Area Travel Plans
Area travel plans cover a particular set of sites that can be linked in order to increase the effectiveness of individual travel plans. They are similar in structure to workplace travel plans but are wider in scope and lack the detail of site specific plans. They are typically used as overarching travel plans for business parks but can be applied to any area such as several offices on one street or an entire town.
Structure and Content
1. Background Information
This chapter should provide an overview of the area covered by the travel plan. It will include information on the various organisations involved as well as any travel planning history in the area.
2. Site Audit and Travel Behaviour
This section provides information to inform the rest of the travel plan. The site audit provides details on the transport network in the area and includes information on:
The road network around and within the area
Walking and cycle routes around and within the area
Public transport services that run through the area
Details on parking in the area such as main car parks or whether there are any on street permit schemes in place
Travel behaviour in a particular area can be ascertained from various sources, the main two being Census travel to work data for local wards and travel survey data from organisations within the area. This information can be gathered together to provide an overview of travel behaviour in the area and so provide a baseline for the travel plan to build on.
3. Aims and objectives
As with individual travel plans there should be overall aims and objectives for the area wide travel plan. These will be similar to those that are designed for site specific plans (and should, if there are existing travel plans in the area, tie in with those plans). Therefore an example aim for the area travel plan will be:
A reduction in the percentage of single occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips in the area
Some objectives will be area specific, however some will be generic statements such as:
Improve the local environment
Increase the number of staff using active forms of transport
Improve road safety
There are two types of target that can be set for a travel plan. The first is known as an ‘aim-type’ target and is generally based on the percentage share of each travel mode used as ascertained through staff surveys and are measured over a specified time frame. An example target of this type would be:
x% reduction in single occupancy car use over y years
These targets can be applied to each main mode of transport and as stated above can be informed by the results of the staff surveys. By way of guidance most travel plans aim for a 10-15% reduction in single occupancy car use over three to five years.
The other type of target that is set is the ‘action-type’ target which sets a deadline for a certain action to have taken place. An example would be:
Install x number of cycle racks by date y
In area travel plans aim-type targets can be set as an overall ambition for the plan. Action-type targets can also be set although these will typically be broader in scope and may apply to area-wide measures rather than site-specific initiatives.
This section of the travel plan concerns the various incentives and initiatives that can be employed to achieve the targets set in the previous section. The measures that are implemented will depend on various factors including the results of the survey, the size of the area, site audits and the amount of funding available. Travel plan measures are typically arranged by mode and as stated above the area travel plan measures will be broader than individual site’s initiatives and incentives. Typical area travel plan measures include:
Information and business networks
Staff surveys across the area
Set up a steering group of businesses
Improve the local pedestrian infrastructure (lighting, signage, new routes)
Healthy walks initiatives
Bike Doctor sessions
Improvements to cycling infrastructure (lighting, signage, new routes)
Additional cycle parking
Cycle training sessions
Improvements to bus stops
Provision of information at workplaces
Improve public transport-related signage
Personalised journey planning service
6. Monitoring Strategy and Management Structure
The travel plan also requires a monitoring strategy that sets out to record the overall success of the travel plan as well as how effective individual measures have been. The monitoring should include:
Regular staff surveys at intervals of around 2 years. To aid comparison the surveys should be as similar to the initial survey as possible. The main question will again be regarding the main mode of transport to the sites and the results can be used to judge the success of the plan against the targets already set
A record of the success of some of the initiatives in the travel plan (where quantifiable)
Other measurable qualities such as trip rates or levels of congestion, number of people registered to the car share scheme or take up of cycle parking
Area travel plans should have a Travel Plan Co-ordinator (TPC) who has the overall responsibility for its implementation. Depending on the size of the site the amount of time dedicated to the travel plan will vary. See below for a summary of the TPC’s responsibilities.
7. Action Plan
The action plan is a summary of how the travel plan will be implemented and monitored. An action plan typically lists the measures that are due to be implemented along with details on who is responsible, when they are to be undertaken, how the success will be gauged and which aims and objectives they relate to. An example set of headings for an action plan table is:
|Objective||Action||Priority Level||Date Due||Responsibility||Target|