This website has been designed in association with EMRA to help promote good practice in the fields of Smarter Choices and Influencing Travel Behaviour. They have been designed for anyone with an interest in Smarter Choices to research schemes in other areas of the region and further a field in the UK. By using the 'Schemes' section of this website you can learn about various schemes successfully undertaken in the region, follow useful links to related web pages and even use the scheme managers contact details to discuss any queries you may have.

We hope you find this website useful, and we would like to receive any feedback or suggestions you may have through the form in the 'Feedback' section.

Click here to view the Smarter Choices brochure

What are Smarter Choices?

Smarter Choices represent a range of measures designed to support sustainable travel by reducing dependency on the car. They have been in use for many years in various forms but have more recently been termed 'Smarter Choices' by the DfT in their 2004 report 'Smarter Choices - Changing The Way We Travel', which can be found in the Publications section.

By pursuing them, local authorities and partners can contribute to a reduction in congestion, promote social inclusiveness, accessibility and well being, and enhance local air quality.

Smarter Choices and their benefits

The promotion of Smarter Choices, formerly referred to as 'soft measures', is a central theme of the DfT's Influencing Travel Behaviour programme. The benefits identified by the DfT include:

• A reduction in car use, and easing of localised congestion
• An increase in modal shift
• Environmental benefits
• Economic benefits
• Better health and fitness through more walking and cycling

• Tackling congestion
• Promoting accessibility and social inclusion
• Delivering safer roads
• Improved air quality

All of which will enhance the quality of life through having a positive impact on the way people travel. Local authorities are also now tasked with producing biennial LTP delivery reports to demonstrate how the implementation of Smarter Choice schemes has beneficially contributed to local economic, social, health and environmental criteria in real terms.

Whilst all sharing the common goals, Smarter Choices schemes can be grouped into a number of categories. Ranging from personalised travel planning to home shopping, they all reduce the number car trips made and congestion whilst improving people's health and the economic performance of a region.

Travel Plans incorporate a number of Smarter Choices schemes and will be most effective where they are supported by hard measures designed to 'lock in' the associated benefits such as bus/cycle/high occupancy vehicle lanes and reduced car parking capacity.

Exploring Smarter Choices in the East Midlands

The East Midlands Regional Assembly has developed this interactive and evolving website to showcase innovative and successful initiatives in the Smarter Choices field from within the East Midlands region. Accessing and updating it will inform and educate all those keen to join in the Smarter Choices revolution.

There are a great number of successful and innovative examples of Smarter Choices schemes working in the region today. From the rural farming regions of Lincolnshire and the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, to the densely populated urban centres of Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham, and key commuter routes along the M1, a variety of Smarter Choice solutions have been developed.

In the rest of the UK, Europe and further afield there are also many good examples of Smarter Choices schemes. For more information about the 'best of the rest' please go to the Search section.

Different types of Smarter Choices

Workplace Travel Plan

A workplace travel plan aims to reduce car trips to an employment site by staff, visitors, customers and suppliers, and increase levels of public transport use, walking, cycling or car sharing. Travel plans can be voluntarily adopted or secured by a local authority through a Section 106 agreement, or the use of a planning condition. Travel plans ought to specify a desired modal split target or a range of measures to be implemented within a specific timescale. Monitoring and evaluating are vital to ensure their success and long term continuation.

School Travel Plan

A school travel plan encourages school children and staff to travel to school by alternative methods to a car. It can feature a number of schemes including walking buses, cyclist and pedestrian training, promotional campaigns and classroom learning activities. School travel plans generally is now an umbrella term for all school travel initiatives, including safe routes to school and cycle parking. The school needs to be actively involved in the process with support from the local authority to help ensure its success.

Area Travel Plan

An area (or cluster) travel plan covers a number of organisations on a particular site, such as a science park. The travel plan requires input and support form all the organisations it represents and the local authority to help ensure its success and can include particular elements such as car sharing, cycling and walking initiatives. An area travel plan can provide the evidence base to either lever in or plan LTP investment in cycling and walking schemes.

