Measuring Motorists’ Choice Behaviour and Responses to Long-Term Changes in Transport Conditions.

This paper reports on the Gnding from an in-depth survey into the choice of travel mode by a small group of respondents in Nottingham. The purpose of this study was to identify the range of factors which affect current choice of travel mode and to develop a survey method which lead to better observation and predictions of future travel choice decisions under worsening conditions for car travel or improving conditions for public transport. The first section of the paper describes the background to the project. Section 2 describes the rationale and features of the survey method used in the study. Section 3 outlines the survey design. Section 4 discusses the findings from the survey and discusses the policy relevance of the findings. Section 5 discusses the implications of the work for the design of larger stated preference and revealed preference surveys

Designing with Users

1.1 The past 2-3 years has seen a resurgence of interest in the creation of pedestrian priority places. This interest has largely been stimulated by the advent of "traffic calming". There are two important differences however, compared to previous phases of interest in "pedestrian issues". Firstly, the emphasis is shifting beyond the town centre to residential and district centres. Secondly the interest is stimulated as much by `green issues' as by `pedestrian issues', meaning that people's interests are much broader than merely improving conditions for pedestrians. This new concern has led to fresh attention being focused on the design of pedestrian places and design processes. This attention is not only relevant to pedestrian places. All around us are transport systems, facilities and structures which at some point have been "designed". All too often these extensively researched projects still create dissatisfaction amongst the people who use them. The reasons for this dissatisfaction are numerous and need to be understood in order to provide better work and design in the future. In this paper we discuss how we might set about designing such places in order to produce satisfaction to these people who have to use them. We argue that the appropriate method should be a user-centred design. We define what this means and compare it with more conventional perspectives/approaches to design. For simplicity we have shown in Figure 1 the essence of the user-centred approach to design. 1.2 The term `design' is used to mean the exercise of a process to bring together all the requirements of the space and an endeavour to satisfy these requirements. Design as here used deals with the issues of function, cost, timing and effectiveness in use. The intangible functions of safety, comfort, attractiveness, visual appearance, respect for location are included, not just the usual interpretation of "Design" by non-designers, who think of it solely as the aesthetic aspects. Design is interpreted to mean an understanding of a continuing process - not just the first design of the project. But most importantly, here, design means design in terms of satisfaction of the user, not just satisfaction of the designer! The term `user' refers to those people who will have to live, work, shop, visit, walk around, drive through or look at the final project

Travel Demand Growth: Research on Longer-Term Issues. The Potential Contribution of Trip Planning Systems

INTRODUCTION 1.1 The growth in demand for travel Over the 20 years hm 1965, National Travel Survey (NTS) data shows a 61% growth in total person - km of travel. More detailed analysis suggests that this is made up roughly as follows:- due to increased population 4% due to more journeys 22% due to longer journeys 35% This implies that around 60% of the growth in travel has been due to people travelling further, rather than making more journeys. It is interesting to note, too, that the same phenomenon occurs even in the most congested areas. Between 1975 and 1985, NTS shows an 11% growth in person -km by London residents, at a time when population fell by 5%. In this case, the growth is made up roughly as follows:- due to lost population -5% due to more journeys 4% due to longer journeys 12% It is of course difficult to estimate the extent to which future growth in travel will be generated by longer journeys. The NRTF, which predicts a growth in car-km of between 120% and 180% between 1985 and 2025, is not based on a procedure which enables the effects of journey making and journey length to be separated. However, it is worth noting that if the same pattern were to exist at a national level in future, the predicted growth in car travel due to longer journeys could be equivalent to between 75% and 100% of today's car travel. It seems appropriate to ask whether it is a wise use of scarce resources to provide the infrastructure and energy needed to enable people to carry out their activities further from home. (Continues...

