Twelve thousand people in Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester were
surveyed and the results provide a snapshot of how people travel and he changes
that are possible to improve the quality of life for everyone.
In a typical week, residents of the three towns spend an average of one hour
every day travelling and travel a distance of around 13 miles each. The greatest
proportion of trips are made for leisure reasons, with shopping and work each
accounting for around one in five trips and one in ten trips are for school or
educational reasons. Around 25 percent of all trips are made on foot, 8 percent
by public transport and 3 percent by bike. Nearly two-thirds of trips are in a
car with 43 percent as a driver and 22 percent as a passenger.
Around 30 percent of car trips in each town were no longer than 2 miles, and the
majority were within the towns surveyed.
But, while the evidence suggests an ongoing reliance on the car, Sustrans'
researchers discovered that nearly all residents are unhappy with the increased
traffic and support sustainable alternatives to car travel including public
transport, cycling and walking. Nine out of ten people considered sustainable
transport to be a priority for transport planners and their policies.
The research looked at the reasons for peoples' travel choices, from
on-the-ground constraints such as inadequate bus service to the personal
opinions that influence people's decisions. It concluded that significant change
is possible even without improvements to transport infrastructure. Existing
facilities for walking, cycling and public transport provide a viable
alternative for nearly half of all car trips within each town.
"The three towns asked us to carry out the research to inform their
Sustainable Travel Towns Programmes," said
Sustrans' senior projects officer James Ryle.
"The information reveals the enormous potential for people to occasionally
leave their car at home and use alternative transport. This has very clear
benefits - if everyone replaced just one return car journey per week with
another way of travelling traffic would be reduced by more than 10 percent.
"All this is very positive news for the councils concerned. Their task will
be to supply the information and motivation needed to enable people to make the
change. This research challenges the notion that people are unable to make
changes. We look forward to working with the councils to see these results
turned into the positive action that will make a real difference to the lives of
everyone living in these cities."
The full results of the travel surveys were presented at the Making Smarter
Choices Work Conference in Darlington on 17th March. The Sustainable Travel
Towns programme is a Department for Transport scheme which is focussing on three
towns sharing £10m of government funding over five years to encourage more
walking, cycling and public transport use.