Highways Agency
Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers
Encouraging Travel Change - Working Together on Road to Rail Campaigns
Contents
Background to the Campaigns
- Many people think they use their car too often
- Many people are concerned about traffic pollution
- Many people would like an alternative
- Many people would like.... a change
The Highways Agency is keen to work with local authorities and transport operators to develop campaigns to encourage a switch from road to rail. This leaflet summarises the lessons which have been learnt from three pilot campaigns promoted by the Highways Agency last year, both in terms of their effectiveness and also their planning and implementation. Working together on a campaign can bring added value to each organisation's efforts to achieve change. Reading this leaflet is a start . . .
Background to the Campaigns
The 'travel campaign' developed in the last decade by local authorities is already recognised as a valuable way of raising the public's awareness of alternatives to the car and challenging existing patterns of behaviour. Building on this experience, the Highways Agency recently developed a series of pilot projects as part of a longer term strategy to encourage travellers to consider use of other modes as an alternative to the car.
With ever rising traffic congestion and increasing concern over its effects on the environment, it is in everyone's interest to promote alternatives to the car. To some extent this is already happening, rail use is now at levels not reached since 1965 when the network was considerably bigger and car ownership was only a third of what it is today. New investment in faster, more frequent and reliable public transport services have played an important part in delivering this growth in rail travel (and will continue to do so) but ultimately increased rail use depends on individuals choosing to do something different - a change in behaviour.
The Pilot Studies
As well as being useful in terms of their impact on car use the campaigns, held during summer 1998, were also designed to provide experience of how to develop and improve the methods used in previous travel campaigns, and explore the difficulties and benefits of different transport organisations working together. This leaflet gives details of some of these wider results.
The pilots were conducted in three very different travel corridors, deliberately chosen to investigate the effectiveness of campaigns under different conditions and with different objectives.
Corridor 1 - the A12 from Chelmsford to London
An important commuter route where the main rail route to Ipswich closely parallels the trunk road . The campaign, run in partnership with First Great Eastern, encouraged a switch to rail at peak times.
Corridor 2 - the A47 from Norwich to Yarmouth
A route with potential to switch both leisure and commuter trips to the parallel rail and high quality bus routes using special ticketing offers promoted by the operators Anglia Railways and First Eastern National.
Corridor 3 - A696/A1, North West Tyneside to Newcastle
An urban corridor with potential to increase park & ride at two stations on the existing metro. The pilot study was conducted in partnership with Nexus.
Objectives of the Pilots
The core objectives of the pilot campaigns were to:
- evaluate the impact of a 'soft' approach to behavioural change using advertising;
- improve understanding of behavioural barriers acting as a constraint to road to rail transfers;
- identify successful elements of the campaign so that the design of future campaigns is improved;
- investigate the institutional issues that arise from a campaign partnership between HA, train operators and local authorities.
Cost of the Campaigns
The costs of the campaigns, which were split equally between the HA and the public transport operators, were principally dependant on the type and coverage of the media purchased. The approximate costs were:
- Corridor 1 £100,000
- Corridor 2 £40,000
- Corridor 3 £20,000
Results of the Campaigns
Impacts in the Chelmsford to London A12 Corridor
- 6% of people who recalled receiving the leaflet said that travel behaviour had been changed as a result of the campaign. Car user behaviour had changed in the following ways:
| Change to car users behaviour | % |
|---|---|
| Now catch train instead of drive | 11 |
| Now use bus to station | 39 |
| Now cycle to station | 11 |
| Now walk to station | 28 |
| Now make less journeys | 11 |
| 100 |
- Ticket sales rose 16% more in Chelmsford compared to the rest of GER mainline services.
- Greatest impact was on mode of access to the station, changing it from car to bus, walk or cycle.
- Rail ticket data showed a substantial rise in the sale of weekly season tickets, up 31% on the year before.
Impacts in the Norwich to Yarmouth A47 Corridor
A 'kids travel free' offer attracted over 500 users and 'Two weeks for the price of one' 50 users.
- Anglia Railways viewed the campaign as a success and a major factor in influencing decisions to change the frequency of Saturday rail services in the corridor.
- They are now seeking further improvements through partnerships with local authorities and other organisations.
- The savings from the special offer were the prime motive for the change in behaviour, the survey indicating that 20% of those travelling had changed their proposed mode of travel as a result of the offer. 15% stated they would be inclined to use the train more often in the future.
Impacts in the Callerton to Newcastle A696/A1 Corridor
- Park & ride utilisation increased significantly during the campaign period.
