Citation

Morton A, Mees P. World Transp. Policy Pract. 2010; 16(2): 8-23.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Eco-Logica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Travel Behaviour Modification (TBM) uses individualised marketing to change public perceptions of the attractiveness of walking, cycling and public transport, with the aim of bringing about mode shift. TBM is attractive to policy makers because it promises changes to travel patterns without the need for expensive or controversial alterations to substantive transport policies. The Australian government has allocated $18.3 million from its Greenhouse Gas Abatement Program for the TravelSmart brand of TBM and state and local governments have also joined the programme. The Victorian government is a strong supporter, and claims that a trial of TravelSmart along Melbourne's Alamein rail corridor in 2003 reduced car driver trips by 10 per cent, and increased public transport, walking and cycling trips by 23-27 per cent.

Some of the governmental support for TBM may be a form of "greenwash", in which responsibility for environmentally unsustainable transport policies is deflected from transport policy makers to the public. In these cases, TBM may be a form of public relations disguising the fact that no real changes are being made to transport priorities. For this reason, and because TBM consultants naturally have an interest in seeing their products succeed, it is important that the results claimed for TBM programmes are carefully scrutinised.

One TBM intervention that has received considerable scrutiny is the TravelSmart programme conducted in South Perth in 2000, which was the subject of a spirited debate at the 2003 ATRF. Our review of the South Perth public transport data, and subsequent data from the 2001 census, casts doubt on the claims of substantial increases in public transport patronage.