
3. What are the ingredients that influence
   effectiveness?
4. What are the psychological processes that lead to
   travel behaviour change?
5. How can these processes be tapped more
   effectively?

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Scepticism about Smarter Measures

• Cherry picked evidence?
• Unscientific monitoring and evaluation?
• Behaviour change is just short term?
• Preaching to the converted?
• Only has an impact on short journeys?
• Widens health inequalities?
• After two large-scale demonstration studies,
  what will we learn?

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Sustainable Travel Towns England
10m from DfT (2004-2009)
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STTs balance of measures (revenue)
Worcester
Darlington
Peterborough
Workplace travel planning
Travel awareness campaigns
Cycling and walking promotion
School travel planning
Personal travel planning
Car club
Public transport info marketing
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Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Scotland
15m from SG (2008-2011)
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• Kirkintilloch/Lenzie
• High street information centre
• Events promoting walking and cycling
• Workplace and school travel planning

• Kirkwall
• Improve walking environment in the town centre
  and Quoybanks
• Maintain strong cycle culture
• Promote bus use including travel training and
  tourist information

• Larbert/Stenhousemuir
• Rebuild bus use
• Encourage walking and cycling for work and
  shopping trips to the town centre
• Improve local cycling facilities

• Dundee
• Market bus use to build on existing high levels
• Reinforce health benefits of cycling through
  work with schools and families
• Make bicycles available through loan schemes

• Barrhead
• New paths in Auchenback and links to Darnley
  Country Park
• Develop local cycle culture
• Improve image of bus travel
• Develop safer routes to schools

• Glasgow East End
• Improvements to three key walking and cycling
  corridors
• Personalised travel planning
• Address local safety concerns

• Dumfries
• Persuade drivers to walk more for short trips
• Improve bus routes and ticketing
• Link existing cycle routes to town centre
• Park and choose schemes

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STTs data sources
Town Data
National Data

• Household travel survey (undertaken 2004 2008,
  4000 people each town each survey)
• Counts of
• Vehicles
• Cyclists
• Pedestrians
• Bus passengers
• School and workplace surveys

• National Travel Survey medium-sized urban areas
• National Road Traffic Estimates
• urban roads

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Household surveys changes in trips
All trips Car driver Car passenger Bus Cycle Walk
-15
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Change in trip numbers per 100 people per day
2004 to 2008 weighted dataset tripslt50km
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Outcomes comparing car travel from surveys with
traffic / car counts
Household surveys
Traffic / car counts
Trips per person Distance per person
National trend -1.2 -0.9
Sustainable Travel Towns -9 -5-7
Darlington -7-10 -6-7
Peterborough -8-10 -710
Worcester -8-10 -3
Inner area Outer area Overall change
-0.5 (car) or -0.7 (all)

-6.7 to -5.3 1.6 to -0.2 -2.4 to -3.2
-7(car) -1(car) -2.4(car)
-8 Growth then fall -1 to -1.8 Growth then fall -1.9 to -2.6
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Questions

1. How effective are smarter choices?
2. Who responds to smarter choices?
3. What are the ingredients that influence
   effectiveness?
4. What are the psychological processes that lead to
   travel behaviour change?
5. How can these processes be tapped more
   effectively?

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Outcomes patterns of demand(travel survey
results)

• Mode shift
• e.g. replacement of trip by car with trip by bus,
  bike or foot
• Destination/mode shift
• e.g. replacement of medium length car trips with
  shorter journeys by bus, bike or foot
• Trip evaporation
• 7 of reduction in car use from a net reduction
  in trips

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Car driver trips and distance variation in
impact according to trip length
Largest behaviour change seen in short trips, but
largest reductions in DISTANCE from medium/ long
distance trips
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Outcomes who changed behaviour?

