Travel Plan goes the extra mile

Advice to influence active and sustainable travel adoption by residents of a new development in Winchester is being provided by Motion.  The company was commissioned by Berkeley Homes Southern Limited to produce the Travel Plan for the approved Knights Quarter development.  Situated half a mile from the city centre on the site of the former headquarters for the Hampshire Constabulary, the 244-unit scheme consists of apartments and townhouses.

In addition to a Travel Information Pack, supplied to each household as part of the purchase and move-in process, the local authority requested supplementary route maps to help residents navigate the area using non-car modes.  Motion researched and designed detailed walking and cycling route maps to a nearby secondary school, park, Winchester’s historic quarter, the city centre and railway station.

Time not distance

User-friendly isochrone maps were produced and combined with the mapping of local amenities to illustrate the travel time to the facilities on foot or by cycle.  Motion Senior Travel Planner, Anna Mahoney, explains, “Isochrone maps identify areas that can be reached within specified time bands using different travel modes.  The software considers variables such as the geography of an area and available connections to produce maps showing colour-graded bands of isochrones.”  Anna adds, “This is much more accurate than distance-radius maps that only show straight line distances, and do not reflect the route a walker, wheeler or cyclist would use.”

Residents will be able to obtain hand-held copies of the route maps and public transport timetables from the concierge desk.  A monitoring and review programme, involving the collection and reporting of travel survey data from site occupants, will be managed by Motion and delivered in collaboration with the site management agent. The data will be used to track progress towards achievement of the Travel Plan targets.

Sustainability impact:

• New residents supported to use and enjoy their local area whilst travelling via non-polluting modes
• Enhanced community cohesion and sense of place as new occupants engage directly with their local surroundings
• Prosperity of local economy safeguarded through increasing the pool of informed local consumers

Image credit: © Berkeley Homes

An abridged version of this article first appeared in Issue 24 of Insight