The propensity for motorists to walk for short trips : evidence from West Edinburgh

The propensity for motorists to walk for short trips : evidence from West Edinburg

Use of non-motorised modes and life stage : evidence from Edinburgh

Links between life stage and travel behaviour are explored using Scottish Household Survey non-motorised mode data for Edinburgh. Employing cluster analysis, the sample is split into ten population segments, largely based on life stage. The life stage of having children is shown to affect individual travel behaviour. Households with children present have distinctive travel behaviour characteristics: they are particularly car dependent, tend to own but not use bicycles, and favour leisure cycling trips. A concerted, targeted policy effort is recommended in order to reduce motor car usage and encourage non-motorised modes

An international dimension: aviation

Purpose – To examine the relationship between aviation and climate change, and the international dimensions of air transport. Methodology/approach – A review of aviation's impacts on the global climate, mitigation strategies to reduce this impact, and the possible consequences of climate change for commercial aviation. Findings – Although a range of mitigation measures have been developed and implemented to reduce aircraft emissions in the short term, with some environmental benefit, there is a real need for the aviation sector to identify the possible impacts of climate change on air travel operations, both to aircraft in flight and to operations at airports. A further challenge will be to devise adaptation plans that will address the vulnerabilities and thus ensure safe aviation-related operations. Social implications – The climate change impacts of aviation will adversely affect society. In addition, some individuals may have to reduce or stop flying as a result of increased taxes and legislation implemented in response to climate change. Originality/value of paper – There is a novel focus on the adaptation challenges for the aviation industry in response to climate change

Airport surface access in the UK: A management perspective

Air passenger traffic in the UK has increased significantly over the last 30 years, and is forecast to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. A key associated challenge for airports involves the management of airport surface access. Currently, airport surface access in the UK is heavily reliant on trips by private car, which has resulted in congestion on local road networks and raised levels of pollution from vehicle emissions. The paper offers an airport management perspective on airport surface access in the UK. Semi-structured interviews with key personnel responsible for surface access management at 14 UK airports revealed a wide variety of surface access issues and management policies. The need to reduce the share of journeys made by private car is identified as a key issue, with a particular focus on reducing ‘kiss-and-fly’ journeys for passengers. Whilst reducing private car journeys may yield environmental benefits, such strategies are largely at odds with substantial commercial pressures to maximise the revenue potential of airport parking

Tourism destination preferences of low-cost airline users in the East Midlands

Increasing demand for air travel, associated with the boom in low-cost airlines, has assisted tourism growth. Expanding opportunities from regional airports underpin an increased propensity to fly. This paper examines European tourism destination preferences and price sensitivity to fly by population segment from an air travel household survey in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. Of the eight typical low-cost airline destinations presented to respondents cultural locations such as Rome are preferred. Weekend break leisure trips are particularly attractive to those in employment. Price sensitivity, suggests that increasing financial pressures will have an impact upon growth, however demand for an annual holiday is important, particularly for families

Eco-positioning of airlines: Perception versus actual performance

To date there has been little research in air transport into the eco-positioning of airlines, that is, their environmental image relative to other airlines and how actual environmental performance relates to this eco-positioning. This paper identifies the environmental perceptions that passengers hold of twelve airlines and relates these perceptions to airlines' actual environmental performance, using load factors, aircraft age and the atmosfair Airline index as proxies for environmental performance. Based on a survey of over 600 passengers at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the research analyses air travellers' perception of airlines from an environmental perspective. The results show that while there are significant differences in people's environmental perception of airlines, the eco-positioning of the airlines is not correlated to their actual environmental performance. The results support previous research findings in other industries that in many cases actual performance is less important than communicating environmental messages to the public in creating a superior eco-positioning

UK air travel preferences : evidence from an East Midlands household survey

UK air travel preferences : evidence from an East Midlands household surve

The role of Green Marketing: Insights from three airline case studies

The purpose of this paper is to show how airlines incorporate green elements in their marketing mix and how these changes are communicated to the public. Based on an examination of airlines' websites and publications as well as a review of academic and industry literature, three airline case studies on Virgin Atlantic Airways, easyJet and Flybe are developed. A multiple case design is applied that provides an in-depth review of the airlines' environmental activities and enables differences between their green marketing activities to be identified. All three airlines have adapted their marketing mix to address the environmental impacts of air transport. While there are some commonalities between the airlines (e.g. market communications addressing green credentials), there are also some differences in how the airlines approach the issue. Services are often seen as low-impact industries when it comes to environmental impacts, yet there are certain service sectors that have recognisable environmental impacts. The airline sector has received considerable attention regarding their emissions and they have responded to negative coverage of their environmental impacts. The paper presents an original multiple case study of the green marketing of three airlines. It provides a comparison between three airlines and highlights commonalities as well as differences in green marketing of the three airlines

Options for sustainable mobility

A major global problem is access to transport and thus mobility. Clearly, without mobility, economic vitality is severely curtailed; however, mobility and economic vitality brings a number of externalities not least in terms of pollutants. As such, there is a need to make sustainable mobility a priority. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defined sustainable mobility as 'the ability to meet society's need to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade and establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values, today or in the future'. The question is: how should this be achieved? This paper outlines the background to the problem of sustainable mobility, including a simple economic model that sets the problem in context. The focus is on three potential ways of addressing the issue of sustainable mobility: the market-based solution; technological change; and the promotion of sustainable modes of transport defined as public transport, walking and cycling. It is important to note, however, that these are not mutually exclusive and that 'more mobility' is not necessarily better

Healthcare representatives’ perspectives on hospital travel plans in England

The take-up of travel plans is increasing across the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, yet their impact on reducing car use is relatively low. Previous studies have investigated the determinants of generic travel plans but lacked an appreciation of the unique context of healthcare settings. This study investigated NHS travel plan co-ordinators' views on hospital travel plans to identify the factors affecting the success of travel plans in changing travel mode choice behaviour. A nationwide survey was conducted among NHS travel plan co-ordinators in England, with a response rate of 51% (n = 47). Findings suggest that despite having the potential for promoting walking as a key travel option among the hospital staff, measures to promote walking were reported as the least effective. Spearman correlation tests show that the effectiveness of measures to promote walking and reduce car use was positively associated with each other - highlighting the significance of designing effective travel measures to promote walking to attain the overall success in changing travel mode choice behaviour. Shift working patterns, personal circumstances, high car use, and staff attitude towards car use were reported as the key barriers to change travel mode choice behaviour among the NHS hospital staff. The use of robust methods, and evidence-base to develop, and monitor travel plan measures were found to be the key determinants of the success of travel plans. The provision of off-site car parks around 10-15. min walking distance away from the hospital site will not only encourage the car users to walk but also provide a realistic solution to the transport issues experienced by the hospitals. This study contributes to the knowledge gap by providing a valuable insight into the factors that may have affected the success of hospital travel plans, and form a basis for future research