Southampton Local Sustainable Transport Fund

Transcription

1 Centre for Sustainable Travel Choices Southampton Local Sustainable Transport Fund First Annual Report 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 TWE ET1 Funded by the Department for Transport

2 This report This report highlights the activities and achievements of the My Journey initiative in Southampton in 2012/13. Funding was awarded from the Department for Transport (DfT) under its Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) for Southampton and across south Hampshire up to 31 March The fund aims to reduce negative impacts of traffic, facilitate access to local employment and improve air quality in the city. Choosing different ways of getting around the city can not only save people money, but also help to create a healthier community. Reducing road traffic can speed up journey times to work and help goods and services be transported quicker. This makes the city more attractive to businesses thus creating jobs and growth. Objectives and targets The programme targets to be achieved by March 2015 include: A 12% modal shift away from private car use, toward other modes of transport A real-terms cut in emissions from transport (including freight) of between 10 and 20% To facilitate the development aspirations of the city including 30,000 new jobs by There are several communications objectives of the projects that affect Southampton residents directly throughout the duration of the My Journey initiative. These include: To provide a range of products and services which help residents access and enjoy sustainable travel methods. Among others, initiatives have included: Bike Doctor, group cycle rides, led walks, and cycle training To make travel planning for sustainable modes easier through personalised and work / school-based travel planning tools and a new travel planning website To raise awareness of the consumer benefits of using sustainable travel modes (including cost, health, social wellbeing and environmental benefits) through the creation of an overarching sustainable travel brand. Grant funding from the Department for Transport Funding is committed from September 2011 until March Revenue 5.4million 3.5 million from Southampton s LSTF and 1.9 million from Transport for South Hampshire s LSTF Capital 4.3million 0.45 million from Southampton s LSTF and 3.85 million from Transport for South Hampshire s LSTF How it s delivered Walking and cycling Community projects Cycle training and Bikeability Cycle maintenance training Bike Dr Led walks and rides Health promotion Public transport Bus stop enhancements Station travel planning Brompton Dock (cycle hire) Promotion of Solent Travelcard Smarter driving Car clubs Car sharing Smarter driver training Freight Sustainable Distribution Centre Promotion of green deliveries Physical measures Eastern Cycle Route Station Quarter (North) public realm scheme Real Time Information for buses Pedestrian wayfinding Marketing & campaigns My Journey marketing Website My Journey roadshows Events (e.g. SkyRide) Online Journey Planner Personal Journey Planning Schools Accreditation and campaigns Bike-It Independent travel training Walk once a Week College travel plans Cycle parking Businesses Tailored advice and support Specialist business forums Commuter Challenge Cycle parking In to Work with a Solent Travelcard Technology Air Alert Smart phone apps Social media / website

