16 Transport Planning in a Wider Context Transport systems are often resource hungry (i.e. they need a lot of financial and human resources), so expenditure on transport, whether coming from the public or private sector, can be critical to the economic wellbeing of the country. The Demand for Travel As we have already discussed, transport in most cases is a derived demand. This means that other changes or policies can have an immediate and long lasting effect on the demand for travel.

Transport Strategy, Policy and Plans A strategy identifies the current situation (the baseline), the future desired state and objectives (what you are seeking to achieve), and then starts to identify how the future situation will be reached (through the adoption of specific policies or actions). This may also be presented alongside a vision, which attempts to give a descriptive picture of what the future situation will be like. Where possible the stated objectives should be expressed in a SMART way (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Based).

The accessibility planning process has four generic stages, which can be adapted to suit local circumstances: An accessibility audit to identify barriers to accessibility using socio-demographic information, data on deprivation, and car availability in relation to public transport routes and the location of services. A resource audit is to identify the financial and other resources available for tackling these barriers and to assess whether they could be used more effectively. An action plan of agreed initiatives including initiatives to improve physical accessibility and availability, travel advice and information, safer streets and stations and reducing the need to travel and making travel more affordable. Monitoring of local accessibility indicators to establish progress in improving accessibility.

The most important aspect is choosing that which is most relevant to our operation. Data is split into two broad areas, primary and secondary. Primary Data is that which we collect ourselves for a particular purpose. Examples of primary data would be surveys of potential customers. Secondary data is that which is collected by someone else, but we may be able to use it for our planning process. Examples of secondary data would be government statistics or local census information.

49 The Transport Planning Process - Problem Definition – The first stage in the process is to define the problems that exist and define the objectives for the future scenario. This may relate to problems with congestion or some other traffic related issue such as poor air quality or the need to improve accessibility to a certain. SMART.

Options for Change The KONSULT (Knowledge on Sustainable Land Use and Transport) database, developed by Leeds University in the UK is a valuable tool in describing many of these measures and divides them into a number of themes. Increase Provision, Improve Efficiency, Reduce Demand against land use measures Attitudinal and Behavioral Measures, Additional Infrastructure Measures, Management of Existing Infrastructure, Information Provision and Pricing.

The ‘Traditional’ Four Stage Transport model - Trip Generation – The number of trips to and from an identified zone for all journey purposes. Trip Distribution – The allocation of the trips between pairs of zones (resulting in an Origin-Destination (or OD) Matrix) Modal Split – Quantifies the number of trips by each mode (total trips divided between available modes – normally expressed as a percentage) Trip Assignment – This stage allocates the trips to the route network either by road, rail or walk route, according to the modal split and the most advantageous route.

Evaluation Methods CBA, MCA Multi Criteria Analysis and The 'New Approach To Appraisal' (NATA) is the mechanism by which many new transport projects are assessed. The government originally introduced NATA in 1998, in order to look at road schemes, but is now used for many other projects under various criteria in order to: Choose between different options for solving the same problem, Priorities between proposals and Assess value for money

70 Modal Choice Habits can also form, and it is often common for individuals or companies to retain the same travel and transportation habits over a long period of time, until something forces them to change. For an individual traveler this could be the closure of a particular road, or a change to a bus service making them consider and choose an alternative. For a company it could be that their current freight

provider goes out of business, increases their charges or moves away from the area, that forces a change.

The process of Influencing Travel Behavior (ITB) attempts to bring these decisions to the front of people’s minds, and provides more information to enable them to make fully informed choices. Unconstrained Choice The UK Highways Agency, who are responsible for managing the Strategic Highway Network, summaries the effects of unconstrained growth11 in traffic as being; the costs to society and businesses of congestion; delays and unreliable journey times; increases in road accidents leading to casualties and delays; more pollution caused by emissions from vehicles, affecting health and quality of life and contributing to global warming; noise; negative effects on sensitive sites and areas; and poorer health as people do less exercise by relying more on the car.

77 Describing the Elements of Travel Planning Although there will be some form of documentary record of the Travel Plan, Travel Planning should not be seen simply as a document, it is more a process, which should remain live until the expected outcomes are achieved and can be run as a structured project using project management principles and resources. Corporate Support – If implemented through an organization, having support at a corporate level makes it far easier to achieve success. Travel Plan Coordinator – This is a crucial role to co-ordinate all the tasks required in formulating and delivering the plan. Baseline data – The starting point for many plans is to quantify the current situation. Travel Plan Documentation – Clearly in order to engage staff, customers and visitors (and anyone else to whom the plan may apply) some form of documentation will be required. Measures (actions to be taken) – This is the ‘meat’ of the plan and where careful consideration should be given. Monitoring and Targets – Monitoring of the plan is critical, otherwise how will you know whether it has had the intended effect?

81 The Travel Plan process A Travel Plan is a package of measures produced to encourage staff or other individuals such as students to change behaviors in order to reduce the number of non-essential trips, and where trips must be made, to encourage the use of sustainable modes of travel. Such a plan for example, could include: car sharing schemes; a commitment to improve cycling facilities; a dedicated bus service or restricted car parking allocations. It might also promote flexible-working practices such as remote access and video conferencing.

92 In terms of a definition of the broad division of organizations, the public sector is considered to be those organizations that work within or alongside the governmental structure, including regional and local government, and local councils, normally not operating for profit and funded from public finances (taxation, etc.). The private sector includes all public and private limited companies, partnership arrangements or sole traders operating businesses for profit.

95 The ways the public sector will use their planning role to become involved in the provision and operation of transport fall into four main areas:

Legislation – The legal structure within which the industry must operate, including specific legislation such as Vehicle Construction & Use Regulations, Traffic Law and Drivers Hours, and non-transport specific legislation such as Health and Safety or Financial Regulations. Policy and Strategy – The direction that Government or Local Authorities may wish to take, or may have imposed from European level including Transport, Land Use and Environmental Policies seeking to influence delivery. Infrastructure – The provision of infrastructure and the subsequent conditions of use which can shape the way networks develop. This has a direct influence on the network and the facilities that support it such as interchanges, highways and signage or parking facilities. (Provision & Operation) Financial or Fiscal – Subsidies or financial incentives to either support non-profitable operations, influence the way projects are delivered or provide startup funding for higher risk projects.