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Personalised travel plans
Donostia - San Sebastián/Spain CIVITAS ARCHIMEDES | 2008-2012
Within this measure 300 households that were using their private cars for trips within the city, received personalized travel advice and over 200 were provided with a free public transport pass and other incentives to try out sustainable transport options. The goal was to achieve a reduction the number of private car trips among these households, also after the three-months trial period.
Implementing sustainable mobility
Donostia-San Sebastian set out to look into the specific mobility situation of 200 households in the districts of Amara and Antiguo. The main objective of the Personalised travel plans (PTP) is to achieve a reduction in the use of cars and an increase in walking, cycling and the use of public transport. This is done by means of initial data collection, providing the citizens with information on their best option for use of other sustainable means of transport as an alternative to private vehicles, combining this action with incentives such as public transport vouchers or gifts.
The main objectives of the measure are to:
- Reduce the number of private car use for trips within the city; and
- Reduce congestion and pollution.
During the house visits, residents were presented with public transport options for their specific trips and the difference in costs and travel time compared to their current travel choice. In addition, a comparison was made between the emissions caused by the different travel modes used for the specific trip. Households interested in exploring sustainable transport options were offered a free public transport pass for three months to test the service. Before, during and after the trial period, the participants received questionnaires to assess their mobility behaviour.
How is the measure progressing
The measure was presented to the general public in September 2010 during the European mobility week and received a good coverage in the regional press. In continuation, a direct mailing campaign targeted 3.000 households of the Amara and Antiguo districts. The mailing contained an invitation letter from the Mayor, a leaflet explaining the campaign and a copy of the questionnaire on mobility behaviour.
The mailing was followed up by 2.000 telephone calls to make appointments for face-to-face interviews or to carry out the questionnaire on the phone. The residents also had the opportunity to complete this introductory questionnaire online. From the start of the project a free phone number was provided for any inquiries regarding the project and its development.
After the first survey round, the project team presented 300 personalised travel plans to the participants during house-visits. Each plan was presented with a map of the route and made a comparison between the private car and the proposed alternative mode of transport. For each participant, the most suitable out of the four available alternatives was proposed:
- Urban buses (217 times);
- Public bike system (49 times);
- Walking (25 times);
- Private bicycle (9 times).
The alternatives were compared to the private car using the following indicators:
- Direct user costs of the trip (related to ticket price or fuel use in case of the private car);
- Total user costs of the trip (for the private car this includes costs like depreciation of the vehicle, insurance, maintenance, repairs and taxes);
- Emissions of CO2, NOx and PM10.
After the presentation of the personalised travel plan, two further data-collection rounds were planned in 2011. Out of the 300 citizens targeted by the personalised travel plans, 205 were provided with incentives and 132 reported that they had actually tried out the proposed alternatives for free during the months of March, April and May of 2011. The incentives ended after May 2011 and the travel behaviour was also monitored in the next project period (from June to August 2011). While 132 actually tried out the alternatives, the total number of participants in the two data collection rounds during 2011 was 205.
A final survey is planned for June/July 2012, to determine longer-term impacts of the measure.
What are the expected results of the measure
The final data collection round is foreseen for June/July 2012. Even so, the preliminary outcomes from the previous data collection rounds show a number of interesting results:
- 3.000 households were targeted. 300 provided information about their mobility behavior in the first round and received a personalized travel plan. 205 received an incentive in the form of a free three-month pass for public transport (185 times) or the public bike system (20 times). 132 indicated that they had actually tried out the proposed alternative transport mode.
- 90% of the people that received information from the campaign was satisfied with the information provided.
- 77% of the people that tried the alternative mode during the trial period, continue to use the alternative also in during the three months after the trial period when they no longer can travel for free.
- The grade that citizens give to the urban bus system rises from 7.0 to 7.5 when comparing the situation before when they were not using the bus to the situation after when using the bus.
When comparing the mobility behaviour between October 2010 (first survey) and August 2011 (three months after the trial period), the measure reaches the following results.
- The number of walking trips has increased with 4%.
- The number of trips in public transport increased by 6%
- The number of cycling journeys has increased by 1.5%.
- The number of trips in private car decreased by 12.5%.
- The number of trips on motorbikes decreased by 1%.
Overall the measure is calculated to reach an 1,5% reduction of all car trips made by citizen´s in the two districts. This means an annual reduction of 10.000 liters of fuel and 32tn of C02.
