Employer attitudes to employer transport plans: a comparison of UK and Dutch experience

Employer transport plans (ETPs) are implemented by employers to encourage their employees to choose environmentally friendly modes of transport to work. They have been a part of Netherlands’ transport policy since 1989 and now form an important plank of government transport thinking in the UK as well. This paper uses data from questionnaire surveys, focus groups, interviews and site visits to assess employers' attitudes to ETPs and to the role which government is asking them to play in transport policy. It concludes that employers in both countries are somewhat sceptical and that government resources should be focused on assisting those employers with site-specific transport problems to implement ETPs.     

Workplace travel plans: past,present and future

Transport policy in the UK now emphasises managing travel demand, with the generators of travel expected to play a role. Workplace travel plans are part of this, with a cohort running within organisations since the early 2000s. Concentrating on the private sector, this article presents the results of an employer survey of 25 organisations, showing how the motivations for travel plans have changed over time, and what they are anticipated to be in the future.An important finding has been to identify factors that have led to a travel plan progressing from a reactive (e.g. a planning consent), to a proactive state, whereby the travel plan starts to deliver business objectives, becoming organisationally embedded.     

Lessons from travel planning and road user charging for policy-making: through imperfection to implementation

In 1978 Gunn published a seminal paper which explained why implementation of policy is so difficult. The paper set out 10 conditions, which should be satisfied if perfect implementation is to be achieved. Whilst it is clear that perfect implementation is not possible in the real world, and Gunn has subsequently been criticised for his ‘top-down’ approach to decision-making, these conditions do, nonetheless act as an effective framework through which to evaluate good practice in the implementation of urban transport policy instruments. Two urban transport policy instruments, which form an increasingly important element of the Government's strategy in the UK for reducing the demand for private transport as set out in a New Deal for Transport (DETR, 1998), are travel plans and road user charging. Travel plans are a relatively recent policy instrument in the UK and seek to reduce trips to work by car by providing, through individual employers, a targeted, integrated package of incentives and disincentives to influence commuters' choice of mode of travel to and from the workplace. Road user charging, whereby motorists are charged for the road space they use in urban areas, seeks to reduce the congestion problem via the price mechanism, and has a longer history in the UK. To date the implementation of travel plans in the UK has been more widespread than that of road user charging. It is fair to say, however, that the widespread implementation of both urban transport policy instruments is a complex and sensitive area for decision-makers.The aim of this paper is firstly, to analyse travel plans and road user charging in the UK with respect to the conditions for perfect implementation put forward by Gunn and secondly, to highlight the elements of good practice, pertinent to the implementation of road user charging, in the process of the implementation of travel plans. Overall, the paper uses Gunn's theoretical framework as a basis for recommendations for better decision-making that will aid the wider implementation of both travel plans and road user charging internationally.     

Tax and green transport plans: a survey of UK experience

The widespread adoption of Green Transport Plans (GTPs) by employers has become an important aim of the UK government transport policy as it tries to find ways of reducing transport demand. However, the tax treatment of employee benefits that form part of many GTPs has been identified by the government and others as a potential barrier to their adoption. Based on telephone interviews with employers and meetings with tax and transport experts, this paper confirms this perception. It also explains precisely how tax forms a barrier to GTP implementation, reviews the approaches taken to this problem in three other countries and makes outline proposals for reform and further research.     

Road pricing in National Parks: a case study in the Yorkshire Dales National Park

Road user charging is typically associated with urban contexts, however, congestion at rural attractions is of increasing concern and road user charging may be considered as a suitable policy instrument. This paper investigates the issue of rural road pricing and presents the results of a survey of car-based visitors to Upper Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which explores the potential impacts on mode and destination choice of a road user charging scheme, combined with a park and ride alternative. The scheme was found to be acceptable to 68% of the respondents, with nearly half opting to park and ride. The results are of particular interest in the light of the 1998 Transport White Paper that encourages pilot road user charging schemes in rural areas.     

