After the downturn: where now for travel plans in Scotland?

Llewellyn, Richard; Tricker, Reggie; Paton, Deborah

Abstract

A Travel Plan is a travel demand management tool which has the potential to alter the means of travel to or from any destination or origin of movement to modes of transport other than the private car. The last major review of the use of Travel Plans in Scotland was undertaken by the Scottish Executive in 2006. The review found that policy and guidance on Travel Planning was limited and that the activity was being undertaken in general on an ad-hoc basis. It highlighted key issues associated with the implementation of Travel Plans and recommended increased resources and funding, raised awareness, stronger incentives and better co-ordination of activity. Since the review was undertaken several changes have taken place in terms of legislation, policy changes, and governance. The Scottish Government developed a National Transport Strategy and subsequently new Scottish Planning Policy and Transport Assessment Guidance were issued. Local authorities have prepared their own Local Transport Strategies (LTS) which formally sets out their policy on Travel Plans. The period has also seen the worst economic recession in Scotland in living memory. This not only resulted in pressures on local authority resources in the implementation and monitoring of Travel Plans; it has also introduced a conflict between the needs of economic growth whilst maintaining sustainable development. Given all of these changes, it is worth revisiting the recent situation in Scotland with regard to Travel Plans. A central part of this research is a survey undertaken of all local authorities in Scotland during the summer of 2013. This new survey work has been combined with a desktop study looking at each authority’s policies and guidance relating to Travel Plans. On the basis of this research, recommendations are made with regard to the role of Travel Plans in Scotland, as the country emerges from recession.

Citation

Llewellyn, R., Tricker, R., & Paton, D. (2014, April). After the downturn: where now for travel plans in Scotland?. Paper presented at 10th Annual Scottish Transport Research and Applications Conference

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: 10th Annual Scottish Transport Research and Applications Conference
• Start Date: Apr 1, 2014
• End Date: Apr 1, 2014
• Publication Date: 2014
• Deposit Date: Mar 23, 2015
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Travel plan; travel demand management plan
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/7700