Postscript - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 438

surrounding serious injury to pedestrians and cyclists. Additional home zones could be
designated in which these modes were accorded automatic priority.
3) Extending the spread and scope of personalised travel planning
At present personalised travel planning is still in its infancy although, following
experience in the 'Sustainable Towns' (16.6), similar programmes should become
commonplace across the country during the coming decade. To date however the
individual marketing and associated smarter choice measures have been presented in
terms of the options available for different types of journey .
Within the strategic context being advanced here however the scope of these
programmes should be extended to address more explicitly the options for reducing
private car ownership and thus raising the potential for reduced car use on to an
altogether higher plane - in effect 'demarketing' the private car (Wright and Egan 2000).
This requires the pattern of trip making and vehicle ownership by households to be
considered more holistically. Where the daily use of a car is not essential and where
reduced car use is acknowledged to be desirable, different mixes of vehicle choice (car
ownership, car club and car hire) should be explored in conjunction with different mode
choices for regularly made journeys. Amongst many multi-person households retention
of a 'family car' is likely to be seen as desirable but from a public perspective reducing
the proportion of such households owning two or more cars (and thereby breaking the
tendency to wholesale car dependence) would be an immensely valuable achievement.
With increasing complexity surrounding the capital, and running costs of cars of
different efficiency ratings under different fuel price scenarios, independent advice
should also be offered on the options available when the vehicles currently owned
are replaced. The sort of change in purchasing behaviour being promoted by national
policy on VED differentials would be enhanced if local authorities followed suit in
residents' parking schemes.
On a more radical level there is scope for encouraging significantly smaller-sized
vehicles (for ownership or rent) thus achieving further economies in fuel consumption
and parking space requirements. Examples are the Smart car already in widespread
use plus wholly new concepts such as city versions of golf buggies (Wright and Curtis
2005)! Like all 'new' modes their take-up is inhibited by existing infrastructure being
designed around conventional cars. However pilot schemes could be invited from local
authorities, promoters of eco-towns etc. in which, in conjunction with personalised
marketing programmes, parking bays on street, in car parks and within residential
developments would be allocated for car club and city cars at reduced rates.
This change in car purchasing behaviour would be best promoted in places where
there were already good opportunities for making non-local trips by modes other than
the car or where strategies are in place to bring this about. We explore this inter-urban
dimension in the next two sections.
25.5 Rethinking inter-urban travel
Although 'traffic in towns' has traditionally been regarded as problematic it is in fact
inter-urban travel which is the Achilles' heel of transport policy in the 21st century.
Because urban trips are relatively short distance with a range of modes available it is
possible to conceive of future 'solutions' following practices of demand management,
targeted investment and smarter choices that are already well known - even though,