A person's underlying values are probably fairly robust to the ups and downs of personal circumstances, within reason, but what actually interests you as a problem, opportunity or research topic can be highly sensitive and volatile, reflecting the conditions of life as you find it. Which is why, with acknowledgement to my granddaughter Mabel, aged one month, I’ve been musing on the issue of the transportability of baby buggies on buses. The last time this affected me directly was when I...

Highway authorities have been urged to ensure that they take account of DfT guidance in their decision-making following the recent High Court ruling that the London Borough of Newham acted unlawfully by developing its own tactile paving guidance that contradicts the DfT’s. In a paper to the Local Government Technical Advisers Group’s national transport committee, chairman Bob Donaldson said the judge in the Newham case had stressed that “in law, context is everything”....

With the arrival of a major cash injection, the smarter travel industry finds itself facing a significant challenge. By March 2015, when this round of Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) funding ends, there will have to be real and robust evidence that modal shift has occurred on a large scale. Delivering this will mean entering a new phase of maturity, one capable of blending the tried and tested with innovation. It will be about looking behind to see how and why we have arrived where we...

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the area’s 10 local authorities received £32.46m through the LSTF process, and has locally identified a further £21m to deliver improvements to active travel schemes, a supporting “smarter choices” travel promotion package, and enhanced community transport solutions. In support of these local developments and travel promotion activities, the package presents three prioritised technology measures designed to lock-in the...

A multi-million pound package of improvements featuring the latest technology will be at the heart of sustainable travel in the West Midlands. Smartcard and real-time information technology form key milestones in the Smart Network, Smarter Choices project. This has been drawn up by Centro, the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority, in close collaboration with the Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Walsall, Dudley and Solihull councils, as well as private rail and bus...

For many people, one of the biggest barriers to cycling is working out how to get to places using a route that fits their needs. Some have the confidence to take direct routes along main roads, but many more need some reassurance that they won’t have to mix with fast traffic or use busy roads. Until our network of cycling infrastructure is to Dutch or Danish standards, a key part of this will be providing good quality, user-focused maps helping people plan their journey. More people are...

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence (NICE) have released guidance for local measures to promote walking and cycling as forms of travel or recreation. They recommend the importance of schools as hubs for supporting and fostering a culture of active travel for staff, parents and students. This is in contrast to the Atkins report on the Travelling to School Initiative (TTSI) which states “a comparison of data for schools with and without a School Travel Plan (STP)...

A brief re-cap of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme in London is appropriate before thinking about how a similar scheme might work elsewhere. The cycle hire scheme was introduced in 2010 as part of a wider strategy aimed at increasing cycle mode share four-fold to 5%. Initially, it was open only to registered scheme members, but in spring 2011 it was opened up to all. A year on from its launch, the headline statistics were: 400 docking stations; 6,000 bikes; 130,000 members; over 6 million...

Reading Borough Council has led the delivery of a successful local sustainable transport fund (LSTF) large funding package of £21m for the Reading urban area. The funding is a catalyst for delivery of much needed sustainable travel facilities, and also a means of rolling out a whole new wave of technology driven solutions. But for this to be a success, it can’t be a case of “build it and they will come”, install and hope, or just experimental projects. This investment...

The world of car clubs currently has a relatively low profile, but there is a lot happening that makes the local press. For example, trials have recently taken place using hydrogen-powered cars for a short spell in the Aberdeen car club. The new E-Car Club using Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicles (EVs) started operating in October and has made the front page of the Oxford Mail already. New ‘car-sharing’ models like peer-to-peer operator Whipcar and one-way operator car2go, have also...

Smarter choices are informed choices. One of the challenges being addressed by Leicestershire County Council is how residents can find out about the travel options available to them. This is especially important in places like Loughborough, where the transport infrastructure has been recently improved. “There is a perception gap between how difficult people think it is to get around without their car, and the reality,” said Ian Vears, travel choice and access team manager. In the...

When I see an adult on a bicycle”, HG Wells allegedly said, “I do not despair for the future of the human race”. The notion that active travel is a “good thing” is not new. But the political and practical treatment of active travel has changed significantly in recent years, not least in London. The idea of “active travel” is imprecise. It is generally taken to mean walking, cycling and wider behaviour changes stimulated by travel demand management...

The UK’s experience in travel behaviour change tools is advanced and has spanned 15 years in many areas. Transport authorities in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East have rolled out travel plan programmes using best practices from the UK. In August, the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) launched its first travel plan programme to determine whether success in travel behaviour change achieved in the UK and elsewhere can be replicated there. The programme, branded as...

With the outlook for the European market still gloomy at best, many UK businesses are looking abroad for new opportunities. At SKM Colin Buchanan, we are not only looking overseas for new projects, but also to what can be learnt from our international colleagues whose projects haven’t always been affected by the same levels of austerity cuts. These can provide inspiration for LSTF projects, which will enable the UK to implement significant behaviour change projects alongside capital...

Improving the delivery of local services at a time of economic uncertainty and constrained budgets is never easy. That is something I learned as leader of Lewes District Council during the recession of the early 1990s. But it is often during times of challenge and change that we are inspired to find more creative solutions to enduring problems. Implementing a genuinely smart, sustainable and innovative travel programme should be a core priority for councils today. It is vital that we find new...

Welcome to the first edition of ‘Re-booting Smarter Travel’ which is the beginning of a series of publications and events which aim to redefine the future of sustainable transport. Why ‘re-boot’? It seems clear that attitudes towards sustainable travel have improved dramatically in recent years, evidenced by the increasing popularity of cycling, young people driving less, and the trend towards lower car use. The £1bn Local Sustainable Transport Fund, therefore,...