The Relationship Between Pedestrian’s Assessment of Street Environments and Physical Conditions

1.1.1 Any new road, road improvement or traffic management scheme could affect pedestrian journeys in its locality or elsewhere. Some journeys may be affected directly, with severance caused where the new road or road improvement cuts across a pedestrian route, others may be affected indirectly with a new road causing changes in traffic levels elsewhere. To enable effects on pedestrians to be given proper weight when decisions are taken, techniques are required that forecast the effects of the scheme on the number and quality of pedestrian journeys. This is particularly true in urban areas, since effects on pedestrians may be one of the main benefits or disbenefits of measures to relieve urban traffic. (Continues..

The Influence of Town Centre Conditions on Pedestrian Trip Behaviour: Results from a Household Survey in Two Locations

1.1.1 Any new road, road improvement or traffic management scheme could affect pedestrian journeys in its locality or elsewhere. Some journeys may be affected directly, with severance caused where the new road or road improvement cuts across a pedestrian route, others may be affected indirectly with a new road causing changes in traffic levels elsewhere. To enable effects on pedestrians to be given proper weight when decisions are taken, techniques are required that forecast the effects of the scheme on the number and quality of pedestrian journeys. This is particularly true in urban areas, since effects on pedestrians may be one of the main benefits or disbenefits of measures to relieve urban traffic. (Continues..

Pedestrian Amenity: On Street Survey Design

Any new road, road improvement or traffic management scheme could affect pedestrian journeys in its locality or elsewhere. Some journeys may be affected directly, with severance caused where the new road or road improvement cuts across a pedestrian route, others may be affected indirectly with a new road causing changes in traffic levels elsewhere. To enable effects on pedestrians to be given proper weight when decisions are taken, techniques are required that forecast the effects of the scheme on the number and quality of pedestrian journeys. This is particularly true in urban areas, since effects on pedestrians may be one of the main benefits or disbenefits of measures to relieve urban traffic. (Continues..

Studies of Pedestrian Amenity.

This report, produced for the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, summarises the results of an extensive literature search in two areas of pedestrian research: (I) Estimating the Number of Pedestrian Journeys (2) Pedestrian Amenity The report identifies gaps in current knowledge from the revealed literature and makes recommendations for best practice. Research proposals are made, to help alleviate such revealed gaps, in a companion report

Counting Methods and Sampling Strategies Determining Pedestrian Numbers

1.1.1 Any new road, road improvement or traffic management scheme could affect pedestrian journeys in its locality or elsewhere. Some journeys may be affected directly, with severance caused where the new road or road improvement cuts across a pedestrian route, others may be affected indirectly with a new road causing changes in traffic levels elsewhere. To enable effects on pedestrians to be given proper weight when decisions are taken, techniques are required that forecast the effects of the scheme on the number and quality of pedestrian journeys. This is particularly true in urban areas, since effects on pedestrians may be one of the main benefits or disbenefits of measures to relieve urban traffic. (Continues..

Pedestrian Amenity: On Street Survey Design

Any new road, road improvement or traffic management scheme could affect pedestrian journeys in its locality or elsewhere. Some journeys may be affected directly, with severance caused where the new road or road improvement cuts across a pedestrian route, others may be affected indirectly with a new road causing changes in traffic levels elsewhere. To enable effects on pedestrians to be given proper weight when decisions are taken, techniques are required that forecast the effects of the scheme on the number and quality of pedestrian journeys. This is particularly true in urban areas, since effects on pedestrians may be one of the main benefits or disbenefits of measures to relieve urban traffic. (Continues..

The Social Valuation of Road Schemes.

Road project appraisal in the UK is based upon the estimation of costs and benefits which in turn are predicted upon a series of techniques, assumptions and approaches. This paper examines a number of critical issues in road project appraisal, in particular the relation between 'economic' and 'environmental' costs and benefits. A social survey methodology is described which allows people to express their preferens between alternative road schemes in a much fuller way than is normally allowed in conventional studies of, for instance, value of time or environmental impact surveys. The findings of these surveys are discussed and their implications for road project appraisal outlined