More homes + more traffic = potential gridlock and damage to the environment. The solution could be residential travel plans.

The request from local authorities for developers to submit residential travel plans (RTPs) to accompany planning applications for new residential development is now commonplace. They request these plans to ensure the development has as minimal an impact on traffic and the environment as possible.

RTPs have become an increasingly salient topic for a number of reasons. In London the production of the revised London Plan currently out to consultation suggests the city will grow by up to a million people, generating significant demand for new housing. The DCLG accepts the need for a step change in housing supply nationally, and is seeking to increase the total number of new homes built from 150,000 per year to 200,000.

The revised London Plan is also likely to place increased emphasis on the need to design-in carbon friendly lifestyles in new developments. The location of a development, its accessibility and the degree to which it reduces the need to travel by car, are likely to be as important in the future as the eco-rating of the building itself. It is in this context that residential travel plans can play an important role: by designing-in sustainable access from the outset.

The Department for Transport document, Making Residential Travel Plans Work: Guidelines for New Development was an early look at residential travel planning in the UK. Now Transport for London has produced a document called Residential Travel Planning in London: Consultation Draft Good Practice Guidelines to further develop this work and produce material for a London model.

This document is recommending that full RTPs will be secured through the use of section 106 agreements as part of the planning application for developments of over 80 units and for any sites that may generate significant levels of traffic but come under this threshold.

There are many advantages to RTPs, including:

  • They can be good PR and marketing for a development, helping to neutralise negative press around a development
  • Welcome home packs for new residents have proved extremely popular and can be used as a marketing tool in their own right.
  • Travel plans can assist with parking issues by reducing the need for the use of a car, thereby increasing density of development in some cases
  • They can be used as a tool to manage parking and potentially create a revenue stream for supporting other measures
  • They provide certainty of handover and ownership of aspects of development and implementation
  • If successfully implemented, they can assist with gaining planning permission for future development in the same planning authority or region or even on same site
  • Incorporation of travel plan objectives into design of a development at an early stage can mean designs do not require expensive changes further down the road
  • They create community cohesion through creation of residents groups, information areas, car sharing databases, car clubs etc.

Key lessons from the residential travel plans:

  • Early buy-in is essential – residents need to know exactly what is available to them and what the point of the plan is
  • A dedicated travel plan resource needs to identify from the start who will be part of the site as the development grows. It will include giving travel planning information in the sales preamble given to each prospective customer for example
  • Accessibility planning needs to be carried out to build sustainability into the whole site
  • Consultation needs to happen to identify what services need to be provided
  • There is a need for consultation between the developer and local authority to ensure the travel plans are useful and cost effective.

This list is by no means exhaustive. The future success of residential travel planning is the responsibility of all stakeholders but in particular relies on the relationship between the developer and the planning authority working together from the outset.

Source

RegenerateLive

Postscript

Rose McArthur is an associate with Colin Buchanan. To see Transport for London’s residential travel planning best practice guidelines out for consultation, visit www.cbpdynamic.co.uk/rtp This site holds the consultation document and a questionnaire on the guidelines to gather your views.