TRANSPORT & TRAVEL MANAGEMENT
A new integrated package of transport improvements and personalised travel tools aims to encourage people in York out of their cars and onto bikes, public transport, and other more sustainable forms of transport. PSE talks to Graham Titchener, programme manager for the i-Travel scheme, transport leader Cllr Dave Merrett, and head of York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Susie Cawood.
T
he City of York has secured £4.65m from the DfT’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) for its i-Travel programme to improve transport and cut congestion in the city.
The core of the new programme is not about digging up the streets or buying fl eets of new buses, but rather attempting to shift people’s behaviour in more subtle ways: through web tools, better marketing of the variety of transport methods available to get into and around the city, and journey planning advice.
The city already has some enviable sustainable transport credentials: a very successful park and ride scheme and a big jump in cycling during and since the 2008- 2011 ‘Cycling City York’ initiative, from about 10% of the population cycling to a fi gure now in the mid-20%s, according to Graham Titchener, who led both that initiative and now this new one. DfT fi gures suggest that York is highly-placed in the cycling ‘league table’, behind only London, Oxford and Cambridge.
Titchener, a former civil servant at a number of central government departments, told PSE he agreed with the DfT emphasis on revenue over capital spending in Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) bids. York’s breaks down to about 54% revenue to 46% capital, he said.
“A lot of the revenue spending is around education awareness, promotion and marketing, but also creating opportunities for people to use these tools to make that modal choice, through general and direct targeting of groups and the general public.
“We’re using a combination of tactics, such as personalised travel planning and marketing communications.”
Bus route maps and cycling maps will be coming through people’s doors, and a new website has been launched with simple travel information, advice and journey planning.
While the site heavily promotes walking, 54 | public sector executive Sep/Oct 12
cycling, and buses, it is not anti-car as such: instead, it emphasises using cars more sustainably, for example through car sharing with friends or colleagues, or switching to a greener car – especially an electric one. It also suggests that car users consider one of the city’s park and ride schemes.
A hectoring approach tends not to work, Titchener said. “People don’t want to be told what to do and nor should they: it’s about informed personal choice. We’re saying, look, we’ve got a problem – here’s the stats – and at the end of the day, it’s a two-way street. The council are saying the same thing, businesses are saying the same thing, the public are saying the same thing. There’s an awful lot of the population already cycling, walking, using the bus, so it’s about developing that culture.”
Cllr Dave Merrett, who is York’s cabinet member for transport and sustainability, told PSE: “York’s an historic city with a very constrained network with high levels of congestion that is deteriorating in quality, so it’s absolutely vital that we fi nd better ways for people to get around. We’re working very hard to persuade people, through this travel initiative, to do more of their journeys by the green modes – walking, cycling, and/or public transport where they can, in order to tackle that problem.”
Titchener said: “We will help with information, create the opportunities, the tools, and the infrastructure – but then the personal choice, it’s down to the public. That could well be the car, that’s fi ne, but then there’s ways of driving more effi ciently, or choosing lower emission vehicles. This will be targeted at the major employers within York, as well as schools.”
Clearly policies to get people out of their cars and reduce congestion can have unintended consequences – for example, making the car a more attractive proposition for people currently not using it. Similarly, promoting cycling and walking is all well and good, but if it’s bus users rather than car users who make the switch, it all becomes more tenuous.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76