Individual and environmental approaches to promote alternatives to the car

Individual and environmental approaches to promote alternatives to the car: feasibility, pilot and process evaluation studies on the North –East and the East of England.

Local authorities have limited resources to promote walking, cycling and public transport. Currently, the money used to encourage people to use alternative travel modes to the car comes from existing council budgets, or in the case of new towns through housing developers. Many local authorities promote activities such as walking groups or cycle training schemes and provide information about public transport routes and timetables. Other approaches to promote walking, cycling and public transport use include changing the physical environment, for example, adding bus lanes, or reducing financial obstacles, for example by providing walking and cycling equipment vouchers. Financial incentives such as vouchers, have been used with some success to encourage other health behaviours such as quitting smoking, but these have been rarely studied with respect to travel behaviours, including the promotion of alternatives to the car. More scientific evidence about these are needed to guide policy and practice.

The project comprises three linked studies: (i) surveys and interviews with residents in a new town who receive and don’t receive financial incentives to promote alternatives to the car; (ii) interviews with parents, teachers and children about their experiences of walking and cycling to school and actions that local governments can take could promote it; and (iii) interviews and workshops with people in local authorities who make decisions about policies in transport, education, housing, health and the environment, about the practicalities of introducing policies and making changes to the urban environment to encourage walking, cycling and public transport use.