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Smarter choices: Assessing the potential to achieve traffic reduction using 'Soft measures'

Cairns, Sally; Sloman, L.; Newson, C.; Kirkbridge, A; Anable, J.; Goodwin, Phil

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Authors

Sally Cairns

L. Sloman

C. Newson

A Kirkbridge

J. Anable

Phil Goodwin



Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in a range of transport policy initiatives which are designed to influence people's travel behaviour away from single-occupancy car use and towards more benign and efficient options, through a combination of marketing, information, incentives and tailored new services. In transport policy discussions, these are now widely described as 'soft' factor interventions or 'smarter choice' measures or 'mobility management' tools. In 2004, the UK Department for Transport commissioned a major study to examine whether large-scale programmes of these measures could potentially deliver substantial cuts in car use. The purpose of this article is to clarify the approach taken in the study, the types of evidence reviewed and the overall conclusions reached. In summary, the results suggested that, within approximately ten years, smarter choice measures have the potential to reduce national traffic levels by about 11%, with reductions of up to 21% of peak period urban traffic. Moreover, they represent relatively good value for money, with schemes potentially generating benefit:cost ratios which are in excess of 10:1. The central conclusion of the study was that such measures could play a very significant role in addressing traffic, given the right support and policy context.

Citation

Cairns, S., Sloman, L., Newson, C., Anable, J., Kirkbridge, A., & Goodwin, P. (2008). Smarter choices: Assessing the potential to achieve traffic reduction using 'Soft measures'. Transport Reviews, 28(5), 593-618. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441640801892504

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 8, 2008
Deposit Date Nov 11, 2010
Publicly Available Date Dec 2, 2016
Journal Transport Reviews
Print ISSN 0144-1647
Electronic ISSN 1464-5327
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 28
Issue 5
Pages 593-618
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/01441640801892504
Keywords research, transportation departments, transportation & state, travelers attitudes, travel, traffic congestion, city traffic
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1009451
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01441640801892504

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