This report presents the findings from a project entitled `Potential for mode transfer of short trips'. It has been carried out in the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London (UCL) in partnership with Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The overall objective of the work was to contribute to Government policy to encourage the use of the environmentally benign travel modes in order to reduce the amount of travel by private car. The focus was on the encouragement of the use of walking, cycling and public transport (buses in particular). The focus of this work is `short trips'. In this report these are usually taken to be those of less than 5 miles (8 kilometres). A new trip starts when there is a change in the mode of transport or the purpose of travelling. Because the focus of this work is short car trips it was important that these were studied in detail. Hence this definition of a trip which is different from that in the National Travel Survey (NTS) has been adopted. (In NTS, a trip ceases when there is a change of purpose and so may involve travel on more than one mode). This report presents the analysis of in-depth interviews carried out in five areas with 377 people who have made short trips by car. The five areas were London, Leeds, Ipswich, Hereford and Dorset. The analysis focuses on why they used their cars for the trips, whether there are any alternatives to the use of the car, and what they are, and what action would be required to make them choose that alternative. The study has focused on the positive factors which would attract them to the alternatives. It was not part of the brief to estimate what scale of action would be required to make them give up using cars. However, a number of initiatives that will make car use less attractive are going to be introduced, including congestion charging and workplace parking levies. It is going to be important to offer alternatives to the car as part of a package of measures. The research being reported here helps to identify which of the alternatives are likely to be attractive and what is needed to increase their use by car drivers. This work also helps to identify the policy areas where action should be targeted in order to help maximise the potential reductions in car use. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting