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Workplace travel plans
Auckland Regional Transport Authority: changing travel behaviour
Contents
7. Neighbourhood accessibility plans
1. Overview
ARTA: a snapshot
Keeping Auckland on the move and delivering a world-class, integrated land transport system are two key goals of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA).
ARTA is responsible for achieving the region’s transport goals, set out in the Auckland Transport Plan. This strategy outlines what is needed to achieve a transport system to enhance the Auckland Region as a great place to live, work and play.
One component of the strategy is travel demand management. In response to this, ARTA has prepared a comprehensive Sustainable Transport Plan 2006–2016, aimed at providing Aucklanders with more sustainable choices for travelling. ARTA is implementing many of the activities in this plan through its TravelWise programme in partnership with local councils.
ARTA was launched in December 2004 to help find solutions to the traffic challenges facing the rapidly growing Auckland region. A subsidiary of the Auckland Regional Council, it is funded through Auckland Regional Council, Land Transport New Zealand and its own internal revenues.
On a day-to-day basis, ARTA carries out the planning and funding of passenger transport, promotes sustainable transport choices, and coordinates and integrates transport across the region.
Auckland region
Auckland is one of the fastest growing regions in New Zealand, and is forecast to accommodate an additional 440,000 people over the next 15 years – equivalent to adding the population of Greater Wellington.
The region is made up of seven local authorities (Auckland, Manukau, North Shore, Franklin, Papakura, Waitekere and Rodney. It also has three harbours (Kaipara, Manukau and Waitemata). In 2007, its total population is more than 1.3 million.
Purpose of profile
This profile describes transport issues in the Auckland region, and highlights some of ARTA’s sustainable transport programmes aimed at addressing these issues by encouraging Aucklanders to choose more sustainable modes of transport.
The programmes are:
Regional and local councils across New Zealand may find this profile a useful tool to assist them in the development of their own travel demand management (more specifically, travel behaviour change) programmes.
2. Transport in Auckland
Traffic congestion
The Auckland region is faced with several transport challenges. The most significant is chronic traffic and congestion problems, estimated to cost the region more than $1 billion a year.
Most trips in Auckland are made by car and a significant proportion of these are made with only the driver in the car.1 For instance:
- car trips to work make up 54% of morning peak trips in Auckland
- 93% of cars travelling to work in Auckland have a single occupant.
In addition, more and more Aucklanders are travelling further to work as life on the fringes of the city has become increasingly popular.
Most parents drive their children to school, and school trips make up 36% of all morning peak trips in Auckland. By driving their children to school, these parents are actually contributing to traffic congestion and an unsafe environment at the school gate.
The consequences of these high levels of car use include:
- increased congestion during off-peak times and weekends
- costs to businesses caused by traffic delays
- air pollution and vehicle emissions
- more frequent traffic accidents
- an intimidating environment for pedestrians and cyclists, resulting in people choosing less active forms of travel.
Passenger transport
Encouraging Aucklanders to use passenger transport is an integral part of ARTA’s Sustainable Transport Plan and travel behaviour change programmes.
ARTA is responsible for planning, funding and implementing passenger transport, and walking and cycling initiatives throughout the Auckland region. The use of passenger transport (ie, buses, trains and ferries) is increasing in Auckland by 7% a year after decades of decline.
Significant improvements are planned for passenger transport in Auckland by 2016. These include:
- integrated fares, timetables and services to provide seamless travel between bus, train and ferry services
- improved reliability, frequency and service coverage to meet the needs of passengers.
Buses: Buses carry approximately 52 million passengers around the Auckland region every year. ARTA is working with local councils and bus operators to improve the efficiency and frequency of bus services. Bus priority lanes, and electronic boards at bus stops providing up-to-date passenger information, are among recent improvements.
Ferries: Regular commuter ferry services go to and from Devonport, Northcote Point, Gulf Harbour, Birkenhead, Bayswater, Half Moon Bay, Pine Harbour and Waiheke Island, connecting these suburbs with the Auckland CBD.
ARTA identifies the ferry routes but does not run the services. These are contracted to private companies. In a 2004 survey of passenger transport users, conducted by Auckland Regional Council, ferries received the highest customer satisfaction rating of all passenger transport modes.
Trains: ARTA is responsible for Auckland’s train services and works closely in partnership with ONTRACK on wider planning and development of the region’s rail system.
A major and ongoing investment in rail has improved trains, tracks and stations, resulting in greater reliability and more frequent services. This has contributed to dramatic growth in train patronage. For the financial year ending 30 June 2006, more than 5 million passenger journeys were recorded on the region’s rail network. This compares to 3.8 million passenger journeys in the 2005 financial year and represents a 32.5 per cent increase.
3. Travel behaviour change
ARTA’s sustainable transport programmes focus on travel behaviour change, which is about encouraging voluntary change in the way people travel. This can be done by providing people with a set of tools, better information and more opportunities to help them reduce their need to travel, especially by car.
Travel Plans, along with investment in passenger transport and walking and cycling infrastructure, provide people with safer and healthier
travel choices. They also reduce the economic impact of increased car travel costs and the environmental impact of car use.
ARTA encourages communities, schools and workplaces to improve their travel choices and to make it easier, safer and more enjoyable
for people to use passenger transport, cycle, walk, or share a ride.
Sustainable Transport Plan
ARTA’s Sustainable Transport Plan 2006–2016 is New Zealand’s first sustainable transport plan and sets out a ten-year programme of activities to provide Aucklanders with more sustainable transport choices. The aim is to reduce the number of car trips each morning at peak times by 20,000.
These activities include:
- a walking action plan
- a cycling action plan
- school travel plans and the walking school bus
- workplace travel plans
- tertiary travel plans
- neighbourhood accessibility plans
- land use guidelines
The plan aims to integrate these activities, with each other and with other planned improvements to infrastructure and services. Each
activity involves working with a group of people who are most likely to change their behaviour and reduce their car use.
The plan has a strong monitoring focus, ensuring that the benefits of a sustainable transport approach can be demonstrated. This will
help make a case for additional investment in the plan and broaden its scope.
ARTA prepared the Sustainable Transport Plan with input from all transport agencies in Auckland, regional walking and cycling groups,
the regional stakeholders’ group for school travel plans, the National Travel Behaviour Change Group, and many other groups,
agencies and individuals.
Why ARTA is investing in travel behaviour change programmes
Building new roads, upgrading existing roads and subsidising passenger transport are all important. However, they do not provide a long-term sustainable solution to Auckland’s transport issues and forecast growth in population.
ARTA’s Sustainable Transport Plan 2006–2016 was developed to guide the organisation’s activity in this area. Implementation is already reducing traffic congestion: thanks to the development of school and workplace travel plans, there are 3,200 fewer car trips each morning.
Funding for travel behaviour change
Funding for the implementation and maintenance of the travel behaviour change programmes is provided by Land Transport New Zealand’s National Transport Programme. ARTA and the local authorities provide the local share of the funding. The costs of implementing and maintaining the following programmes over ten years are:
- $18 million for workplace and tertiary travel plans
- $153 million for school travel plans
- $100 million for neighbourhood accessibility plans
- $30 million for improved walking networks
- $120 million for improved cycling networks.
4. Workplace travel plans
Good for business
A workplace travel plan is a set of responsive, coordinated and planned set of actions providing individuals with greater travel choice for the work journey. A travel plan encourages staff to travel to and from work by passenger transport, on foot, by bike or by car share. It may also look at reducing the need to commute through such initiatives as teleworking, compressed work hours and flexihours. ARTA’s programme is voluntary, attracting businesses where transport, parking and sustainability issues are high priorities.
Developing a workplace travel plan starts when an organisation accepts that a travel plan’s recommendations can lead to changes to work practices that will positively benefit its business. Implementing a plan can result in happier, fitter and more productive employees. It can also provide real cost-savings to workplaces.
ARTA aims to complete 30 workplace travel plans each year for the next ten years. Its ten-year target is to have 90,000 employees and students participating in travel plans. Already, in 2007, more than 60,000 employees and students are involved in these plans.
TravelWise planning process
The high level of uptake can be attributed to the willingness of businesses to become involved, and to ARTA’s comprehensive TravelWise planning process. This process provides organisations with a set of planning tools and a quality assurance system for developing travel plans, and further tools to help them implement and promote the plan.