Overcoming barriers to the implementation of car parking charges at UK workplaces

Charging employees to park at their places of work is a transport policy measure advocated by the UK government as a means of reducing car commuting and hence achieving the twin objectives of reducing congestion and combating environmental degradation, especially in urban areas. The empirical effects of employee parking charges have been analysed (see for example [Willson, R.W., Shoup, D.C., 1990. Parking subsidies and travel choices: assessing the evidence. Transportation 17, 141–157; Department for Transport (DfT), 2002. Making travel plans work: report on case studies. London: DfT (Also available at www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/travelplans/guides/index.htm)]). There is, however, a dearth of literature examining the practicalities of employee car parking charge implementation in those few organisations that haves done so. Based on empirical studies of 11 UK workplaces, this paper examines the reasons for and the practicalities of implementation and concludes by considering the barriers to the wider adoption of this policy.     

Transport planning and participation: the rhetoric and realities of public involvement

The new direction in transport policy, embodied in the 1998 White Paper, has brought with it a sea change in political thinking about the objectives and process of local transport planning. In this paper, we consider `the realities' of how one cornerstone of this `new' agenda, a duty on authorities to undertake `public participation' in producing their local transport plans, has been conceptualised and integrated within the wider planning practice. Drawing on a research project which involved a survey of English highway authorities and a content analysis of policy documents we evaluate experiences in relation to four key principles of the participation process. The paper concludes that whilst there is considerable activity on the surface, evidence of substantive impacts on local transport planning or a strategic approach to the participation process is sparse – a situation which is, we argue, traceable back to the lack of clarity in central government policy and guidance.     

To drive or not to drive: Driving cessation amongst older adults in rural and small towns in Canada

Driving cessation, often due to health-related changes, can be a particularly challenging and troublesome transition in older adulthood that can lead to social isolation. While policy makers have long recognized the potential impact of an aging population on Canada's health care and national pension plans, the transportation needs of older adults have received relatively less attention. For older adults residing in small towns and rural areas who rely, more often than not, on the personal automobile there is usually limited or no access to public transportation. For policy makers to respond effectively to the transportation needs of an aging population, particularly those living in rural areas, the first step is to understand the travel behaviours of older adults living in such areas, particularly as they approach the transition when they will cease to drive. This paper reports on qualitative research exploring the driving-related challenges and needs faced by older adults in small towns and rural areas near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Results revealed four major themes: lack of transportation options in rural areas, changes in driving behaviours, the lack of planning for driving cessation, and the social isolation that comes from the loss (or potential loss) of one's driver's license.     

Transport and climate change: Simulating the options for carbon reduction in London

Transport is a major user of carbon-based fuels, and it is increasingly being highlighted as the sector which contributes least to CO₂ emission reduction targets. This paper reports on the findings of the VIBAT London study (www.vibat.org) which considers the role of the transport sector in reducing CO₂ emissions in London.The analysis develops a transport and carbon simulation model (TC-SIM) for London. Within this, users are able to consider the implementation of a series of potential policy packages—low emission vehicles, alternative fuels, pricing regimes, public transport, walking and cycling, strategic and local urban planning, information and communication technologies, smarter choices, ecological driving and slower speeds, long distance travel substitution, freight transport and international air. They can select variable levels of application to help achieve headline CO₂ emission reduction targets. The roles of carbon rationing and oil prices are also considered. TC-SIM can be played in different user modes: as ‘free riders’, ‘techno-optimists’, ‘enviro-optimists’, ‘complacent car addicts’ and other typical travel market segments, including a ‘free role’. Game playing or scenario testing such as this helps to highlight perceived levels of homogeneity of views within certain cohorts, the development of entrenched positions and the likely success in achieving objectives.The paper develops various policy packages, scenarios and pathways aimed at reducing transport CO₂ emissions. It argues that strategic CO₂ emission reduction targets are very ambitious relative to current progress, and that we need to act more effectively across a wide range of policy mechanisms, with a ‘high intensity application’ of many of the options, to get near to achieving these targets. A critical issue here will be in communicating and gaining greater ‘ownership’ of future lifestyle choices with stakeholders and the public, and participation tools such as TC-SIM could become increasingly important in this area.