This short presentation provides a summary of comparative results of pilot surveys undertaken as part of the Standardised Assessment Methodology (SAM) for monitoring the effect of travel plans.

1 When we first introduced the SAM methodology in 2005, we decided to undertake a small sample of multi-modal pilot surveys at various developments in the South East of England. The aim was to test the SAM methodology and undertake a comparative exercise over time, to see what effect the travel plans at each of the developments may be having. So, surveys were undertaken at three-year intervals. The first were done in 2005, with the first set of re-surveys taking place in 2008, and the final surveys taking place in 2011. All surveys were undertaken on neutral days in the autumn. In 2009, the TRICS Consortium released a comparative report looking at the 2005 and 2008 surveys. We can now bring this up to date with this presentation, looking at comparisons over the whole 6 year period. The final set of surveys undertaken in 2011 will be made available to all users in the forthcoming update of TRICS, version 2012(b)v6.10.1 in July.

2 Here we can see the locations of the four survey sites. First of all, we have Glaxo Smithkline, which is situated in Weybridge in . Our second site is County Hall ( County Council) in Maidstone. On the coast we have Bexhill College, and finally there is the B&Q Headquarters in Chandler’s Ford, . So we covered sites in four of the 6 Consortium counties.

3 The surveys themselves were standard multi-modal directional TRICS surveys, obtained through observation and interview in the usual way, following our tried and tested TRICS data collection methodology. In addition to this, for the 2008 and 2011 surveys we also introduced Journey Purpose counts for the employment-based sites (this data will also be made available to TRICS users in the forthcoming system update). As always, the multi-modal surveys included supporting information on the site location and surroundings including public transport etc, development details on the operations of the sites themselves, and information on both on-site and off-site parking. Unique for SAM surveys, we also included the Travel Plan data section.

4 This additional source of information for our users is descriptive and is broken down into a number of sub-sections which you can see here. It starts off with a section of main details, identifying target groups for the travel plan and providing information on when the plan commenced etc. Then, there is a section on any changes to the local environment and circumstances, followed by sections on cycling, car sharing, car parking management, financial incentives, public transport, and shuttle buses. Care was taken when inputting the data for these sections to take into account any changes to the travel plans over the 6 years duration of the pilot study, and to include any information of this nature.

5 Once the 2011 surveys were fully validated a short while ago, we could then undertake some key analyses for comparative purposes. There were three comparisons made for each development. The first, and most important in identifying the effect of a travel plan, is a look at any modal shifts there may be over time. The second comparison was a straightforward look at the total number of vehicles and total people recorded in the surveys, and the third comparison was a look at vehicular trip rates over time, calculated by Gross Floor Area, Employees, and in the case of Bexhill College, Students.

6 So, let’s take a look at the comparisons made at our first site, Glaxo Smithkline in Weybridge. You can see its location on the map on the left. The M25 and M3 motorways are both in relatively short distance from the site, with Greater London being located not too far away to the north-east.

7 Here is our modal shift comparison for Glaxo Smithkline. As you can see from the chart, the percentage of all trips being vehicle occupant has gradually but steadily decreased at this site, from 84.7% in 2005 down to 75.1% in 2011. Conversely, we can see that there has been a small increase in the percentage of trips made on foot, and quite a good increase in the percentage of public transport users, rising from 8.7% in 2005 to 15.4% in 2011. Note that there has been no change in the percentage of trips being by bicycle, with this remaining pretty static.

8 Looking at the total number of vehicles and the total number of people recorded over time, we can see that there has been a general decline in overall traffic over the 6 years, due to there just being a slightly lower level of activity at the site over time. When you look at the total person trips to vehicle rations across the 6 years, you can see a slight increase, which is a good thing in Travel Plan terms as this indicates a smaller percentage of people relying on the car, which of course wa reflected in the previous slide.

9 Taking a look at trip rates, we can see that trips per 100m2 of Gross Floor Area have decreased from 6.712 in 2005 to 4.698 in 2011, with there being a similar decrease when calculating trip rates by employee, a reduction from 2.001 in 2005 to 1.406 in 2011. These reductions are in line with the previous slide which showed an overall reduction in the number of trips taking place at the site, so there are no surprises here.

10 Our second site is County Hall in Maidstone, home to Kent County Council. Located just outside the centre of Maidstone (as you can see on the map), and south of the M20 motiorway, this development consists of an old building (that you can see in the photo) and a more modern building.

11 Looking at the modal shift for this site, we don’t see as clear a trend as we did for the Glaxo Smithkline development previously. Most modes remain quite static over time, so the indications are that the travel plan has not had a continuous effect on mode choice over time, with any real effect having taken place by the time of the original 2005 survey. As you can see, vehicle occupants have remained static, as have public transport users and cyclists. There is a slight increase in the percentage of people travelling on foot, up from 37.9% in 2005 to 40.2% in 2011, although the 2011 percentage is slightly lower than that at the time of the 2008 survey. Overall, a pretty consistent set of mode split results over time.

