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Moving Towards Smarter Travel? LTP3 and Smarter Travel Choice Assessment Study

Moving Towards Smarter Travel? LTP3 and Smarter Travel Choice Assessment Study

The review of the third round of Local Transport Plans found that spending on Smarter Travel Choices measures* was a small percentage of total spending: less than 5% on average. Moreover, the total "Integrated Transport Block" money had been reduced from the previous LTP by over 40% in the areas studied.

The study also revealed that because the Department for Transport no longer requires a standard reporting format, the information in LTP3 documents varied widely, making comparison and monitoring difficult if not impossible.

Freed from any central Government control, local transport authorities have chosen to keep their options open, and some do not commit themselves to a particular pattern of expenditure. The LTP3 moneys are not ring fenced, and so budget pressures mean that  authorities can swith investment money over to road maintenance, or even to non-transport purposes.

The Government retains a stated commitment to reducing carbon emissions from transport, but there is no longer any mechanism by which the Government can ascertain whether local actions are contributing or not. It appears from this work that "hands off" localism is not delivering sustainable transport.

* Smarter Choices Measures included in the review were measures that influence mode choice at the personal level (e.g. travel planning, marketing, information). Infrastructure measures were not included.

A summary of the project published by Sustrans, and the full report are available in pdf format (see right sidebar).

Some press coverage of the report, including ministerial response, can be seen here.

The main Department for Transport webpage on smarter choices can be found here.

Date(s)2011
Client(s)Sustrans and Friends of the Earth
Team(s)Tim Pharoah and Dr Robin Hickman (Halcrow)

keywords

Smarter travel choices, smarter travel, behaviour change, local transport plans, LTP3, sustainable transport, carbon reduction