Personalised Travel Plans

Personalised travel planning is a targeted marketing technique, providing travel advice and information to people based on an understanding of their personal trip patterns. The public transport information and marketing projects examined as part of the Smarter Choices research included projects promoting an individual bus route to the people most likely to use it. Travel awareness campaigns aim to improve general public understanding of the problems caused by traffic growth and to encourage people to think about their own travel behaviour.

Personalised Travel Planning
might include –

pocket sized timetable

personal travel advice

plans for regular trips

trial ticket offers

loan of a bike

walk and cycle maps

Reports from personal travel planning project areas suggests that it may be possible to cut car use substantially.

- Gloucester 9%

- Bristol 10%

Car drivers were more likely to take extra bus trips in the households that had received the personalised planning advice.

 

Information And Marketing
might include –

targeted marketing

promotions

re-branding

network promotion

booklet production

aspirational adverts

Clear information and marketing can lead to more passengers on public transport. Some examples are:

- London 31% in 4 yrs

- Perth 63% in 3 yrs

 -Bucks 42% in 3 yrs

Long term decline in bus use has reversed in Nottingham by the use of re-branding and better marketing.
 

Travel Awareness Campaigns
might include –

posters

leaflets

press

radio

television

cinema

Most local awareness campaigns are aimed at whole populations but generally reach 20 to 40% of residents.

In Nottingham 67% of residents were aware of the “Big Wheel” campaign. Associated costs for the project were just under 40 pence a year for each resident.



 

Lancashire CC have stated their intent towards travel plans in the Draft LTP2 document as part of the EU Civitas project, but only in Preston and no Headline Targets are applied. Capital and revenue budgets are not known.

Marketing efforts are making progress in Lancashire, with the recent introduction of grouped bus service leaflets for a locality rather than just individual routes. In addition, the Traveline network now offers passenger information about both bus and rail timetabling.

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