This guidance is designed to help any developer of a residential site charged with developing a Residential Travel Plan (RTP) produce a document that meets both the needs of their planning obligation and also will satisfy audit by Wiltshire Council.
The basics
Background
A RTP does not need to be cumbersome, and when developed simply and clearly with an appreciation for the reasoning behind them, they can be easily achieved and in many cases very rewarding for all. A RTP should be the document setting out how specific measures to encourage sustainable travel to and from the site will be applied, accompanied with how persuasion, publicity, advice and promotion techniques will be deployed by the developer to ensure new residents understand and take advantage of these measures. The outcome will be to achieve specific targets agreed in advance by Wiltshire Council by a given deadline.
Travel Plan Co-ordinator (TPC)
A TPC for the development should be nominated by the developer with responsibility for developing, implementing and monitoring the RTP and liaising with Wiltshire Council. The TPC must be in place from the start to “sell” the RTP and provide quality travel information to all potential residents as they consider purchasing property off plan.
What’s in a RTP?
As a minimum, the RTP requires:
- An introduction describing the development, the site, the location, and the parties involved
- Location information should include local and area wide maps
- Any travel survey information currently available. This may be based on other similar sites elsewhere. Avoid using traffic assessment data however, unless summarised into a side of explanatory text
- “SMART” Objectives – that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound (a set deadline)
- Clear targets
- A monitoring and evaluation framework
- Endorsement/commitment to the RTP from key personnel in the agreement.
Further information
To help develop your RTP, the following information sets out in further detail elements that need to be included to ensure you will meet your planning obligations in Wiltshire:
Writing your introduction:
Try and imagine that you have never been to the site – describe the area and place the site in context including:
- An area and site location plan, highlighting useful amenities, existing/proposed cycle, walk, bus, and road infrastructure, etc.
- Recognition that measures to promote sustainable travel must be in place before any units are occupied – people will establish habits of a lifetime from day one, so if there is no bus service, bus shelter, timetable, bike, or walking information, of course they will drive.
- Site construction practices that will promote the unobstructed safe passage of pedestrians and cyclists from day one
- Clear willingness and commitment by the developer to work and consult with transport professionals from Wiltshire Council.
Describing your proposed development
- What types of dwelling and how many are being provided? Two, three, four, five bedrooms? Houses/apartments? Social?
- What provision for parking will be provided for each dwelling? – should be limited and include covenants for at least five years after adoption of the Highway that no landscaped areas should be converted to parking, nor additional access over the footway be permitted.
- What provision is provided for public transport, walking, cycling, car clubs, and other sustainable measures?
What measures must be included in your RTP?
In reality, the most likely method of achieving modal change on new residential sites will be by take up of the bus, walking and cycling for local trips, whilst for longer trips, the main option will be bus and smarter uses of cars, thus car sharing and car clubs are significant. Hence, you should outline what your RTP will do for discouraging car use to and from the site, and over what time frame. This ought to include measures prior to the first occupation, then at different stages of the site development, then finally on full occupation. Below are some standard measures that Wiltshire Council anticipates will be included:
Walking/cycling:
- The developer will provide quality, accurate, useful directional signing to promote walking and cycling – suggest state time in minutes taken as well as distances in ¼’s of a mile.
- The developer will provide funds to Wiltshire Council to update/produce local walking/cycling maps, with three copies distributed to every household in welcome packs.
- Links to existing walking and cycling network should be high profile and clearly signed. This can be marketed as a selling point in the sales information
- One or two adult bikes or vouchers to be supplied to every unit
- With local primary and secondary schools having their own travel plans to discourage car use, sales information should promote walk to schools and ride to schools, and the developer should fund, where required, modern bike sheds at both sites, and a pedestrian shelter at the primary.
- Funding to be provided annually to Wiltshire Council for up to three years after the adoption
of highways
to cover the costs of Wiltshire Council maintaining the RTP, and specifically operating, marketing and
monitoring the
following:
- Bi-monthly Adult Cycle Training/Led Cycle Rides
- monthly Walks for Health
- Child Cycle Training three times a year for Level 2 and Level 3
Car Sharing:
- Where in excess over 75 dwellings, the developer should:
- set up and fund that sites own “Private Group” through ·www.carsharewiltshire.com (approx. £600 p.a), and
- contribute towards a specific marketing campaign (£1,000 p.a), for up to three years after adoption of Highways
Car Club:
- Where there are over 90 dwellings, or the development is an area with air
quality issues or traffic congestion, the developer should:
- Give every dwelling membership of a local car club available for two years from when they take up occupation, and/or
- Allocate a dedicated car space for a Car Club car station which must include a secured locker for key storage, with key code access or other security system as identified by the car club operator.
- Contract with a lease company for two years the provision of a small to medium vehicle with insurance that will be provided on site. Operation will be managed by local/national car club provider.
