Spatial planning and the demand for travel

This paper reports on a study undertaken for the Commission for Integrated Transport in the UK analysing settlement patterns and the demand for travel. The research assembles and interprets existing evidence on the influence of urban structure (density, settlement size, jobs-housing balance, accessibility, street layout) on travel patterns (travel distance, mode), and the inter-relationships with socio-economic, attitudinal and other contextual characteristics. It includes an international literature review, data analysis using the National Travel Survey and a series of case study interviews with practitioners around the UK. The analysis covers the difficult empirical issues of causality and self selection and is placed within the context of achieving an 80 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions to 2050. Practitioners reflect that 'good intentions' concerning sustainability objectives are often modified, or 'frame referenced' in view of the difficulties of practical application. There is a difference between the aspirations of policies (for example Policy Planning Guidance 13 in the UK, which sets out the objectives to integrate planning and transport at the national, strategic and local level and to promote more sustainable transport choices both for carrying people and for moving freight.), which seeks to reduce the need to travel, and research which seeks to understand the potential for observed or prospective change in actual travel behaviour. The strategic transport impacts of differing development locations and forms, in particular, are given little attention in practice. There are numerous opportunities for land use and transport planning practitioners to positively influence the built environment and broader spatial planning policies such that the outcomes enable sustainable travel. As part of the research, key generic principals/themes and guidance notes to enable sustainable travel pattern were developed to aid practitioners. The end objective in further integrating settlement structure and transport is to move beyond the current discourse, to enable and achieve more sustainable travel patterns. Greater regional and or sub-regional analysis appears important, with new settlement growth understood in terms of the likely impact on the surrounding labour market catchments. Development location and transport investment decisions made today are critical; they will influence travel patterns for many years to come.