Tim Jones Alison Chisholm Tjones@brookes.ac.uk Achisholm .

Tim Jonestjones@brookes.ac.ukAlison Chisholmachisholm@brookes.ac.ukSPU

Walking and Cycling for Healthy and Sustainable CommunitiesPart of 4Mprogramme todevelop‘cross-disciplinaryresearchconsortia in thearea of walkingand cycling’Impact of Constructing Non-motorised Networks and EvaluatingChanges in Travel

starting assumptionswalking and cycling for short journeys in urban areas could significantly:ReducetrafficcongestionImprove thequality of theurbanenvironmentContribute toa reductionin carbonemissionsPromoteimprovedpersonal health

Walking and cycling’s potential contribution toreducing traffic congestion

Distance travelled on foot and by cyclecontinues to decline. Nearly two thirds of trips are under 8 km inlength and two fifths under 3 km. One quarter of car trips are under 1.6 kmwhere car efficiency is at its lowest

walking38% walking is not animportant form oftransport for thempersonallycycling60% never cycleSource: National Omnibus Survey October 2002

Comparison of proportion of trips

Walking and cycling’s potential contribution to alow carbon transport system

Transport sector’s contribution to climate changeRoadTransportcontributes23% of UKGHGemissionsAn increase of11% since1990Transport oneof the fewexceptions todownwardtrends in othersectors

Role of walking and cycling in reducing carbonemissions from transportHiggins, P.A. & Higgins, M. (2005). A healthy reduction in oil consumptionand carbon emissions Energy Policy, Vol. 33, No. 1. pp. 1-4.

Hickman, R. and Banister, D. (2007) Looking over the horizon: transport andreduced CO2 emissions in the UK by 2030. Transport Policy, 14: 377-387.“Technological innovation on its own cannot bridgethat gap even if there is a strong push on efficientvehicles and alternative fuels. The 60% target canbe achieved through a variety of policypackages but even here major change is requiredthat combines strong behavioural change with strongtechnological innovation”. [p384]

‘Use car less for short trips’ is one of 12 headline behavioral goals identified bygovernment that should be targeted to reduce carbon emissions (Defra, 2008).

Walking and cycling’s potential contribution tohealthier lives

the role of walking and cycling intackling obesity & associated diseasesDoH (2004) At least five a week: Evidence on the impactof physical activity and its relationship to health

Obesogenic* environments*defn: ‘Tending to make people fat’

“Countries that rely heavily on walking and cycling havelower rates of obesity.”

We must invest heavily in active travel“ active travel is the magic pill: only by transforming ourenvironment to make walking and cycling the natural choicefor local travel will we be able to re-insert physical activity intopeople’s daily lives.”Malcolm shepherd Chief Executive Sustrans http://www.sustrans.org.uk/

“the bike is actually really an important thing, itreally gives children independence ”

The UWAC approach to researchingwalking and cycling

An Ecological Model Showing Environmental Correlates of Walking and Cycling

UWAC research positsWays in which travel decisions are made remain poorlyunderstood and this is especially the case in the context of complexand contingent household travel arrangements.1.Positivistic approaches to understanding complex travel notwell suited to examining micro-scale complexity ofhousehold decision making and associated travel strategies2.Typically focused at the level of the individual personneglecting effects of situational household interactions3.New World bias

Key aimsTo develop better understanding of thecomplex ways in whichhouseholds and individuals make everyday travel decisions aboutshort trips in urban areasTo provide new evidence of how different individuals makedecisions about walking and cycling and how they respond to differentinterventions by focusing on neglected areas of micro-scale householddecision making

Research Approach‘‘We believe that without more widespread use ofqualitative techniques in travel behaviour research, wewill make little meaningful progress towards improvingour fundamental understanding of travel behaviour’.Clifton, K.J. & Handy, S.L. (2001) Qualitative Methods in Travel Behaviour Research. Prepared for theInternational Conference on Transport Survey Quality and Innovation, Kruger National Park, South Africa,August 5-10, 2001.UWAC research seeks to fill important research gap byproviding an in-depth analysis of household decisionmaking with respect to short journeys in urban areasusing mainly qualitative methods.

research starting assumptions Walking and cycling are distinct entities even though they arefrequently linked together in travel policies Much travel is contingenton the decisions and commitments ofother family members Decision making about travel mode and route choice is dependent on acomplex interaction of social, economic, cultural, environmentaland psychological variables Walking and cycling needs as much (if not more) planning as travel bycar

Conceptualization of the decision to cycleSource: Davies et al. 1997 Attitudes to Cycling Attitudes to Cycling: A Qualitative Study and Conceptual Framework.

some questions to guide the researchHow are walking and cycling incorporated intoeveryday routines of families, households andindividuals?Do most individuals construct an identity ofthemselves and others as cyclists or walkers?How do specific interventions to promotecycling and walking affect everyday decisionmaking about short-distance travel?How do walking and cycling as everyday meansof transport interact with other modes?How are decisions about specific walking andcycling routes made?How is the particular complexity andcontingency of travel decision making bestconveyed to planners and policy makers?

