Huw Thomas, Smarter Choices Programme Manager for Sustrans Cymru, presents on the benefits of personalised travel planning for housing associations.

2. Huw Thomas, Smarter Choices Programme Manager
Tackling Social Inequality by
Promoting Sustainable Transport

3. • Sustrans – who are we?
• Transport and Social Inequality
• Group work – how to inform and change
behaviours
• Personalised Travel Planning – a solution?
Agenda

4. • The UK’s leading walking and cycling charity
• 500+ employees across the UK
• Major activities in Wales include
- National Cycle Network
- Education and Young People Programme
- Personalised Travel Planning (PTP)
- 3,500 Volunteers
Sustrans – who are we?

5. Over 50 million journeys were undertaken on the NCN in Wales last year

6. Sustrans’ engagement with schools see the % of children who ride to school rise
from 7% to 18%

7. Sustrans have worked with over 50 communities and 25 Local
Authorities across the UK changing the street-scene to make it safer
for communities to use’

8. Sustrans have worked with 100+ businesses in Wales, and delivered
tailored travel advice to 99000 homes, seeing a 12% drop in car
journeys.’

9. • Cost of car ownership
• Access to employment
• Low levels of physical activity
• Social exclusion
• Access to Healthcare
Why Transport is at the heart of Social Inequality, and
why Housing Associations should care?

10. Cost of Travel
•300,000+ people in Wales have no car
- ½ of lone parents, and 2/3 of single pensioners
• ½ of Welsh households spend 10% of income
on transport
- as high as in 25% in high deprivation households

11. Access to Employment
• Lack of affordable transport a barrier for getting a
job for 4/10 job seekers
•- in a recent survey of HA tenants, figure was 7 in 10
• Childcare needs create complicated journeys
which are expensive and arduous on public
transport
- Housing demand swayed by remoteness to work

12. Low levels of physical activity
• Twice as likely to find it difficult to engage in
leisure activities without a car
• 34% of people in Wales report doing no
physical activity whatsoever
• 62% of HA tenants reported doing less exercise
than the recommended minimum (2.5 hour p/w)

13. Social Isolation
• Transport poverty disproportionately affects
people living on their own
• 2/5ths of car-less households say local bus
services fail to meet their travel needs to shops
• Access to lifelong learning opportunities also
constrained by access to transport

14. Access to Healthcare
• 1 in 4 people in Wales believe Hospitals to be
the most difficult places to access via public
transport
• Figures from England show 1.4 million people
in a single year missed, turned down, or did not
seek medical help because of transport
problems.

15. Real life Scenarios Discussion
• How might sustainable transport alleviate the
issues faced in the examples?
• How would you communicate potential
solutions with the public?

16. Personalised Travel Planning (PTP) – a potential
solution?
• PTP works with households to offer tailored
information and support which enables people to
walk, cycle and use public transport more often
• PTP delivers measurable and sustained
reductions in car use, helping to tackle climate
change, increase levels of physical activity and
reduce traffic congestion

17. Personalised Travel Planning – a potential solution?
• Designed to directly address the individual’s
challenges that prevent greater use of sustainable
travel
• Focused on enabling (not telling) people to
change behaviour, when & where it suits them best
• Regular and repeated contact ensure positive
participation
• Creates an unique experience for every
participant, tailored to their needs

20. Tangible outcomes that deliver real benefits to
households
By raising people’s awareness of Sustainable
Transport, the PTP project in Cardiff saw:
• 12% reduction in single occupancy car journey
• 13% increase in Public Transport use
• 21% increase in walking, trebling in cycling levels
• Reduction in miles driven by car equated to
an average saving of approx. £150 per home

21. Tangible outcomes that deliver real benefits to
Housing Associations
• Improving accessibility to isolated Housing
Estates
• Employment opportunities for tenants
• Up-skilling staff to offer advice on Transport
issues

22. Feedback from
public‘This project has encouraged us to do walks and bike rides we
wouldn't have thought of.’
‘It's a good programme,
if people have the
information they won't
have to hang around
waiting for buses’
‘I've taken up
cycling due to
this very
informative project,
I’ve already started
noticing how much
money I’m saving.’
‘People don't always
know what's on their
doorstep, so it's good
to send out the
information’
‘My kids were so
excited when we got
the pack. They're
already planning our
walks in the summer
holidays.’
‘Hopefully this'll help us
save some money as a
family.’
‘I never would have
thought of using the cycle
paths – I only knew of the
Bay Trail. It’s fantastic!’
‘My grandson caught a bus to
the airport yesterday, using the
information you sent’
‘It's a good project, there's some tidy walking
and cycling routes in the pack which is brilliant’
‘The package was a lovely treat. It had so much
information in it, and my sons have already used
the cycle trail info.’
‘It's very positive, in one single pack
we've got maps for some nice walks
we'll go on now, and also access to bus
timetables’
‘I think it's great
because you have all
the information at
your fingertips. I think
it will get people
using public transport
more!’
‘It’s great for pensioners who want to
spread their wings a bit further afield but
don't know how to go about it.’
‘It's a good idea for people who
can't get out and about to get the
information delivered to their doors
- then they know their options.’
‘It's encouraged me to
get back on my bike.’
It’s fantastic that you’ve
delivered all these
timetables - it makes
everything so much
easier.
‘Everything was really informative
and your response and delivery was
also very efficient.’
‘It’s well worth it because your
information is so
comprehensive.’
‘We have lived here for
10 years and have only
just realised that there's
a local train station -
now we use it every
day!’
For further information, contact me at
huw.thomas@sustrans.org.uk
02920 650602
@sustranscymru