UK: Hello, I’m your personal travel adviser. Can I persuade you to get on your bike?

Linky:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2774360.ece

Full text ....

The doorbell will be ringing unexpectedly in millions of homes from
next year as an army of government-funded “travel advisers” tries to
persuade people to switch from driving to walking, cycling and public
transport.

If you are out, they will keep coming back and will call up to ten
times, even in the evenings or at weekends.

They will ask you about your travel habits and will offer advice
tailored to your journeys, including maps for walking and bus
timetables.

If you appear unconvinced, they will offer incentives such as discounts
at local bike shops and outdoor stores and free pedometers to measure
how far you are walking.

The initiative is part of the Government’s Sustainable Transport
Strategy, announced yesterday. It rejects the idea that congestion can
be eliminated by investing billions of pounds in building more roads and
railways. Instead, it favours smaller schemes that aim to change
behaviour and attitudes.

Trials costing a total of £10 million in Darlington, Peterborough and
Worcester found that car journeys fell by about 11 per cent after travel
advisers visited every home. Cycling increased by at least 25 per cent,
walking by 17 per cent and trips on public transport by 13 per cent.

In Darlington, the public response was far more positive when the
advisers stopped mentioning the council’s involvement in the scheme.
Asking people to sign a pledge to use their cars less proved less
attractive in getting people to change their transport habits, however,
than offering incentives, such as a free meal at a local restaurant or a
£50 sports voucher.

A study by the Department for Transport found that the biggest
challenge faced by the advisers was overcoming initial suspicion on the
doorstep. It said: “Door-to-door contact is often associated with
double-glazing sales and therefore is not always particularly well
received. A non-accusatory but assertive manner is required.”

In Worcester, former bus drivers have been employed as advisers because
they are deemed more convincing when trying to sell the benefits of
leaving the car at home.

The study found that “individualised travel marketing” cost £20 to £38
per household but achieved benefits of £30 for every £1 invested. This
is a far higher return than for big road or rail projects, which
typically deliver from £2 to £4 of benefit for every £1.

The Sustainable Transport Strategy states: “Decisions about small,
everyday journeys can make a big difference. Fifty-six per cent of all
journeys by car are less than five miles and 23 per cent are less than
two miles.”

It quotes a recent report, funded by the Department for Transport,
which found that Britain ranked 12th out of 15 European nations in terms
of the average distance people cycle each year and 14th on distance
walked. The department says the strategy will publish details soon of a
big increase in investment in travel advisers, who will also visit
schools and workplaces.

It also compares modern travel habits with those of the 1950s and
proposes a return to the more sustainable modes of transport that
dominated then.

In 1952 buses had the highest share of journeys and the car accounted
for just over a quarter of the total distance travelled. By 1996 people
were travelling three times as far and 87 per cent of the distance was
by car.

Theresa Villiers, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said: “I’m not sure
that sending nannyish inspectors round to people’s houses is the right
way forward. There’s no point telling people about a local train if it
is so overcrowded that they can’t squeeze on to it.”

In rejecting substantial investment in infrastructure, the strategy has
accepted the advice of Sir Rod Eddington, the former British Airways
chief executive, who was commissioned by the Government to study
Britain’s transport needs and recommended that it avoid “grand
projects”.

A bus service has been running close to the home of Karl and Ping
Roche, above with their daughter Phoebe, for several years. But until
recently they had no idea where it went. The Roches are among thousands
in Sutton, Surrey, who were visited by a travel adviser seeking to
change their habits with a little gentle persuasion and a lot of maps
and timetables.

Mr Roche, 37, who works for IBM, said: “The doorbell rang and a man on
the doorstep asked if I wanted advice on making local journeys.” After
getting advice about cycle and bus routes, the couple bought bicycles
and a child seat for Phoebe, 2.

“We used to use the car every day but now it’s only once or twice a
week,” Mr Roche said. Two thirds of those contacted under the Transport
for London-funded scheme showed interest in learning about other forms
of transport. Ben Plowden, TfL’s director of travel demand management,
said:

“Often people have not used buses since their youth. All they need is
information about routes, times and fares.”


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