An Audit of Travel Plans and Smarter Choice Implementation in the North West

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An Audit of Travel Plans and Smarter Choice
Implementation in the North West

• Alec Curley
• Regional Transport Officer
• 4NW, Wigan, WN3 5BA
• Direct Line 01942 776939
• E-mail alec.curley_at_4nw.org.uk

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Climate Change Action Plan

• Launched in November 2006
• Aims to stimulate and measure the progress of the
  region towards a low carbon economy
• Centres on the ability of regional organisations
  to enable, encourage and enable individuals,
  groups, communities, partnerships and businesses
  in the move towards a low-carbon economy
• Actions are restricted to those priorities that
  can be taken at the regional level
• 27 actions in total
• Developed in partnership with a wide range of
  regional organisations
• Reviewed every 3 years

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Action 5

• Overall aim
• Promote best practice in personal and workplace
  travel planning to enable individuals and
  organisations to reduce their reliance on private
  cars and to make more sustainable travel
  decisions

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Action 5

• 180,000 allocated to the action over a 3 year
  period
• 60,000 to be spent each year
• Creation of the RTAG Climate Change Sub-Group to
  manage the action
• Progress reported quarterly to Climate Change
  Partnership, Regional Transport Group and 4NWs
  Leaders Forum

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Activities for 2008/2009

• Total of 61,000 spent during 2008/2009
• 6000 allocated to paying for Travel Plan
  Officers at the 23 Highway Authorities to become
  members of ACT Travel Wise
• 55,000 allocated to consultants to undertake an
  audit of Travel Plans and Smarter Choice
  Implementation for the North West of England

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Activities for 2008/2009

• Atkins appointed in March 2008
• 4 stage approach to study
• Undertake a baseline study to determine the
  current level of travel planning and smarter
  choices in the NW
• Examine how travel plans and smarter choices fit
  into the 198 National Indicators
• Formulate a database and method for collecting
  specific measures being undertaken by
  stakeholders in the NW to address climate change
  through transport measures
• Provide assumptions on how travel plans and
  smarter choice activities could possibly be
  improved

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Geoff Gardner

• Establishing Action Guiding Improvements

8th June 2009
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The Region As varied as England itself.
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The North West Climate Change Action Plan had
some transport indicators
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DfT Review of Smarter Choices suggests what
could be done ..
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However, the approach to Smarter Choices is not
as holistic as the Opposition
School travel plan
Work Travel Plan
Cycle Training
Individualised Marketing
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For example the influences of policies such as
parental choice to a good school (in blue) will
counteract any improvements from a school travel
plan.
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And promotion will not help this boy get to
school because the estate where he lives is all
dead ends.
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There are a wide range of measures and we could
categorise them in various ways such as ..
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Our Psychologists suggest this as the most
effective model of change
AB Attitude/inclination/niceties
SN Subjective Norm/Obligation/Needs
PBC control/opportunity/network
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So categorisation could follow the pattern of
human behaviour change ..
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Needs
Networks
Niceties
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A structured approach to appraisal is needed that
recognises regional differences and works towards
critical friend support to issues identified
during self-evaluation
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Data Collection Typical Responses

• the car share website has been able to save
  1,226,453 miles or 233 tonnes of C02.
• The Travel Plan programme has so far reduced
  single occupancy car use by 4.3
• we have helped six major employers in the
  borough achieve a travel plan along with the
  councils own which includes bike sheds

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So the CO2 estimation procedure needs to allow
for Option A
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Option B Partial Info
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This was the most common form of data available.
Most authorities could tell us how many measures
they had, how many people they affect and how
intensively there were applied.
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Option D Hardly Anything
So the approach is to collect the data alongside
a measure of its validity this year with a view
to increasing its level of worth year on year (so
will accept Option D estimates this year but will
aim to turn them into at least category C
estimates by next year)
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Carbon Estimate Tool Data Collection

• The most important pieces of information we need
  in order to get an estimate of what is going on
  and what might be the impact on CO2 are
• Type of Scheme
• How many people does it affect
• How Intensively it is being applied
• How Urban or Rural is it

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Data collected for each boro with separate tab on
a spreadsheet for each
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Carbon Estimate Tool

• We can use latest research on the potential of
  measures to reduce car-Kms to derive an estimate
  of the CO2 saving potential. All of the estimates
  for each measure are kept in a central CO2
  estimates repository. This source is updated as
  new research comes along and as experience from
  other Atkins projects feeds in.
• This is then manipulated to allow analysis by
  area, or by type of measure. A graphic user
  interface has been prepared to display this and
  to encourage authorities to make use of it
  themselves.

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Putting it into Context

• Hence we have estimate of CO2. We also know what
  Smarter Choices measures are in place in each
  authority
• But is there a holistic approach ? What else
  should be done ? Research suggests that there are
  corporate organisational issues that are
  affecting the potential reduction in CO2 more
  than the achievements of individual measures.
• Atkins management consultants advised on the
  issues to be examined (see next slide). If an
  assessment methodology could be defined to
  investigate this then this could contribute
  towards improving the overall approach. One
  possible model is the National Indicator NI188
  which establishes a stage of readiness to deal
  with climate change. We could create a local
  indicator (LI188?) to provide a stage of
  readiness for reducing carbon from transport.

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Linking this structure to an inspection framework
could help assess and improve
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Geoff.Gardner_at_atkinsglobal.com
8th June 2009

• SUMMARY
• Tool now exists to estimate CO2 from sustainable
  transport measures
• The structure is ready to adapt to more
  information on more schemes (eg eco-driving) as
  data comes in
• A process is being developed for evaluating the
  approach and not just the outcome. This could be
  developed as a Local Indicator (similar to NI188)

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WORKSHOP
1. WHAT do we need to do in order to reduce
carbon from transport in the North West? 2. WHO
do we need to help us, or to change or to get on
board ? 3. HOW can we go about actually
achieving this?