Residents are being offered free travel advice in a scheme designed to ease traffic congestion and help people have a better experience travelling in the city.
The Personalised Travel Planning project is managed by Brighton & Hove City Council’s transport planning team and is funded from a successful bid to the government. The scheme is now being rolled out in areas of Brighton & Hove where new building development has increased the number of people travelling to and from their neighbourhoods.
A team of council travel advisers are making doorstep visits to residents in Queen’s Park, Tarner, St James’s, Kemp Town, Craven Vale, the Bristol Estate, Hanover and Elm Grove. The travel advisers ask residents how they currently travel around the city and explore if any journeys could be made more enjoyable, sustainable and save people money in the process. The team will be easy to identify as they are wearing T-shirts with a council logo and have photo ID.
Cllr Gill Mitchell, lead member for environment, transport and sustainability, said: “The Personalised Travel Planning project provides information about the best travel options to suit individual circumstances. The doorstep chats only take a few minutes and can make a real difference to how people choose to travel in Brighton & Hove. We are keen to explore what motivates people’s preferences for different travel options and look at how best to keep the city moving.”
Anyone who receives a visit will be asked about whether their journeys in the city are usually taken by car, bicycle, bus, train or on foot. Many short journeys are taken by car when alternatives are often quicker and better. The aim is to encourage people to look at whether they can benefit from making a change in their travel habits.
Brighton & Hove City Council has been running Personalised Travel Planning (PTP) projects in various areas around the city since 2006 and has spoken to about 100,000 residents.