ARTA’s role is to fund and provide a comprehensive set of tools and resources to make the travel planning process for workplaces as easy and cost-effective as possible. A team of workplace travel plan coordinators advise workplaces and provide advice and quality assurance. ARTA also funds and administers training workshops for people responsible for developing travel plans.
TravelWise offers a complete package, structured so that organisations can undertake the process themselves by appointing a project manager. There are five phases, all supported by resources developed by ARTA and available on the TravelWise website. The phases are:
- set-up
- research
- planning
- implementation
- completion and continuous improvement.
Phase 1: set–up
This phase highlights the importance of making a business case, securing senior management buy-in, obtaining resources, ensuring stakeholders
are engaged in the process, setting high-level objectives and being clear about the process ahead. A project charter and research
plan are sent to ARTA to secure resources for the next phase.
Phase 2: research
The main purpose of this phase is to establish baseline data for the travel plan and to consult with staff to gather ideas for travel
plan activities and priorities. The four key steps are
- a review of facilities, policies and the workplace site,
- a staff travel survey and staff consultation,
- target setting, and
- selecting and prioritising actions and activities.
At the end of this phase, a project scope is sent to ARTA as part of the the quality assurance process.
Phase 3: planning
The key to this phase is developing a project plan to manage the travel plan’s implementation phase. It also includes development
of a communications plan. At the end of this phase, an implementation plan, identifying actions, is sent to ARTA as part of the quality
assurance process.
Phase 4: implementation
This phase is about delivering the actions and activities in the Travel Plan. It ensures that the travel plan is included in corporate
management systems, and the day-to-day policies and procedures of the organisation. At the end of this phase, a progress report is
sent to ARTA as part of the the quality assurance process.
Phase 5: completion and continuous improvement
The travel plan is now part of the day-to-day practices of the organisation. If an external project manager has been involved, the
travel plan is now handed over to the organisation. The organisation needs to monitor and evaluate the plan regularly to ensure it’s
working and to see where improvements could be made. A date for the evaluation survey is agreed with ARTA, and a reporting timeline
to discuss progress with ARTA is scheduled.
After the evaluation survey is carried out, generally a year later, ARTA requires an evaluation report.
Staff response enthusiastic
“I really enjoy carpooling. It makes our journey to work about ten minutes longer by the time everyone is picked up but we’ve all noticed that we are saving a lot of money on gas. It’s worthwhile and fun too.”
Vodafone’s i.commute programme
The planned relocation of 1100 Auckland staff to a new office building in the Viaduct Basin in early 2005 was the catalyst for Vodafone New Zealand to explore ways for staff to travel to and from work (PDF, 2.2 MB).
5. Tertiary travel plans
How students travel
Tertiary students are a very significant group of travellers in the Auckland region. During term time, there are approximately 135,600 students travelling to tertiary institutions. This puts significant pressure on roads and passenger transport services, resulting in increased journey times for all commuters.
Although there are many similarities between tertiary institutions and workplaces, there are also several features that set tertiary institutions apart when it comes to travel planning. These institutions:
- are often a focal point for a very high number of travellers
- are often spread over a large area
- have staff and students who travel to the institutions for a range of reasons (eg, work, study, sport, social events)
- have fluctuating numbers of travellers across the year.
First universities to develop TravelWise plan
Reducing the cost of travel and having access to faster, more direct bus services were important requirements for students who took part in a travel survey as part of the Learning Quarter TravelWise Plan. [link] ARTA’s first tertiary travel plan involves the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology in a joint partnership to improve transport choices for students and staff in the CBD.
The Universities Travel Plan project incorporates comprehensive research, including a survey of 6400 students and staff to find out how tertiary students travel around Auckland.
Tertiary travel plans follow the same TravelWise process (from set-up to implementation and through to continuous improvement) used for schools and workplaces. However, the characteristics of tertiary institutions (eg, size and numbers) mean that some flexibility and a more comprehensive research programme is required.
