The way we travel, like many of our life choices, is a mixture of habit, decision and intuition.
Computer models assume that travel behaviour choices are rational and based on copious knowledge, but the reality is that many of us choose to travel based on limited and imperfect information – or we may not realise that we’re “choosing” at all.
Our travel behaviour choices are built on a mixture of where we are travelling, what options are available at the time we want to go, and what the purpose of our journey is; but are also affected by a range of personal characteristics including socio-economic status, gender, age, disability, ethnicity and geography.
These factors vary from person to person, but also from journey to journey. For example, somebody who commutes to the office on a Thursday and takes their family to the park on Saturday is likely to think about those journeys differently.
In this report:
- We set out the challenges to changing behaviour, facing Government, authorities and businesses.
- We describe that different people travel differently - our characteristics and journey patterns are sometimes harder to change.
- We use four themes to classify some example interventions which could change travel behaviour alongside meeting the new Government's travel policy objectives.
- We propose a roadmap for action including quick wins, and how projects could be delivered.
- We recommend next steps and set out what "good" looks like over the next five years.
Travel behaviour change and modal shift have the potential to play a big role in the changes to our transport system in coming years. Read our report to find out more.
