Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

INFLUENCING TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR

JOHN AT RAC CENTRE - BESCOT, OVERLOOKING CONGESTED TRAFFIC
JOHN 
During the last 20 years, the amount of traffic on our roads has increased by as much as 80% and it's still growing. In some towns and cities the situation has almost reached gridlock. We simply can't build enough roads to cope with the increase. Yet, unless we deal with the congestion, we'll all pay the price.

JOHN
Congestion costs us time and money. It damages the environment and it affects our health. So what can we do about it? Well, we've got to make better use of the existing road network, we've got to make smarter choices about the way in which we travel. In fact we have to think about travel in a completely different way ....

JOHN AT RAC CENTRE -BRADLEY STOKE, OVERLOOKING ROAD JUNCTIONS.
JOHN
Here in Almondsbury, just outside Bristol, one of Britain's busiest cities, there are roads for almost as far as the eye can see… But, incredibly everyday, there are 10 million empty seats on roads like these. Why? Because many of these vehicles carry only the driver.

JOHN INSIDE NTCC BIRMINGHAM
JOHN
This is the National Traffic Control Centre where traffic flow is monitored 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Data is processed from CCTV cameras, road sensors, incident reports from the public and from the Traffic Officers who patrol this vast road network. The Highways Agency's role is to provide safe roads enabling reliable journeys for informed travellers. But it's up to us to think about how we make those journeys and how we can make them as free of congestion as possible - and that might mean using our own, or public transport… or maybe sharing your car…

JOHN BY HOV LANE, BRISTOL
JOHN
Car sharing is a scheme being pioneered by South Gloucestershire council. Between 7.00 and 9.30 in the morning, one lane is for cars carrying two or more people only. If we're all prepared to share our cars, and take turns in giving each other lifts, we could cut congestion and reduce our stress levels at the same time.

BRACKMILLS, NORTHAMPTON OFFICE OF BARCLAYCARD
JOHN (VO)*
The Highways Agency is developing Travel Plans In partnership with businesses and other organisations, such as local authorities, in fact any organisation that needs to accommodate staff who drive to work.

JOHN (VO)*
A Travel Plan is a package of measures that promotes greener, cleaner travel choices aimed at reducing reliance on the car - and it is tailored to the needs of individual organisations…

BEN BRAKES - BARCLAYCARD
The building here houses around 3200 staff, we have parking facilities for around 2000 cars. We introduced a car share scheme around 12 months ago, we incentivised it with a token scheme, 20 tokens for a £20 vending card, and coupled that with a free bus into the town centre to the rail station. We're looking at saving around 200 cars on the road per day.

MARTYN GUERIN - BARCLAYCARD
The travel plan has been a real success, primarily because we engaged colleagues in working through what initiatives we wanted to introduce, and the feedback's great.

VOX POP BARCLAYCARD STAFF
I think it is a good idea, it's more convenient, it's easier and you get to park outside the front as well.

SOLENT BUSINESS PARK - WHITELEY, HAMPSHIRE
JOHN (VO)
At The Solent Business Park at Whiteley in Hampshire companies are working together on an Area Travel Plan. So successful has it been, that it has already won an innovation award from the Association of Commuter Transport.

TONY BRADLEY -National Air Traffic Services (NATS)
We started off with our own single travel plan for the company and what we can see now is the area plan helping us to develop some of those schemes we've got. There are about 60 businesses on the Whitely Park and they're all going to benefit from the shared schemes the area travel plan will have.

VOX POPS FROM STAFF AT NATS
1: The fact that I actually get to share the costs of the driving is brilliant, the fact that I feell I am doing my bit for the environment - fantastic, I get company as well on the way to and form work, so, could'nt ask for much more
2: … so the car's up for sale and I bought a bike!

JOHN INSIDE NTCC, BIRMINGHAM
JOHN
It's been shown that Travel Plans can cut the car travel of people working for organisations like the ones we've seen, by as much as 20%. And if any further incentive were needed, it's also true that people travelling with passengers are only half as likely to have accidents as those travelling alone. And there's plenty of help available for those who want to plan the way they travel - the Transport Direct website for example… http://www.transportdirect.info/TransportDirect/en/JourneyPlanning/JourneyPlannerInput.aspx

JOHN
We can make informed choices about 'when', 'why' and 'how' we travel - and we need to do it. We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to change the way we use our roads.

JOHN COMES OUT OF NTCC QUINTON
JOHN
Businesses and local authorities need to start making changes now, to improve congestion for the whole community, not just for those travelling to work. When planning new developments, we should also be planning ways of reducing the impact of traffic. We have to think about a future that is sustainable. There's a lot at stake - our economy, our health and our environment. And it's only by influencing the travel behaviour of those around us that we will safeguard our future and find out that we're saving money too.

JOHN
Isn't it about time we considered sharing these little metal boxes we all travel around in - in private - and thought about a different way to travel? Graphic: For information on developing a smart choice travel plan e-mail itb@highways.gsi.gov.uk