Determinants for intention to change travel mode choice behaviour of NHS hospital staff

The UK’s NHS is the largest employer in Europe with approximately 1.3 million staff. Around 83% of the journeys associated with the NHS are made by private car. In this context, every healthcare authority was required to produce a travel plan by December 2010, including an emphasis on promoting walking and cycling as a means of accessing hospitals. Evidence shows that although the take–up of travel plans is increasing across the NHS, the impact of travel plans in promoting walking as a travel option is relatively low among hospital staff. A scoping study has been conducted aiming to bridge the gap between research and practice by capturing the views of the NHS representatives on hospital travel plans by a nationwide survey and review of hospital travel plans. The survey findings show that despite having a high potential to promote walking as a key travel option among the hospital staff, the measures to promote walking were cited as the least effective. A Spearman’s ⇢ correlation coefficient test was performed to evaluate the correlation between travel plan measures to promote walking and restrictive measures to reduce the use of cars. The results show that the effectiveness of measures to reduce the use of cars is positively correlated with the effectiveness of measures to promote walking. The effectiveness of travel plan measures to secure the targeted outcome is attributed to the methods used to address the determinants for changing travel behaviour whilst designing travel plan measures and the successful adoption of innovative strategies in the given context. A theoretical framework has been developed based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and five key research hypotheses have been proposed to demonstrate the key determinants for changing travel behaviour. The analysis was based on a nationwide survey among the NHS hospital staff in England in 2013. There were 863 completed responses, out of which 459 responses were from hospital staff, who solely relied on car journeys for commuting purposes. Structural equation modelling was performed to investigate the effects of socio–economic, psychological and situational factors in determining intention to change travel behaviour among the car users only. The model estimation results show that the effects of cognitive attitude towards walking and objective mobility were significant on determining intention to change travel behaviour. The respondents exhibited a habitual nature of travel behaviour, which is characterised by longer commuting distance and journey time than the national UK average. The practical implications of the study were addressed by providing recommendations that need to be considered whilst designing travel plan measures. The recommendations were based on the concept of Model for Planned Promotion. This study provides a basis for further conceptualisation of travel behaviour change and identifies several areas that need further investigation in relation to designing interventions to promote walking in the context of healthcare

Briefing: holistic assessment of sustainable urban development

Introducing the SUE-MoT (metrics, models and toolkits for whole-life sustainable urban development) series, this paper highlights some of the barriers that need to be addressed if the vision for holistic assessment is to be realised. The complexities of sustainability assessment raised in this paper will be further discussed in detail in the SUE-MoT series of papers that will be published in forthcoming issues of this journal. This paper highlights the priorities to address when assessment tools are presented to decision makers of urban development projects. This discussion is limited to the issues, values and solutions in the UK context

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

Urban design and social capital: lessons from a case study in Braunstone, Leicester

A valuable asset in sustainable regeneration is the ‘community’ with their developed networks, bonds and ties or in other words its social capital which is a useful resource. Braunstone in Leicester is typical of many disadvantaged areas in the UK, with persistent socio-economic problems exacerbated by a poor physical setting. With a large regeneration programme funded by the New Deal for Communities coming to a close, we conducted a case study to explore the impact of improved local facilities and the effect of walkability on social capital. The lessons learnt suggests that responding to needs at a finer grain is vital in developing neighbourhoods for social capital such as responding to the needs of different user groups, responding to local patterns of use and needs of micro localities, and improving the perceptions of neighbourhoods. Local facilities and neighbourhood walkablity provides incentives for longer term residency, and facilitates interaction which helps social capital to grow. Accessing services by walking and using public transport proves vital to engage in social activities, while a poor physical environment, lack of accessible services and public transport negatively affects participation in social and leisure activities. Facilities and buildings provide a mediating role in developing social capital in a community, providing opportunity for social interaction which encourages people to reside in an area for longer. Improving connections beyond the neighbourhood is important to help retain people for longer term residency to develop social capital

Impact of urban design on social capital: lessons from a case study in Braunstone

Many urban centres are still blighted by crime and poverty; poorly designed development can have negative effects on the health, welfare and economic prospects of communities. The design, scale, quality and distribution of structures within the built environment are key determinants of the environmental, social and economic wellbeing of urban areas and the quality of life of their inhabitants. Sustainable urban development requires a new way of doing things: a way which reduces environmental impact while at the same time promote widespread economic and social progress. Fundamental to social progress and wellbeing is the social capital of a community, referred to as the social bonds and norms or the 'glue that holds societies together'. The design and form of cities, neighbourhoods and individual buildings have significant implications on social capital as they can affect the way people interact and bond with each other and the sense of community