High levels of passenger transport use
Overall, students – and staff to a lesser extent – show very high levels of sustainable transport use, compared to the rest of the commuting public. Tertiary travel plans therefore need to maintain and increase the high levels of passenger transport use, as well as ensure that services are developed to accommodate any projected growth in student numbers.
One of ARTA’s goals is to work with all universities in Auckland to ensure they have completed travel plans by 2016.
6. School travel plans and the walking school bus
Every morning, 250,000 children travel to Auckland schools. Approximately half of these trips are made by car although school travel
plans and walking school buses are having a significant and growing impact on reducing the number of car trips to schools.
School travel plans are underway in more than 130 schools in the Auckland region and already, this has resulted in 3.8% fewer children
travelling to school by car.
Auckland has more than 200 walking school buses, providing a safe way for 4000 children to walk to school.
School travel plans
A school travel plan provides a school with a package of practical actions to improve road safety, reduce car trips to school, and encourage students to use sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling, trains and buses. As with other TravelWise plans, there is a clear planning process that ARTA assists schools in working through.
ARTA manages the overall school travel plan programme, working in partnership with local councils. Each plan is a long-term partnership between the school, the community, the local council and ARTA. It is developed collaboratively and all partners are responsible for its implementation.
A typical school travel plan sets out a combination of engineering, enforcement, education and encouragement actions.
Walking school buses
A walking school bus can either be established independently of a school travel plan or it can be a key action highlight in the plan. Auckland has more than 200 buses, providing a safe way for 4000 children to walk to school. They are supervised by adult ‘drivers’ and ‘conductors’, who walk to and from school with organised groups of children.
ARTA and local councils offer a number of tools to help schools set up a walking school bus. These include:
- detailed guidelines for setting up a walking school bus
- a safety audit of potential routes
- a start-up grant to buy equipment needed for the bus
- safety training for bus volunteers
- a small maintenance grant to established buses as part of an annual survey process.
From parent to regional coordinator for ARTA
Sue Kendall was first involved in walking school buses as a parent helping to set up a walking school bus at Gladstone Primary School in Auckland in 1999. Now, she’s the Walking School Bus Coordinator for the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA). [link?]
7. Neighbourhood accessibility plans
Neighbourhood accessibility plans aim to make walking and cycling around local areas safer and more pleasant, and to ensure that local centres are well linked to the communities they serve and provide good passenger transport links to other centres.
Achieving this involves integrating urban planning, transport planning and road safety initiatives into a single, effective project. This is a new and important area for ARTA and local councils. Ongoing co-operation and dialogue is essential if this programme is to achieve the aims set out in the Regional Land Transport Strategy.
A Neighbourhood Accessibility Plan is a community-oriented project, which aims to integrate key features of the walking and cycling action plans, the school and workplace travel plan programmes, Safer Routes, and direct engagement with households on their travel issues.
ARTA has several pilot projects2 underway that will be used to develop good practice recommendations for other Neighbourhood Accessibility Plans.
This is an area that is steadily progressing.
2 The closest project to a neighbourhood plan is the Universities Travel Plan project, a partnership between Auckland City, Transit, ARTA, UofA, AUT and the Committee for Auckland. Other projects include the Papatoetoe Safer Routes project and the Lincoln Rathgar TravelWise project.8. Looking ahead
Getting more people to use sustainable modes of traffic involves two things: providing them with attractive options, and changing their behaviour by providing incentives.
ARTA’s role is to ensure the Sustainable Transport Plan 2006–2016 remains on track throughout the three-year period to its next review. Achieving the targets set out in the plan will deliver benefits to the Auckland region of $90 million a year. These include:
- 20,000 less car journeys each morning in peak period, and overall congestion savings of $50 million per year
- reduced spending on road construction - estimated at 50 kilometres of arterial road-widening, costing around $500 million
- increased health and quality of life by:
- reducing greenhouse gas emissions of 71,000 tonnes a year
- reducing fatal and serious crashes by 3% a year
- an additional 40,000 walking trips each day
- twice as many regular cyclists
- the use of 21 million fewer litres of fuel each year.
The total funding requirement to deliver these benefits is $420 million over the ten years of the plan. ARTA will continue to work with local councils to initiate and implement those actions identified in the plan.
Page created: 13 August 2007