TfGM Case Study: Increasing access to employment by creating Travel Choices

TfGM is providing training for Jobcentre Plus staff and Prime Work Programme contractors to ensure that they are fully aware of new journey planning options, including cycling and walking, that will be developed through the LSTF project and beyond.

The Travel Choices’ Access to Employment service has been working closely with frontline advisors to jobseekers, offering training and information on journeys in Greater Manchester.

Training sessions have aimed to enhance advisor skills in providing customers with comprehensive, informed advice on travel options.

The core aims of the programme are to:

• Tackle jobseeker’s travel issues, thereby helping to remove barriers to employment
• Share travel planning skills to expand jobseekers’ travel-to-work horizons
• Give jobseekers access to those hard-to-reach job opportunities.

More than 140 Jobcentre advisors have attended courses to date, with further sessions and follow-ups planned. Attendees are equipped to become ‘ambassadors’ of Travel Choices, sharing the wealth of useful resources provided during the training among colleagues.

Travel Choices is offering on-going advice and support to the advisors, along with further resources to help remove jobseekers’ barriers to work including a free one-month travel pass when entering employment and a bike back to work scheme.

TfGM transport strategy director Dave Newton says: “We ran some sessions at TfGM for Jobcentre advisors and at the outset, 38% of attendees stated they were ‘not confident’ or ‘not at all confident’ at giving travel advice to jobseekers. Following the training, 100% stated they were ‘fairly’ or ‘very confident’ in dispensing travel advice to jobseekers.

“This is a fantastic example of an intervention paying clear dividends, and making a marked difference in influencing travel behaviour.”