Many people are cynical about the potential impacts that travel planning can have in reducing travel by car and increasing mode shift to sustainable transport. Evidence shows that personalised travel planning is a method which achieves real modal shift! It encourages people to use sustainable travel modes for some or all of their journeys, and to reduce the need to travel, through direct liaison with individuals. It is well known that people react better to personal contact than general marketing initiatives. There are a growing number of successful personalised travel planning schemes across Europe and elsewhere, which have resulted in significant levels of mode shift. Successful schemes target specific groups of people who are more likely to be responsive to making changes in their travel behaviour. Concentrating on these groups, surveys are carried out to find out their current travel behaviour and the type of journeys made, and this information is then tied in to the provision of a tailored package of information and incentives to encourage the trial of more sustainable transport modes. Usually, some kind of individual contact will be made with the intended participants in the scheme. This paper aims to focus on both the positive andnegative outcomes from the comprehensive review of the regional Personalised Travel Planning pilot schemes carried out across Wales. This detailed appraisal was carried out by Halcrow in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) who commissioned and funded the 5 pilot studies, each costing £50,000. The paper will also outline comparisons between the Welsh projects and other personalised travel planning schemes in the UK and abroad. As a result of the appraisal, the paper will conclude with a series ofbest practice examples and recommendations for conducting future schemes across Wales. It is important that the analysis and appraisal from the Wales schemes is shared, as the recommended outcomes are equally applicable to other countries and can therefore be used to encourage other successful schemes. In particular the paper will look at the following: The Welsh Pilot Studies - outlining the positive and negative aspects of each pilot scheme through assessing their suitability, methodology and evaluating their success; Comparisons With Other Personalised Travel Planning Schemes - comparing the Welsh personalised travel planning experience to that of other countries. Successful Personalised Travel Planning - outlining pre-requisites for successful personalised travel planning schemes. Recommendations: Key factors for success including value for money, methodology and monitoring methods of personalised travel planning schemes, for various land use sectors. Personalised Travel Planning: The Future - including thoughts about how personalised travel planning can hold the answer to future mode shift, in line with the emerging Welsh and European transport guidance, targets and aspirations. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135582.
Abstract