3 Summary of progress in 2012/13 Highlights include The number of daily cycling trips increased by 11% while daily vehicle traffic reduced by about 3% between 2011 and There has been an increase in travel to school on foot by almost 9% and a reduction in private car use in a school run of nearly 5% between 2006/7 and 2011/12 in Southampton. Initial travel mode surveys show cycling has increased in schools from 1.1% to 3.4% The use of public transport has increased: bus patronage by 1%* and train use by 3% My Journey brand awareness campaign has been successfully conducted: brand awareness level = 37% and unique website views = <10,000 Various projects have been implemented at businesses, the hospital, schools and in residential neighbourhoods. Their impacts on travel behaviour change will be investigated in later stages of the programme. Community engagement programmes have been well received by the public and in terms of the number of events and participants, they overachieved their original targets. The Sustrans Bike-It Southampton programme has delivered over 100 activities at 16 primary and secondary schools across Southampton and Brompton Dock was installed at Southampton Central Station. The Sustainable Distribution Centre scheme is going ahead and is expected to help relieve traffic congestion. The SDC will offer its services to Southampton and the surrounding regions including Winchester, Eastleigh, Hedge End, Totton and the New Forest. It brings many green benefits through enabling businesses to have a more sustainable way to receive their deliveries, while offering cost-effective storage solutions. Website and social media The website is available to the public as the one stop shop for all transport information and advice. The website was redesigned and updated at the end of summer 2013 and now features a mutli-modal online journey planning tool, real-time bus information and real-time rail departure widgets. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube accounts have been set up for My Journey and are already building a strong online community. TWE ET1 * Figure from bus patronage data million patronage in 2010 and 18.3 million in Campaigns and roadshows My Journey aims to inspire people in ways that are meaningful to them. We have focused our communications on themes that are likely to resonate with the public. These include making financial savings, improving health and wellbeing, and creating a better environment. My Journey aims to make people more aware of the travel choices available and how they can be accessed. 24 My Journey roadshow events have taken place at various locations across the city engaging up to 15,000 people. These included events at various workplaces, colleges, community events, festivals, Sky Ride 2012 and at WestQuay shopping centre. We aim to promote the My Journey brand and initiatives, and engage with residents directly, as well as to promote positive messages about travel choices available to residents. Workplaces My Journey works with employers and businesses to provide practical support which helps encourage employees to travel to work sustainably, enable sustainable business travel and more efficient logistics. Performance outputs for workplaces programme 2012/13 Activity Key Annual targets Total Outputs for Engagement with large employers 2 7 Intensive engagement with SMEs 6 6 Light touch engagement with SMEs No. of information activities e.g. events, roadshows, presentations No. of walking and cycling activities e.g. health walk, Bike Doctor, group cycle training No. of employees engaged in walking activities No. of employees engaged in cycling activities No. of employees provided with information on walking and cycling activities Identify, recruit and train Active Travel Champions 9 15 Bike Doctor the Bike Doctor has a regular stall in Guildhall Square and attends workplaces, community events and schools to give bikes a free maintenance check and carry out basic repairs. SMEs Small to Medium Employers (up to 250 employees). Active Travel Champions volunteers who help implement initiatives to encourage walking and cycling.

4 Schools The key objective of the schools programme is to provide a range of tools to schools to get parents, pupils and staff to travel to school in more active, healthy and sustainable ways. Performance outputs for the schools programme Activity Annual targets Total Outputs for No. of schools signed up to STARS Initiatives delivered in Southampton schools Sustrans Bike-It Annual STARS Conference Infrastructure funding WoW Bespoke projects Sholing Schools Street Party No. of schools participating in Sustrans Bike-It No. of walking and cycling events delivered ~ 100 No. of children s bikes fixed ~ >500 No. of schools with small infrastructure improvements (refreshed cycle parking) 4 4 No. of schools participating in WoW No. of school pupils participating in WoW ~ 18,000 No. of schools participating in the Schools Conference No. of schools participating in other sustainable transport related projects 5 9 SEN Independent Travel Training This includes the development and implementation of a collection of six travel initiatives at some of the city s SEN schools, a college, and with looked-after children. Depending on the capabilities of these children, the projects aim to facilitate, enable, and incentivise increased levels of independent and active travel, increasing pupils level of confidence in their ability to travel independently, travelling by bike, and using public transport. Through a variety of means, the social care project has so far removed 40 pupils from making local authoritysupported journeys; 15 of these cases, who were travelling by taxi, are now travelling independently by bus or on foot. Independent Travel Training has consistently found and implemented creative and effective ways of managing transport arrangements for individual children. Children s Services, Southampton City Council Engagement with SureStart Centres ~ 2 No. of campaign toolkits developed 5 5 Key STARS a national framework for the implementation of initiatives to encourage greater levels of walking, cycling and public transport use by school children. It also provides a national accreditation scheme recognising best practice. Sustrans Bike-It is helping children get fit and healthy by teaching them the skills they need to cycle safely and responsibly. A Sustrans Bike-It officer works with a group of schools in the city, talking and listening to parents, teachers and children, and running a year-long programme of school projects, training, and fun events to get the whole school community cycling together. WoW Walk once a Week campaign delivered by Living Streets.

