Sustainable Transport Transition Year Projects

Walk To

Walk To, a partnership approach to increase walking, is being delivered by a partnership of sixteen local authorities across England, led by Birmingham City Council. Working with national charity Living Streets and Modeshift, the project is focusing on increasing walking rates with schools and workplaces in target locations, in order to tackle congestion and improve access to education and employment. The project is funded through a grant of £2.48m from Department for Transport as part of Sustainable Travel Transition Year funding.

Chris Rushbrook, Head of Delivery, Living Streets 

Pushing Ahead from A to Better in Norfolk

The Pushing Ahead project is built on existing partnerships and successful active travel initiatives to maximise the use of current and planned investment in infrastructure for walking and cycling. The project focuses on the growth areas in Norwich and Great Yarmouth by:

• Reducing single occupancy car trips

• Increasing active travel to reduce congestion and improve air quality

• Improving public health

• Supporting access to work and learning

• Improving safety

Jeremy Wiggin, Travel Development Team Manager, and Dr Andrew Hutcheson, Countryside Manager, Trails and Projects

Go Smarter Active Travel events

As a successful STTYF programme, Go Smarter is challenging workplaces and their employees to make achievable changes to their travel. It is delivering a wide range of successful and popular tailored behaviour change activities designed to get more people to think twice about using their car and instead opt for something healthier, cheaper and greener. Go Smarter’s STTYF activity covers seven local Authorities under the North East Combined Authority: County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.
With three key themes to the programme, Go Smarter supports key transition points in life to ensure sustainable transport is an easy choice and embedded behaviour, providing incentives, behavioural nudges and positive sustainable transport experiences.

Emma Allan, Go Smarter Programme, AECOM & Hannah Graham, Transport Planner, SYSTRA

Air Quality Walking Project

The aim of the Air Quality Walking Project is to upgrade the data feeding into the online journey planner within the Choose How You Move website to eliminate gaps in the mapping of footpaths and cycle routes, so as to encourage an increase in walking and cycling journeys in Leicester.  The Choose How You Move (CHYM) website, launched in January 2014, is a one stop shop for travel information in Leicester City and Leicestershire County. It incorporates a journey planner that presents multi-modal options starting with the most active or sustainable travel options. 

Sara Coy, Active Travel Training Coordinator, Leicester City Council

Streamlined smarter choices delivery

Jacobs is working in partnership with Cheshire East Council to overcome access barriers to employment and colleges. This Sustainable Travel Transition Year programme focuses on engaging key employers and colleges to support significant wider economic growth aspirations in Crewe linked to a future HS2 Hub. A key theme of the programme is addressing ‘access’ barriers for young people in Crewe, some of whom are living within highly deprived areas. This programme is utilising tried and tested techniques for smarter travel however these measures are being streamlined to meet the challenge of delivering within the context of reduced STTY timescales and budgets. Traditional smarter choices techniques including travel planning, PTP, cycle challenge, cycle loan scheme, marketing and communications are being employed with a strong focus on practical delivery of outputs/outcomes within the 9 month programme and achieving legacy.

John Davies, Principal Transport Planner, Cheshire East Highways and Jacobs

My Journey

Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council are in their fifth year of promoting sustainable travel through the My Journey brand. My Journey brand awareness has gone from zero to over 50% in some parts of the county. This has led to over half a million people visiting the website trying to find out how they can change their travel behaviour. These numbers are growing year on year which indicates a clear demand for the service and a desire for change. 

Vicky Doyle, Marketing Coordination Manager, Local Sustainable Transport Fund, Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council, Solent Transport and Surrey County Council 

Street Pockets: Reclaiming Street Spaces

Street Pockets are spaces for sitting, socialising with your neighbours, chatting with friends, playing, art, or just making your street greener and more active. They have been created by local residents converting one or two car parking spaces into a public space that the whole of the community can enjoy. Learn more about how Sustrans empowered local communities to improve the public space outside their front doors during Bristol’s year as Green Capital in 2015.

In 2015, Sustrans supported local communities in Bristol to take action and reclaim street space, recruiting local champions and provide the training required to engage with their neighbours and set up Street Pockets in their streets

Paola Spivach, Head of Design and Engineering England South, Sustrans

PASTA project: towards healthier cities

Team member Esther Anaya from Imperial College London will share information about the PASTA project, including impact evaluation of interventions towards cycling and behaviour change, and how 7 cities are becoming healthier through cycling.
The EU funded PASTA project aims to show how promoting active mobility can lead to a healthier, more physically active population - saving money and, more importantly, improving our lives.

Esther Anaya, Imperial College London