- The increase was maintained after the end of the free offer.
| Average daily car park occupancy at Metro Stations | |
|---|---|
| Kingston Park (capacity: 97) |
Callerton Parkway (capacity: 198) |
| Before Promotion 32 |
99 |
| During Promotion 41 (+28%) |
110 (+11%) |
| After Promotion 46 (+44%) |
117 (+18%) |
Planning a Campaign
A road-to-rail campaign has similarities to other transportation projects in its evolution from scheme identification to implementation. Key issues are deciding who to involve and the 'who, what, where and how' of the actual campaign. The timescale and organisation required to run a campaign need to be realistically assessed. Working together with different organisations can bring new perspectives to the campaign and open up new opportunities.
| 1 | Corridor Selection & Preliminary Design | 3-4 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Consultation with interested parties | 4-5 weeks |
| Train Operating Companies | ||
| Bus Operating Companies | ||
| Passenger Transport Executives | ||
| Local Authorities | ||
| 3 | Detailed Campaign Design | 4-6 weeks |
| 4 | Purchase of Campaign Media | 6-8 weeks |
| 5 | Campaign Launch | 8-10 weeks |
| 6 | Campaign Implementation | 10-18 weeks |
| 7 | Monitoring of Impacts | 12+ weeks |
Getting the Message Across
Attractive and quality publicity material are an important part of a successful campaign. The road-to-rail campaign material typically comprised:
- publicity and information leaflets
- posters
- newspaper adverts
- radio advertising
- a celebrity/VIP launch
- television coverage
- special offers and ticket discounts.
The Impact on Travel Behaviour
The measurable impact of the campaign on travel choice is an important measure of its effectiveness but it should be remembered that a multitude of factors act together to influence which mode people use. Campaigns are most likely to provide the final impetus to encourage those marginal car users who were already giving serious consideration to using rail. Thus the short term response to campaigns may appear small. A campaign will affect the awareness, attitudes and perceptions of individuals in different ways depending on their 'readiness to change'.
Campaigns can focus on those people who are, for various reasons, ready to change their behaviour. Targeted campaigns can encourage people with a viable rail alternative to make the switch. Additional 'hidden' impacts are likely by encouraging recent and long term train users not to revert to car use for their journey.
Tackling Barriers to Change
Focus group research during campaigns helped explore the underlying attitudes of regular car drivers. For those users where rail gives a 'reasonable' alternative the choice of the car appears to be significantly influenced by the:
- perceived high costs of train relative to car;
- uncertainty about the interchange and the integration with bus services;
- uncertainty regarding parking locations and space;
- unreliability of feeder buses
Although poor services may be a problem which needs to be addressed, the issues of false perception was highlighted. A major value of a campaign is the scope to change perception through the provision of better information. In some cases this may be all that is necessary to achieve modal change.
Feedback on the Campaigns
A major part of the focus group research was concerned with awareness of, and attitudes to, the campaign strategy and content. The results are particularly useful in the design of future campaigns. Participants expressed numerous suggestions on how the campaign material could have been made more effective, including the need for:
- clear information on costs and discounts;
- improved clarity of the leaflets;
- provision of integrated ticketing; and
- use of positive rather than negative images.
Working Together
- The pilot campaigns were particularly valuable in testing and developing institutional relationships between the HA and other transport authorities and operators.
- All three campaign partnerships were formed relatively quickly thus enabling campaigns to be launched within relatively short timescale.
- Train operators welcomed the support of the HA which brought added insights and knowledge with regard to the car travel market;
- The ability to extend traditional marketing strategies by accessing the HA's specialist knowledge, showed that the HA can 'add value' and lend additional credibility to campaigns. The use of roadside posters to target car users is one such example.
What Have We Learnt?
- The three pilots confirmed that campaigns have an important role to play in highlighting the unsustainability of the current transport system. Soft approaches to behavioural change are a vital ingredient of the package of measures required to encourage more appropriate use of the car.
- Effective marketing of the alternatives to the car helps break down one of the key barriers to change -lack of information;
- Good communication is achieved with a simple message repeated through a wide range of different media.
- Campaigns require consultation and research at the design stage. This ensures that the appropriate message is relayed in the most effective manner given the timescale and budget.
- The most effective media is the most expensive and has the longest lead-time. Large poster sites, bus-stop, radio and TV advertising, all require lengthy advance planning.
- Good public relations, through which substantial media coverage can be achieved at low cost, are vital.
- Campaigns help build partnerships and emphasise the willingness of other different bodies to work together to improve integration of the transport system.
Interested in learning more?
If you want to know more about the way you might mount a campaign in your area, you can obtain advice from any of the following:
Malcolm Cook,
Project Services Toolkit,
The Highways Agency,
D4 Broadway,
Broad Street,
Birmingham B15 1BL
Tel: 0121 678 8082
email: malcolm.cook@highways.gsi.gov.uk
Stephen Bland,
Don't Choke Britain,
Nexus,
Cuthbert House,
All Saints,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 2DA
Tel: 0191 203 3333
email: steve.bland@nexus.org.uk
Highways Agency Consultants:
Mary Thomas,
Oscar Faber,
Marlborough House,
Upper Marlborough House,
St Albans,
AL1 3UT
Tel: 0181 784 5784
email: mary.thomas@oscarfaber.co.uk
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