BIKE-RAIL INTEGRATION AS ONE SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT SOLUTION TO REDUCE CAR DEPENDENCE HENRIETTA SHERWIN A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the University of the West of England, Bristol for a PhD Centre for Transport and Society, Faculty of the Environment and Technology, May 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would particularly like to thank my primary supervisor Professor Graham Parkhurst who initially supported the idea for this PhD and as a result of working in the same Centre has had to shoulder the main burden of supervision which he has done with considerable patience. This does not diminish the contribution of my other supervisors, despite their geographical distance, Derek Robbins at the University of Bournemouth and Ian Walker at Bath University, who have both given generously of their time and expertise to help shape this project. My colleagues at the Centre for Transport and Society have all helped in their individual ways and I have felt very privileged to work with them. This project would not have developed in the way that it did without the support and collaboration of Andrew Saunders at First Great Western, Tim Caswell and Jo Kyne at Hourbike, Mike Ginger formerly Bristol City Council now Highways Agency, Andy Whitehead and Phil Wright Bristol City Council and Steve Ward University of the West of England‘s (UWE) travel planner. Finally the support of my family has been paramount. This research programme was carried out in collaboration with First Great Western Trains (FGW) as a Great Western Research Studentship which is expected to contribute to knowledge that will assist regional development as well as knowledge exchange between the private sector and academic institutions in the South West, in this case, Bath University, Bournemouth University and the University of the West of England. Access to the rail network and the perspective of the rail industry has been provided by the private sector partner, First Great Western and the information exchanged could inform policy changes within the rail industry, as well as other organisations within the South West and other parts of the country, with an interest in promoting more sustainable travel options ii ABSTRACT The level of bike-rail integration (combining cycling with rail) in the UK presents an unrealised sustainable mobility potential: two per cent of rail passengers access the rail network by bicycle, contrasting with 40 per cent in the Netherlands. Cycling on its own has distance limitations but in combination with rail it can substitute for longer car journeys and is one means of reducing car dependence. The overall objective of this PhD research project was to understand existing bike-rail integration behaviour in the UK, using as the research location two stations in the South West of England (Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway), to inform the design, development and implementation of initiatives to increase its incidence. It therefore had two distinct research phases: an exploratory phase and an action research phase. The exploratory phase demonstrated that bike-rail integrators were mainly motivated by saving time or money and taking exercise. The majority were male, in their thirties, in full- time employment and cycled on average 3.7 km to the station. These data in conjunction with a conceptual „ecological‟ model developed from a critical review of behaviour change theory were used to inform the design and implementation of a pay-as-you-go self-hire cycle network (Hourbike) and an intervention to attract car drivers to switch to rail with either walking or cycling access. In the first year of Hourbike, seven per cent of users had never really cycled before and one per cent of car drivers responded to the opportunity to try rail with walking or cycling access rendering rich qualitative data from non-users about the attractors and barriers to bike-rail integration. The process of incorporating theory into practice is described providing useful insights for future interventions which are discussed in the light of theory. Opportunities are identified in the context of the national policy to implement station travel plans which emerged in the latter phases of the research. iii Contents page Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2 Sustainable mobility, the context for the promotion of bike-rail integration ....... 8 2.2 The growth of transport and its impact............................................................................ 8 2.3 Car dependence; the implication for behaviour change to bike-rail integration ....... 14 2.4 A shift in UK transport policy .......................................................................................... 23 2.5 The policy context for the promotion of bike-rail integration ...................................... 26 2.6 Summary and conclusion ................................................................................................ 30 Chapter 3 Promotion of bike-rail integration:opportunities and constraints ....................... 31 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Cycling in the UK .............................................................................................................. 32 3.3 Cycling in other northern European countries ............................................................. 37 3.4 Experience of promoting cycling in the UK ................................................................... 39 3.5 The existing practice of bike-rail integration ................................................................. 45 3.5.1 The provision of cycle parking ..................................................................................... 47 3.5.2 Factors to consider in the design of an intervention to promote bike-rail integration .. 50 3.6 Summary and conclusion ................................................................................................ 53 Chapter 4 Behaviour change and decision making ................................................................ 55 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 55 4.2 Transport context and rational decision making .......................................................... 56 4.2.1 Rational decision making............................................................................................. 57 4.2.2 The framing of decision making – the choice architecture .......................................... 59 4.2.3 Habit ............................................................................................................................ 61 4.2.4 Information and the perception of alternatives ............................................................ 62 4.2.5 Attitudes – how important? .......................................................................................... 64 4.3 Life stage and personal characteristics ......................................................................... 65 4.4 Social and cultural context .............................................................................................. 70 4.4.1 The perception of the safety of cycling ........................................................................ 73 4.4.2 The image of cycling and the lack of a cycling culture ................................................ 74 4.5 The interaction of influencing factors ............................................................................ 75 4.6 The relevance for the design of interventions .............................................................. 76 iv Chapter 5 Social marketing and social diffusion – theory into practice .............................. 78 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 78 5.2 Social marketing ............................................................................................................... 79 5.3 Social Learning and Social Diffusion Theory ................................................................ 82 5.4 How can social marketing be applied to bike-rail integration in practice? ................ 86 5.4.1 Identifying your target audience – segmentation? ...................................................... 90 5.4.2 Summary and relevance to this research project ........................................................ 93 Chapter 6 Overall research strategy and Methodology ......................................................... 94 6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 94 6.2 Research questions ......................................................................................................... 95 6.3 Overall research strategy and approach........................................................................ 97 6.4 Location ............................................................................................................................. 99 6.5 Exploratory phase methodology .................................................................................. 104 6.5.1 Cycle parking counts ................................................................................................. 104 6.5.2 Barrier counts