• men women equally
• most age groups (but 41-45 yrs 61-65 yrs show
  less change)
• People at a transition point most susceptible
• largest reductions college students, job
  seekers, recently retired
• lowest reductions full-time and part-time
  workers and intensive car users (41-45 year olds)

Car driver mode share for full-time workers fell
by 5, but contributed 40 of reduction in car
driver trips
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Which groups contributed most to the change in
car driving?
Proportion of all car driver trips in 2004 change in car driver mode share 2004 to 2008 Contribution to overall change in car use contribution to overall fall in car use
At college 1 -38 -0.3 4
Seeking work 1 -30 -0.4 5
Retired 20 -15 -3.0 39
Home duties 6 -12 -0.7 10
Full-time work 56 -5 -2.8 37
Part-time work 15 -2 -0.3 4
At university 1 20 -- --
Total 100 -7.5 100
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Which journey purposes were most affected?

• Looking at reduction in total car driver distance
  (tripslt50km)
• Leisure trips contribute 45 of savings
• Shopping trips contribute 30
• Work-related business contributes 21
• Effects on most journey purposes, in most
  distance bands
• leisure and shopping largest and most consistent
  effect on car driver mode share and distance
• business and commuter travel substantial effects
  on car driver distance (but effect on
  inconsistent between towns)

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Questions

1. How effective are smarter choices?
2. Who responds to smarter choices?
3. What are the ingredients that influence
   effectiveness?
4. What are the psychological processes that lead to
   travel behaviour change?
5. How can these processes be tapped more
   effectively?

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Ingredient 1 Combination of hard soft

• In the STTs, the largest changes took place
• Where cycle infrastructure was improved
  (Darlington)
• Where bus services were improved
  (Peterborough)
• In Scotland, after the first year of SCSP
  little behaviour change so far as infrastructure
  has not yet been sufficiently improved.

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Ingredient 2 Smarter PLACES (SCSP)

• Need to pay attention to local culture and norms
• Not all initiatives suit all places (e.g.
  individualised marketing, cycling)

I would like to travel by car more often
Smarter Choices, Smarter Places baseline study
(2009)
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Ingredient 3 Segmentation (SCSP)

• Target motivational and hard-to-reach groups

Smarter Choices, Smarter Places baseline study
(2009)
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Ingredient 4 Complementary measures

• Change needs to take place at three levels
• Individual incorporating values, attitudes,
  beliefs, social norms, identity and intentions
• Interpersonal the relationship between
  individuals (trust, social networks)
• Community dynamics of structures and
  institutions (societal norms and culture
  communications and the media)

This requires a multi-pronged attack a
variety of synergistic measures and a
sub-regional approach to foster a diffusion
effect
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Ingredient 5 Less focus on CO2? (SCSP)

• People should be allowed to use their cars as
  much as they like even if it damages the
  environment

Smarter Choices, Smarter Places baseline study
(2009)
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Ingredient 6 A trustworthy messenger

• A clear brand identity
• Remote from local government identity

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Questions

1. How effective are smarter choices?
2. Who responds to smarter choices?
3. What are the ingredients that influence
   effectiveness?
4. What are the psychological processes that lead to
   travel behaviour change?
5. How can these processes be tapped more
   effectively?

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If only it were this simple
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Barriers to behaviour change

• Values
• Efficacy
• Status and identity
• Social norms
• Perceived control
• Affective attitudes
• HABIT
• Choice

Anable, J. et al. (2006) An Evidence Base Review
of Attitudes to Climate Change and Transport. for
the DfT
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Theories of behaviour change
Source Anable, J. Lane, B and Kelay, T. (2006)
An Evidence Base Review of Attitudes to Climate
Change and Transport. Report for the UK
Department for Transport, London.
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Need to change context attitudes

• Two ways of thinking about changing behaviour
• Influencing what people consciously think about
  (at all levels)
• Altering the context in which people act (The
  choice environment)
• need a combination of hard soft

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Questions

1. How effective are smarter choices?
2. Who responds to smarter choices?
3. What are the ingredients that influence
   effectiveness?
4. What are the psychological processes that lead to
   travel behaviour change?
5. How can these processes be tapped more
   effectively?

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Conclusions

• Hard Soft Context Attitudes
• Travel behaviour change means more than just mode
  shift
• Not just short journeys principals of smarter
  choices should be applied to medium distance
  journey lenghts
• We know Smart Measures work, but
• Need panel data is it a few people changing a
  lot or a lot of people changing a little?
• Still dont know who responds in terms of
  attitudes and the psychological processes involved