5 Active Travel Walking and cycling initiatives are delivered in workplaces and in the community in partnership with Sustrans. Performance outputs for the active travel programme (community) Activity Annual targets Total Outputs for Engagement with community groups e.g. senior citizens, faith and women s groups 6 12 Engagement with SureStart Centres 4 5 No. of health walk groups maintained 5 3 No. of new health walk groups established 1 1 No. of information activities e.g. events, roadshows, presentations No. of walking and cycling activities e.g. health walk, Bike Dr., group cycle training No. of participants engaged in walking activities No. of participants engaged in cycling activities No. of participants provided with information on walking and cycling activities Identify, recruit and train Active Travel Champions In to Work with a Solent Travelcard set up The In to Work scheme has been working with Jobcentre Plus to address the cost of transport as a barrier to employment, supporting young job seekers to find and keep a job. It also aims to broaden transport horizons and increase the use of public transport. The project focuses on the age group, as the number of unemployed people in this age group is disproportionately high compared to other groups across the UK. Job seekers eligible to benefit from the project are given a free Solent Travelcard to assist them in getting to interviews and training. Southampton bus operators have also provided a 33% discount on the purchase of Solent Travelcards. The project started in January 2013 and 398 job seekers have accessed the scheme as of 31 March 2013.Of these 40.5% have found work. Unlimited travel on South Hampshire s bus network Annual targets year olds claiming JSA (monthly average) 1,644 Total number participating in the scheme 398 Total number of year olds that found work (signed off) 351 Participating in scheme and found work (signed off) 154 % of those participating in the scheme who found work 40.5% Public transport We have supported three public transport projects: Station Travel Planning, Brompton Dock at Southampton Central Station, and the Legible Bus Networks. The bus pass for year olds has also been promoted at events at Southampton s colleges and through the local media. This achieved almost three times the number of sales than last year. Personal Journey Planning Personal Journey Planning is an effective way of engaging residents on a one-to-one basis and encouraging them to consider their travel choices and options available to them. This is achieved through the provision of information and incentives and by motivating individuals directly. Millbrook residents in Southampton received personalised travel plans in the first half of Highlights include 3,485 properties visited (project finished in May 2013) 26% of Millbrook residents aware of My Journey 50% engaged with advisors

6 The way forward With the launch of the online journey planning tool and a large programme of activities and events, it is expected that many more people will be able to make informed travel choices in favour of sustainable modes of travel for short journeys in particular. Following the most recent My Journey brand awareness campaign, targeted and mass communications campaigns will be implemented to promote walking and cycling in winter, City Car Club memberships, the online journey planner and public transport. No flapping Compare journeys by bike, public transport, on foot and car to save time and money Conclusion This report provides an initial update on progress since the start of the My Journey programme in September Results at this stage are fairly typical of similar large scale behaviour change programmes which show that while outputs are generally high and on target, outcomes relating to behavioural change will only become clear later in the programme. It is usual that behaviour change starts with a growing awareness of the issues in question, and of the available solutions to tempering ingrained behaviour. Through wide-scale advertising and promotion of the products and services available, which break down barriers to sustainable travel, attitudes are beginning to change. A repeat survey to the travel attitudes and behaviours survey (carried out in the autumn of 2011) is due to take place later in This will provide a much better indication of how residents are changing the way they view sustainable travel. It is expected that there will also be initial signs of actual changes in behaviour, as recorded through traffic counts and surveys carried out in a year s time. We are confident the second annual report, due June 2014, will demonstrate how we have built on the initial successes evidenced in this report, over the next year. Funded by the Department for Transport Over 2million will be spent in 2013/14, including the budget allocated from Transport for South Hampshire and Isle of Wight. A new attitudinal survey will be undertaken in the autumn of 2013 to assess whether attitudes and behaviours have changed since The results will be used to modify the delivery programme, where necessary, to ensure the original objectives and targets can be met by March The second annual report will be published in June 2014.

7 Designed, printed and produced by Southampton City Council 09/13/