- Funding to be provided annually for up to three years after adoption of Highways for marketing the car club to the residents
Public Transport:
- ·The developer should work with Wiltshire Council's Passenger Transport Unit to identify what site specific advice and publicity is required to access existing services serving the site, and about how to get to useful local amenities by bus. For example the train station, the city Centre, key employment, shopping and leisure sites. An update should be made at full occupancy.
- ·Bus Shelters in closest proximity to the site may require improving with lighting and good site specific information preferably electronic.
- ·Each unit should be supplied with local area Freedom Tickets for the first year of occupation.
Ongoing publicity and promotion by developer:
- Every occupier should receive a welcome pack including full information on how to travel to and from the site by means other than the car, and also explaining how to use the facilities/incentives provided.
- A half yearly newsletter should be provided to every household for up to two years after adoption of the highways bringing the latest news on sustainable travel initiatives in the area, feature articles on residents' success stories etc.
- Pre-marketing sales information should highlight the benefits of sustainable travel to and from this site, rather than focus solely on its accessibility by car.
- Personalised travel planning (PTP) should be considered, offering residents specific one-to-one travel advice, especially on their commuter and school-run journeys. Where developments are in excess of 100 units, PTP is a prerequisite.
Contingency provision
- ·Should be agreed in advance with Wiltshire Council, especially regards repayment of monies to the developer.
Implementing your RTP
- The occupiers of each dwelling must receive a pack outlining all measures available to them and relevant maps on their moving in day – it should be clearly specific to the site. This can be supported by individual journey planning for the occupiers, provided by the TPC as part of the normal after sales support provided by house builders’ on-site agents, and in addition to any pre-sales information provided on travel to and from the site.
- The site marketing information should:
- outline these package measures using terms that purchasers will understand – e.g. as “benefits” of living on the site rather than the site has a “Travel Plan”
- be developed in association with Wiltshire Council
- provide equal status to these travel benefits as to that allocated for “accessibility”
to the highway network, for example: –
- when referring to the location’s convenience, in connection with schools, the marketing information should clarify that the schools are promoting walking and cycling and can advise on recommended routes to school.
- highlight that these sustainable alternatives will allow purchasers to bypass the significant congestion that occurs into and out of the area at peak periods, and avoid central parking charges.
Targets and monitoring for your RTP
Rather than focus just on commuter trips which ignores school journeys, convenience trips, and leisure use, Wiltshire Council suggests developers must adopt a target that focuses on the site as a whole. We would also like to see further targets broken down by journey type too as good practice, including targets for:
- School run
- Weekend trips
- 07:00-09:00 Monday – Friday term-time exit from the site.
As an example of a main target, typically it would be:
“For ALL trips from the site, those by car should account for less than 75%, of which 40% should involve at least two passengers, within two years of full occupation of the site.
(If this is not being achieved, the matter can be considered prior to adoption of the highway, with a view to considering what alternative measures need to be promoted as part of the RTP).
Examples of sub-targets, you might have:
“20% of trips from the site during the peak morning weekday rush of 7-9 am, term time only, will NOT be by car with just the driver alone, within two years of the site reaching 50% occupation”, and
“75% of school-related trips must not be by cars within two years of the site reaching 70% occupation”.
Surveys must include:
- Origin and destination questions, including details of any “linked trip” to more than one destination
- Journey purpose
- Mode
For more significant developments in excess of 100 units, surveys must also include:
- personalised diary’s by households, hence marketing campaigns will be required from the onset
- traffic volume loop counts at the main access
Frequency is essential to assess how the plan is being implemented and whether adjustments are required, thus surveys to be carried out as follows:
- Initial survey of occupiers' travel preferences for work, school, shop, and leisure trips on occupation
- Full travel surveys after:
- 30% of units are occupied
- After 60%
- After 100%, then,
- after one year, three years and/or pre-adoption of highways
- After five years
All survey data would be collected in line with the Standard Assessment Method on the TRICS database – further information on this can be found at www.trics.org
Endorsement for your RTP
To show commitment to the success of this travel plan, the following should sign the travel plan to indicate agreement for its objectives:
- The managing director or regional manager of the developer
- The site manager
- The developer’s travel plan coordinator
- Wiltshire Council - where over 100 dwellings this will be the Transportation & Development Manager, otherwise the Travel Plan Officer.
Note: Contributions shown are an indication only, and only consider the “Soft” factors. Highway contributions will also be required
Further Information:
Useful email contacts
- Development Control – planningcontrol@wiltshire.gov.uk
- Transport Planning – transportplanning@wiltshire.gov.uk
- Travel Plans – biz@wiltshire.gov.uk
Contact Details (LiveLink)
Multiple Contacts:
eMail: transportplanning@wiltshire.gov.uk
Telephone:
Out of hours:
Fax:
Postal Address:
In Person:
DX:
Last updated: 3 February 2011
Join us on Facebook
Join us on Twitter