THE POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION OF PLANNING TO REDUCE TRAVEL DEMAND

The Departments of the Environment and Transport commissioned ECOTEC Research and Consulting to examine the relationship between land use planning and transport demand. This paper draws upon the results of this research to examine the scope for reducing travel demand, and/or encouraging the use of more energy efficient modes of travel, through the land use planning process. In this paper the scope for planning to influence travel demand through the control the system can exert on key aspects of the development process including urban form (shape, size, density, land use mix), the location of specific travel generating uses, parking controls and various transport priority measures is assessed. Evidence is drawn from a number of case study areas which exhibit a range of land use patterns/issues enabling the effects of alternative patterns of development to be explored at a regional, sub-regional/urban and district level. The forces underpinning settlement patterns and the form of urban areas are not static - current development trends are therefore briefly discussed. Changes in residential preferences, the structure of employment and development densities have all affected travel demand, in many cases increasing journey length. Planning policies which attempt to reverse/contain these trends will need to be sensitive both to the trade-offs involved as well as to likely market responses and the adaptive behaviour of individuals. In order to be robust any new policies which are adopted will also need to be examined in the light of foreseeable technological, social and economic changes. (A) For the covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD 859645.