Dr Andy Binder
Principal Transport Planner
Moving the Green Transition forward by transforming travel behaviour…and society
Improving the sustainability of transport is one of the UK’s defining challenges on the road to net zero. But while physical infrastructure is of course an essential part of our response to this challenge, its success ultimately depends on people. That’s why understanding how and why people make choices about travel must become a key part of the Green Transition, rather than simply a ‘passenger’ in mobility project delivery.
Our transport systems shape society. But to make them truly sustainable, we must make concerted efforts to facilitate people to choose sustainable transport more often. Embedding behavioural insights into infrastructure projects must no longer be a specialist consideration, but a fundamental part of delivering transformational placemaking and urban design.
In late 2024, I joined the Transport Planning Society’s new Policy Panel, becoming part of its Influencing Travel Behaviour sub-group. One of our aims is to embed behavioural insights into transport planning to support infrastructure investment that facilitates people to travel by healthier, inclusive, and more sustainable modes.
Our first major Think Piece, “From understanding to influencing travel behaviour – if not now, then when?”, argues that embedding behaviour change thinking in all aspects of the profession must no longer be a specialist consideration, but central to all that the profession does. It must underpin every stage of planning, design and delivery. In turn, the paper offers a practical roadmap for those of us who have an opportunity to really shape the future of transport – from local authority planners and infrastructure consultants to funding bodies and national policymakers.
Timing is everything: Moments of Change
A specific example of an opportunity to influence travel behaviour was recently highlighted in a Department for Transport research report that identified ‘moments of change’ as key opportunities for shaping travel behaviours. Moments of change include those related to personal events such as moving home, starting a new job or becoming a parent. They can also relate to external events, such as road closures, major events, or of course the Covid-19 pandemic as we all experienced five years ago.
Research into that moments of change identifies how they are key opportunities where people must consider how they will adapt to the change for a range of reasons. How they (and their family/dependents) will travel is often a key consideration that people will need to make. Without the moment of change, there is less of a need to consider how people travel because there is nothing disrupting them from their normal (or habitual) approach.
As such, policy efforts to ‘shift’ people towards more sustainable transport may have limited effect where people are used to travelling a certain way and don’t need to evaluate the range of travel options available for their daily requirements.
This heightens the importance of identifying moments of change as these present potentially targetable periods for interventions to facilitate more sustainable transport. Given the budgetary constraints for delivering transport interventions, a targeted approach offers potential for focusing resources and budget towards an intervention that can offer positive outcomes.
Through my behavioural science background, I seek to bring the understanding of how and why people make decisions about their travel to help further the impact of infrastructure interventions.
Impact through influence
My own doctoral research investigated such an opportunity when looking at the relocation of over 2,000 people to the BBC’s northern base at MediaCityUK, Salford between 2010 and 2012. People were forced to consider how they would travel to work following the relocation of their job, a moment of change that for many people also involved moving home to a different part of the country.
The importance of having the sustainable transport infrastructure in place at the outset, supported by promotional and incentivising non-infrastructure measures was identified. The opportunity to influence the travel behaviour of a large but discrete number of people was emphasised with the relevant local authorities, transport providers, and the BBC themselves playing a key role.
Heading in the right direction?
The projects we work on at Sweco often involve the planning and/or delivery of disruptive events, such as highway works, transport infrastructure, placemaking and landscape design. In many cases, the objective of such schemes is to improve conditions for sustainable travel, and the intervention itself will, for many people, facilitate this, for example, through new cycle infrastructure or improved public realm.
However, while the right moves are being made by many forward-thinking clients, it is vital that we as an industry collaborate even more to identify how we can further the impact of the new or improved infrastructure by influencing travel behaviour.
Identifying moments of change can help a tailored approach to be developed, that considers the timings of interventions, and underpins a proactive approach that, as a recent paper identified, can ‘leverage potential disruptions for sustainable transport goals’[1].
Moving forward
Whether you are a local authority planning new mobility corridors, a contractor delivering public realm improvements, or a stakeholder navigating infrastructure investment – this can be your defining Moment of Change. The Green Transition is about more than emissions. It’s about health, equity, opportunity and resilience – and how travel shapes all of them. Let’s transform travel behaviour – and society – together.
Feature Project Spotlight: Travel Behaviour Change and Sustainable Mobility in Bradford
Sweco’s work on the Bradford City Centre regeneration offers a clear example of a moment of change that provides an opportunity to influence travel behaviour towards more sustainable patterns. As part of Bradford’s vision for sustainable growth, we’re helping deliver people-first infrastructure – leveraging our technical skills in design and engineering to facilitate behaviour change towards more walking, cycling and car-free travel.
Crucially, the scheme in Yorkshire doesn’t stop at material changes. This ‘moment of change’ for the city will support a wider shift in attitudes and aspirations. This can facilitate more active travel, less congestion, cleaner air and a stronger sense of community connection across the city.