A strategic assessment of travel trends and travel reduction strategies

Abstract

On‐going trends in travel have led to the need to consider the possibilities fir travel reduction, particularly travel by car and at peak times. It has therefore been considered necessary to identify strategies fir reducing the amount of travel to a necessary minimum, considering which components of travel need to be addressed and what types of effects any travel reduction strategies would have on travel behaviour. Accordingly, this paper discusses travel trends in Europe, investigates a set of travel reduction measures and reviews their current implementation. This involves, firstly, the demonstration of significant travel trends, both through statistics at an aggregated level across Europe and findings from a series of individual countries. These trends point to the increase in travel, with increasing number and length of trips, with a particular emphasis on growing car use and dependence. The paper goes on to explore possibilities for applying travel reduction strategies to tackle the observed growth in travel. This involves a collation of a set of possible travel reduction measures and an assessment of their potential effect on travel behaviour. Such effects include switching trips—modal switching, time switching and location switching— and substitution of trips—by technology, by linking trips and by trip modification. A review of current implementation of travel reduction measures is then carried out. Here, the prevalence of particular measures and the bodies responsible for their implementation are investigated for a selection of European countries. Finally, conclusions are drawn on the potential for application of the various travel reduction measures. This will provide a basis for taking forward the formulation of travel reduction strategies and the assessment qf the potential impact of particular measures, and hence contribute to the determination of the most appropriate future transport policies for travel reduction in Europe.