Intelligent travel comes to York
Posted on 6 September 2004
Cheap bus travel, pedometers which showed people how far they’ve walked and charts which helped them work out how many calories they’d burned up, discounts on bike maintenance and cycle training, and relevant information about car sharing schemes all persuaded drivers in York to cut the numbers of miles driven by an average of almost 30 per cent.
Congestion in York could be significantly reduced if the results of an innovative travel project could be applied to the rest of the city.
Out of nearly 6,000 households contacted, over 240 in the Poppleton, Chapelfields and Clifton areas took part in the Intelligent Travel project, which aimed to encourage regular exercise and cut congestion by designing individual travel plans for the participants.
Results of the 12 month trial show that car use amongst the sample group fell by 16 per cent and the total number of miles driven reduced by an average of 28 per cent – that equates to 15,000 fewer cars on the city’s roads if half the population took part in the scheme. The trial was also successful in increasing walking by 10 per cent amongst the test group.
The trial was co-ordinated by City of York Council and the Stockholm Environment Institute – York (based at the University of York), and supported by Selby and York Primary Care Trust, York St John College, First York, Norwich Union and the Countryside Agency.
Dan Johnson, principal transport planner, City of York Council, said: “Every week in the UK we make 30 million car trips of less that one mile. We’re not telling people to abandon their cars, but to look at alternative options where available. The success of the Intelligent Travel project lies in the fact that it is positive about walking, cycling and travelling by bus, rather than being anti-car.
“This project shows that transport problems can be solved and that working with citizens on travel choices has a great deal to offer in combination with other measures. This is in line international experience and City of York Council is keen to identify external sources of funds to carry on with this work in the future.”
Project leader, Professor John Whitelegg from the Stockholm Environment Institute, said: “The drop in car use in York is very significant indeed. It shows that we can solve transport problems especially those linked to congestion, noise and pollution. Our project was relatively small scale but the results give us confidence that if we rolled the project out to cover several thousands of York’s residents we could make a significant contribution to eliminating traffic congestion and making York a world leader in transport innovation”.
The Intelligent Travel concept was imported from Australia and Germany and involved direct contact with residents and detailed discussion about alternatives to the car. The York results were actually better than projects in other countries and show that when residents are given direct, high quality information and assistance with alternatives to the car they will make a switch away from the car for a small proportion of their trips.
The full results of the Intelligent Travel trial are available at www.sei.se/intelligenttravel
Notes to editors:
- The council’s executive member for planning and transport is Councillor Ann Reid on 01904 701727
- The council’s shadow executive member for planning and transport is Councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing on 01904 640947
- The leader of the Green group is Councillor Andrew D’Agorne on 01904 633526.
- The council’s Independent member is Councillor Janet Hopton on 01904 794433.