Walking, cycling and public transport use has rocketed in Inverness after local school pupils urged family and friends to take advantage of an innovative sustainable travel project.
Some 1,500 homes in East Inverness were offered tailored help to travel more actively as part of Scotland's first TravelSmart Individualised Travel Marketing (ITM) project, led by Sustrans, the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Sustrans and its partner organisation Socialdata, with support from The Highland Council, worked with Junior Road Safety Officers from four local primary schools. These volunteer pupils wrote to households in their catchments asking them to reduce their car use and travel more by bike, on foot and by public transport. TravelSmart advisors then followed up with phone calls offering personalised sustainable travel information packs, rewards and incentives. Contact was made with 94 per cent of households in the target area, leading to significant changes in travel behaviour.
A detailed evaluation showed that the TravelSmart ITM campaign achieved substantial increases in walking (up by 22 per cent), cycling (up by 27 per cent) and use of public transport (up by 11 per cent). At the same time there were relative reductions in car trips of 13 per cent, and in car distances travelled for day-to-day trips of 7 per cent (a net saving of 0.9 million car km per year among the target population). The shift from car travel to walking, cycling and public transport also resulted in a 14 per cent increase in average daily exposure to physically active forms of travel.
Last week lead officers from Scottish Government and local authorities attended a masterclass with sustainable travel practitioners to inform the 'Smarter Places, Smarter Choices' programme of Scottish sustainable travel communities. James Ryle, Sustrans' Director of Projects and Innovation, presented results of the East Inverness TravelSmart project to share its success and the lessons learned from the work.
Sustrans' Scotland Director John Lauder explains the significance of the Inverness work: "This TravelSmart project was a milestone for Sustrans, as it was the first of its kind in Scotland. It was also the first TravelSmart project with such close involvement from schools. We are indebted to Ailsa Villegas and Lisa MacKellaich of The Highland Council Road Safety Department who coordinated school contributions, and to the pupils and their teachers who worked so hard to achieve these results. Having artwork from pupils to illustrate the local sustainable travel maps and other materials was a great way to make the project more engaging for local people, and the success in reducing car use and promoting active travel is testament to the value of this type of partnership."
The East Inverness TravelSmart project was managed by Sustrans, Socialdata and The Highland Council. The ITM campaign and evaluation were designed and implemented by Sustrans and Socialdata, as part of a national school travel programme managed by Sustrans and funded by Scottish Government Tackling the School Run funding. In addition, in-kind contributions were provided by The Highland Council towards the development and supply of marketing materials and in staff time to support the project.
Source: Sustrans
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East Inverness school pupils help their community to TravelSmart
New research shows it is possible to leave our cars at home more often
An in-depth survey of travel behaviour in two English towns and one city has revealed the huge potential for reducing car traffic and tackling congestion through relatively small and simple changes to people’s daily travel patterns. The research, conducted by Socialdata in collaboration with Sustrans, the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity, shows that walking, cycling or public transport provide practical alternatives for up to 54 per cent of local car trips.
Over four thousand people in Lowestoft, Watford and Exeter were surveyed and the results provide a snapshot of how people travel and, importantly, the changes that are possible to improve the quality of life for everyone.
In a typical week residents of these places spend an average of one hour every day travelling and average daily travel distance is around 14 miles. The greatest proportion of trips are made for leisure reasons, with shopping and work each accounting for around one in five trips and one in ten trips are for school or educational reasons.
Nearly 25 per cent of all trips are made on foot, just over three per cent by bike and eight per cent by public transport. Almost two thirds of trips are in a car, with 43 per cent as a driver and 21 per cent as a passenger.
But, while the evidence suggests an ongoing reliance on the car, Sustrans’ researchers discovered that nearly all residents are unhappy with this trend – 87 per cent of residents think that car traffic has increased over the past few years and the overwhelming majority judged this negatively. At the same time, there is massive support for alternatives such as walking, cycling and public transport, with nine out of ten people considering sustainable transport to be a priority for planners and policy makers.
The vast majority of car trips are within the town or city and of these around 40 per cent are under two miles, a distance that could easily be travelled by most people on foot or by bike. When you add to this the fact that nearly a half of all car trips (48 per cent) could be replaced by walking, cycling or public transport without the need for any improvements to transport infrastructure, the research concludes that there is a real opportunity to make a significant change.
Sustrans’ TravelSmart Project Manager Rob Wall explains the significance of the work: “The information reveals the enormous potential for people to occasionally leave their car at home and use alternative transport. This has very clear benefits - if everyone replaced just one return car journey per week with another way of travelling traffic would be reduced by more than 10% and people would be on the way to taking their recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five times a week. This research challenges the notion that people are unable to make changes. We look forward to working with councils in these areas to see these results turned into the positive action that will make a real difference to people’s lives.”
The project is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Wellbeing Programme as part of a consortium of leading walking, cycling and health organisations.
Source: Sustrans
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