A comparative evaluation of large-scale personal travel planning projects in England

Findings are presented from a study assessing the effectiveness of large-scale, residential-based personal travel planning (PTP) projects in eight areas in England. The project evaluation results show consistent reductions in car driver trips with an average reduction of 11%. The mode of travel that experiences the most substantial increase is walking with modest increases reported for cycling and public transport. Results have not been disaggregated according to the type of participation that individuals have had in projects; therefore, it is not possible to identify how project design influences Outcomes. Despite the consistency of outcomes reported and many aspects of good practice in project evaluations, there are some concerns about evaluation methodology, notably that the estimation of Outcomes might be systematically biased. The main concerns relate to independence of evaluators, sample sizes and survey response biases. A priority in future project evaluations is to use independent evaluators and to collect aggregate-level travel data with which to corroborate survey-based results and enable monitoring of outcomes over longer time-scales. Another priority is to increase the understanding of how design elements of PTP projects influence behavioural outcomes and to develop appropriate research methods to investigate this. Improved evaluations will better enable the value for money of PTP to be assessed relative to other investment options. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.