12 The 2005 and 2008 surveys are very similar here in that the overall number of vehicles and people remained unchanged. However, the 2011 survey appeared to be a particularly busy day at County Hall, showing an increase in the number of trips. Also, note the slight increase in the total people trips to vehicles ratio from 2008 (1.97) to 2011 (2.25). Although not a great difference, there is an indication of a slight decrease in the reliance of the car, but this is only small and could be put down to a number of influential factors.

13 As shown in the previous chart, the only real point to note with regards to trip rates for County Hall is the jump in trip rates per 100m2 of GFA in the 2011 survey, reflecting the general increase in activity at the site on this day overall. In 2008 the figure was 5.799, with it being 7.224 in 2011. Trip rates by employee have remained quite static over the surveys, between 0.886 and 1.106.

14 Our third site to analyse is Bexhill College, on the East Sussex Coast just west of Hastings (as you can see on the map).

15 This is an interesting site to take a look at, as when the 2008 survey was undertaken there was constant, severe weather at the site, which of course made comparisons between the 2005 and 2008 surveys a bit more difficult than usual. So, it is best to look at the comparison between the 2005 and 2011 surveys in this case. And the comparison here is good news for a modal shift towards sustainable forms of transport. We can see decrease in the percentage of trips being vehicle occupants, down from 47.2% in 2005 to 40.5% in 2011 (note that it actually went up a bit at the time of the 2008 survey but this can of course be put down to the weather conditions on the day and the fact that you can also see a corresponding dip in pedestrian activity. Looking at pedestrians, there is a slight overall increase from 2005 (23.7% of all trips) to 2011 (25.6%). Public transport use has also increased from 27% of trips in 2005 to 32.8% in 2011. Note that there has not been much movement in cyclists.

16 Looking at the total vehicles and total people comparison, we can see a general reduction in both the total number of vehicle and people trips, as activity at the site has reduced over time. The total trips to vehicle ratios do not show a consistent pattern across the three surveys.

17 When looking at vehicular trip rate generation, there are small decreases in trip rate by all three parameters (GFA, Employees and Students), which reflects the previous slide showing a general reduction in overall trip activity. Trip rates by 100m2 GFA decreased from 18.924 in 2005 to 15.881 in 2011, trip rates by employee reduced from 9.211 in 2005 to 6.992 in 2011, and trip rates by student decreased from 1.368 in 2005 to 1.07 in 2011.

18 The final site analysed was the B&Q Headquarters, located in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire. The site is mid-way between Southampton and Winchester, and is close to the M3 and M27 motorways.

19 The first thing that should be noted about this site is that the buildings that comprised it at the time of the 2005 and 2008 surveys were replaced (except one) by a new, larger building called B&Q House. This building opened a short time before the 2011 survey took place. Looking at modal shift over time, we can see a consistent, small but steady shift towards sustainable methods of transport. The percentage of trips being vehicle occupant fell from 79.4% in 2005 to 72.6% in 2011. The pedestrians percentage increased from 17.8% in 2005 to 20.2% in 2011, and the public transport users percentage also saw an increase from 1.2% in 2005 to 5.3% in 2011. This indicates that the travel plan is having an effect at the site over time, with a steady mode shift clearly evident.

20 The overall number of trips taking place remained quite consistent in the 2005 and 2008 surveys, but with the opening of B&Q House in 2011 the overall number of trips increased significantly (which is probably to be expected with the new building being a new showpiece headquarters). If we look at the total people to vehicles ratio, this also looks good over time, with the ratio increasing from 1.31 in 2005 to 1.45 in 2011. This indicates that there has been a small but steady reduction in the reliance of cars.

21 Looking at vehicular trip rates, we can see a reduction in trips by 100m2 GFA from 15.46 in 2005 to 11.777 in 2011. Note that this can be explained by the larger size of B&Q House when compared to the previous set-up at the time of the 2005 and 2008 surveys. Trip rates per employee has remained quite static at between 1.77 and 1.868, and the reason for this might be the fact that a higher number of staff now work at B&Q House than did in the other buildings in 2005 and 2008. This is balanced out by the overall increase in activity at this site in 2011.

22 So, to summarise our findings. We are pleased that the pilot surveys have been undertaken successfully on three separate occasions in 2005, 2008 and 2011. Looking at the results, we can see that there is an overall trend showing a small but steady shift towards sustainable modes of transport, which is more that mere coincidence when we compare four sites that have each been surveyed three times over 6 years. The travel plans at these sites are clearly having an effect. There will always be other factors that can influence trip generation and mode choice on any given survey day, but this exercise has shown us that there are strong indications that travel plans at these sites have provided some notable benefit.

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