overview of work packages

9 work packages1. scoping2. surveyLiterature review,stakeholders,site selectionTravel behaviours,attitudes andperceptionsMore ‘objective’measures of physicalenvironment4. Interviews5. audio traveldiaries6. ethnographiesin-depth householdinterviews7. integratedanalysis & methodappraisalDraw key themes,triangulate, interpretDigital voice recordersand cameras3. analysis of urbanformResearchers embeddedin households8. develop usertoolkit9. final stakeholderdiscussionsTo inform transportplanners and policymakersWorkshops, to identify keypolicy issues, disseminatefindings

literature reviewwalkingcyclingautomobilitiesbuilt environmentneighbourhoodsocial capitalidentitieshousehold decision-makingriskhealth

case study site selectionRationale: selected sites to maximise diversity andinclusiveness in terms of size, population,demographics, characteristics, travel behaviour aim to generalise about the nature of processes, toallow inferences and theory to be developed not aimed at statistical representativeness, toestimate the distribution of behaviours or attitudesin the population

case study site selectionWorcester Index of Multipledeprivation **18513523114Non-white British ethnicgroup (Eng ave 13%)*6%5%39%11%Connect2 interventionYesNoYesNoSustainable travel town?YesNoNoNoCycling Demonstrationtown?NoYesNoNoPopulation**2001 census data** English Indices of Deprivation 2007 rank of average rank, where 1 is most deprived and 354 least deprived

stakeholders stakeholders from key policy bodiesand local authority members fromcase study areas invited to contributeto advisory board act as constructive advisors help obtain maximum outreach forfindings not to change fundamental aims ormethods of research, but to helpshape it in ways to maximise itsrelevance to practitioners and policymakers

overview of study methodsquantitative & contextualising

questionnaire 1:purpose& method to gather background data on travel behaviours,attitudes and intentions to identify households to participate in qualitativestudy postal survey of 4000 households at 4 case studysites sampling strategy: households within urban LSOAs(Lower Super Output Areas) stratified by Index ofMultiple Deprivation

questionnaire 2:theoretical underpinningTheory of Planned ml#null-linkAjzen I (1988) ‘Attitudes, Personality, and Behaviour’, Open University Press, Buckingham.

spatial network analysisConfiguration and topology,important context for qualitativestages of researchImportance of permeabilityand proximity: does a morecompact, dense & diversepattern of land use, with goodstreet connectivity increaselevels of walking and cyclingfor everyday activities?

multiple centralityassessment (MCA)A set of theories andtechniques for the objectiveanalysis of spatial configurationand its impact on how peopleuse spacesBased on thepremise that theconfiguration of theurban street networkis a key determinantof movement

urban design qualitiesPropensity to walk and cycle maybe related to other features of thephysical environment, land usemix and transport systemcharacteristicsComponents of built environment:origin and destination points, routesand surrounding areasVariables: Spatiophysical andspatiobehaviouralData sources: governmentdata (e.g. census), GISdatasets, fieldwork.

overview of study methodsqualitative & interpretative

Three methods applied to 10 households in each study areaTotal sample of 120I.households (@240 people)in-depth householdinterviewsIndividual & householdinterviews over 12 monthperiodFocus on decision makingIII. detailed ethnographicstudy of the householddecision-making processII.Study periods (totalling 4 weeks)over 12 month periodCollected for four one weekperiods over 12 monthsObservationRoute choice & experiencewhilst mobile and before & afterthe journeyResearcher led interpretationthe collection ofaudio travel diariesOn-going process of transcribing and analysing data in order to triangulate between differentmethods.Q-Methodology employed as interpretative technique to analyse subjectivities and discourses.

The ethnographic toolkitHomeJourneysNetworks Mobilities inventories – acquisition of, access to, and conflicts over mobility resources, and indication of household’smobility diversity/richness Network maps – interrogation of destinations and mode choice, households as trip-generators Mapping exercises – interrogation of routes and mode choice Travel diaries - where they go, when, why Interviews – attitudes (affective) to different modes of mobility, meanings, motivations, intentions, justifications All nested in participant observation (PO) Neighbourhood tours – constraints and affordances Going-along – embodied experiences (experimenting with audio recorders and video cameras) PO of quantity and quality of journeys– social capital, local(ised) lives PO and interviews at destinations (e.g. playgrounds) – inter-relationships between mode choice and networks, other socialpractices, belonging (local/extra-local), identities. How different modes of mobility contribute to the construction ofparticular lives.Courtesy Dave Horton and Griet Schelderman colleagues at University of Lancaster

Forthcoming outputsConference presentations Velo-City Walk 21 RGS-IBG World Conference on TransportResearchJournal articles Methodologies Preliminary results

Final outcometo develop a toolkit that helps planners, policy makers and others concernedwith promoting more sustainable travel practices in urban areas to target policiesand interventions more effectively

THANK YOUQuestions welcome[& ideas/proposals for collaborative research]Tim Jonestjones@brookes.ac.ukAlison Chisholmachisholm@brookes.ac.uk

questionnaire 1: purpose& method o gather background data on travel behaviours, t attitudes and intentions to identify households to participate in qualitative study postal survey of 4000 households at 4 case study sites sampling strategy: households within urban LSOAs (Lower Super Output Areas) stratified by Index of