Residential Travel Plans

Residential travel plans are best adopted during the design and planning phase of a new housing development. They can be secured and funded by S106 agreements and should cover aspects such as public transport access and infrastructure. They are most likely to succeed if implemented at the earliest possible stage of planning and involve input from the developers, local authority and public transport operators. Schemes could include welcome packs for residents with free travel information and free introductory period passes, walking and cycling routes, or free cycles. A recent report on residential travel plans with successful case studies has been published by the DfT, and can be found in the Publications section.

Event and Tourism Travel Plans

Event and tourism travel plans can be adopted by one off event organisers and by other tourist destinations. By predicting and managing the demand for travel at certain times of the year alternative measures of transport to the private car can be promoted or put in place. Suitable forward planning is required but can bring about huge benefits to the accessibility and car parking requirements of a destination.

Personalised Travel Planning

Personalised travel planning is an approach that provides travel options advice and incentives to a targeted group of people on an individual basis. These schemes can be target neighbourhoods or specific groups, such as school children, employees or single parents. Information is based on the individuals travel patterns and incentives could be provided that the individual may find useful.

Public Transport Information and Marketing

Promotion and marketing of specific routes, whole networks or improvements to bus services is crucial to achieving an increase in patronage. Smarter Choices projects links improvements in service and route information with the promotion of services. Like the main principle of marketing getting the right product to the right person at the right time, the same applies to Smarter Choices for travel. This could be the marketing of a particular bus or train service to potential passengers who could use it. The use of branding and supplying good information is vital.

Travel Awareness Campaigns

Travel awareness campaigns raise the public's awareness of the problems caused by car use and encourages the use of alternative modes of transport. Campaigns use a number of media, including exhibitions, road shows, radio adverts, bus backs adverts, poster, leaflets and press releases. On-going communication takes place through the media, targeting broad audience or specific audiences with focused messages, for example promoting the health incentives of cycling and walking and the benefits to the environment.

Car Sharing

Car sharing schemes are usually internet based and provide matches for people wanting to share the same or similar journeys. The sharers agree to share the costs of their journeys or alternate the driving. Most schemes enable people to set criteria for potential sharer matches, such as gender or non-smoker. Car sharing schemes can be supported priority parking or discounted parking charges through the workplace travel plan, or use of HOV lanes (High Occupancy Vehicle).

Car Clubs

A car club gives people access to a car without them having to own one. A neighbourhood or organisation will have access to a number of cars and members of the car club will pay a fee to be a member. Then members can take the car when they need them by booking in advance. This can reduce the number of cars owned in an area and therefore reduce unnecessary congestion. Users also make financial savings by not having the associated overheads of running a private motor vehicle.

Teleworking

Teleworking can be incorporated into workplace travel plans and allows individuals to work from home. Recent improvements in ICT allows individuals to work from home whilst remain in constant contact with the office. Support is essential from the employer and they may choose to provide the necessary hardware. If every individual teleworked one day a week then congestion could be cut by as much as twenty percent.

Teleconferencing

Teleconferencing involves the use of ICT to communicate 'in person' without the need to travel. Support is required from employers but the financial savings often outweigh the associated costs.

Home Shopping

Internet and home catalogue shopping have the potential to reduce shopping car trips. Efficient distribution systems are vital to ensure that there is a net reduction in vehicle trips and distance travelled.

Cycling and Walking

They can be linked to travel plans or promoted as separate schemes such as cycle lanes, safe walking routes, cycle pools for users or cyclist training.

Hard Measures to 'lock in' the benefits of Smarter Choices schemes

The Smarter Choices - Changing the way we travel report highlights the scale of single occupancy vehicle trip savings the adoption of smart measures might bring about. Local Authorities are encouraged to "lock in" these benefits through the parallel adoption of demand management measures (or "hard" measures), such as the deployment of traffic calming or bus priority infrastructure. Successful dovetailing of both "soft" and "hard" initiatives will ensure the full benefits of the Smarter Choice philosophy is realised.