"All stick, no carrot": an analysis of policy approaches to encourage modal shift in staff commuter travel at the University of Glasgow

Abstract

Transport is a leading contributor towards the global issue of climate change – therefore, effectuating a modal shift towards sustainable travel is recognised as a key climate change mitigation strategy. ‘Workplace travel plans’ enable employer organisations to achieve greater sustainability by influencing their staff’s travel behaviour. However, their effectiveness is dependent on the scope and nature of policies implemented, and importantly, the reaction to them.

The University of Glasgow recently introduced an updated Strategic Transport and Travel Plan, which, amidst impending changes to the car parking management scheme and permit allocation system, is dominated by parking management strategies intending to significantly restrict on-campus parking. Ensuring the effectiveness of the travel plan is particularly pertinent ahead of the £1bn Campus Development project, which is expected to expand the campus, and staff and student cohort.

This study enhanced the evidence base available to inform University travel policy and improve the travel plan’s effectiveness. It aimed to: (1) identify factors influencing staff travel behaviour, (2) understand how the University could most effectively promote modal shift towards public transport, and (3) analyse the potential effectiveness of the Strategic Transport and Travel Plan.

The main method used was qualitative interviews, conducted with staff who commute by car. This provided in-depth and insightful discussions surrounding the factors influencing travel behaviour and the barriers faced in travelling more sustainably.
This study found the factors influencing modal choice to be complex and determined by wider societal and geographical factors, which restrict the capability of policy levers to stimulate modal shift. Participants valued car travel due to the benefits it provides quality of life, while public transport was deemed inconvenient and expensive in terms of marginal costs. The research findings highlighted that the travel plan, in its current form, has significant potential to stimulate modal shift, and that favourable local authority policy assists this. However, due to the nature of coercive policies to discourage car travel, unsupported by strategies to incentivise and encourage public transport uptake, it found that staff felt forced to change their travel behaviour, and that such an approach could negatively affect staff morale.

The study recommends that the parking management proposals should be complemented by incentives, such as public transport subsidies, to improve staff acceptance of reforms and the likelihood of modal shift. This approach mirrors recommendations in the existing literature, with providing both ‘carrots’ and ‘sticks’ deemed necessary. Furthermore, in recognition that car travel is a necessity for many staff, this study recommends the University should consider strategies to promote more sustainable car travel and optimize its influence over wider travel policy and service provision.

Future research should continually analyse the effectiveness of the travel plan to ensure the recommended policies and practices are having the desired effect, and to enable incremental changes to be made. Further research could target those living within walking and cycling distance of the University, to assess the effectiveness of strategies to promote modal shift towards active travel.