Travel plans can and do deliver a wide range of benefits. For developers travel plans can reduce development costs, make a site more accessible and smooth the planning process. The benefits for local authorities include helping achievement of wider local government objectives and managing demand across travel modes.
Travel plans must relate to local circumstances. These notes set out when travel plans are required and the different types of travel plans that are appropriate in different situations.
The local planning authority will formally assess the travel plan as part of a planning application. It is therefore vital that those preparing the travel plan have full understanding of what is required. ATTrBuTE is Transport for London's assessment tool for reviewing, building, testing and evaluating travel plans.
Surveys are a key input into development of the travel plan and are crucial for on-going monitoring of the plan's progress. It is important that surveys are conducted in an appropriate manner and gather the information required to build an effective travel plan. iTRACE and TRAVL can be used to secure robust survey data.
Targets are required within the travel plan to measure success in achieving objectives, motivating the implementers of the travel plans and to enable enforcement.
It is important to ensure that the measures included within the travel plan are appropriate to local circumstances and ensure investment is focused on activities and initiatives that will achieve change.
The use of legal mechanisms to secure the travel plan through the planning process is essential to ensure the plan's longevity and success. For more complex travel plans, local planning authorities should seek to negotiate planning obligations with the applicant through the Section 106 process.
On-going monitoring of the travel plan will enable local authorities, applicants and occupiers to:
The most effective travel plans will be achieved within a policy context that is fully supportive of travel plans as a means to manage travel demand.
Managing deliveries to a new development when occupied and during construction can improve the efficiency of freight and goods movement across the capital, cutting costs and reducing the impacts of freight.
A travel plan must provide for and manage sustainable access to a site for both people and goods, and reduce unnecessary car journeys. Residential Travel Plans (RTPs) are aimed at influencing travel choice at the origin of people’s journeys (their home) as opposed to the destination.