Postscript - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 442

Table 25.1 Promoting travel choices for motorway journeys utilising new interchanges

Access mode to
motorway

Mode on motorway Egress mode from
motorway
Current options Private car Private car Private car
Hired car Hired car Hired car
Coach Coach Coach
Lift Lift Lift
Additional options Private car Private car Urban mode*
Coach Urban mode*
Hired car
Lift Urban mode*
Hired car
Urban mode* Hired car Urban mode*
Hired car
Coach Urban mode*
Hired car
Lift Urban mode*
Hired car
*Urban mode = walk, cycle, public transport, taxi, city car, rented club car; or car passenger (lift)

Park and Ride sites as far as motorists are concerned. However the interchanges could
be developed to cater for many more modal combinations than the present P&R sites,
particularly if patterns of private vehicle ownership evolve in the manner suggested
earlier. For example an urban resident might use a bus, bike, taxi, city car or a rented
club car to access the motorway and then switch to a coach service, lift or conventional
hired car depending on the nature of their journey. In the opposite direction someone
arriving by car or coach would have option of switching to one of the urban modes,
or of being picked up by a relative or work colleague as happens now at rail stations.
An illustration of the range of options envisaged is given in Table 25.1. They would
offer much greater travel choice for individuals and contribute to reduced car use
- hence congestion and emissions - both on motorways and in towns. They should
eliminate the need for any additional inter-urban road-building. However the over-
riding advantage of the package suggested is that, by moving away from wholesale car
dependence, it would retain flexibility over the longer term in how the strategic road
network was managed in the face of uncertain futures surrounding traffic growth, fuel
prices, technological developments, and carbon-reduction targets.

2) Inter-town express services

A second example of where public transport is stuck in something of a time-warp
concerns inter-town services in the south-eastern quarter of England and other
urbanised regions. (The term 'inter-town' is used specifically to describe links between
adjacent medium and large towns rather than the longer distances incorporated within
'inter-urban' journeys.) These links are important in the context of the growth of
journeys in the 5-25 mile range mentioned earlier and the extent to which these are
currently dominated by car use.