This page relates to the 2021-24 National Land Transport Programme.

Introduction

Demand management programmes are developed as an integral part of a cohesive programme of transport activities through activity management plans and regional land transport plans.

They can include travel behaviour change activities on their own or in conjunction with new infrastructure projects or as continuous programmes of activities.

All activities must be consistent with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency investment principles.

Investment principles

Demand management activities

In practice, travel demand can be managed by:

  • integrating land use and transport planning by focusing growth in areas with good travel alternatives and intensification near public transport and amenities
  • providing better travel options, including shared and active modes, through infrastructure and service improvements, system optimisation and prioritisation of more efficient modes
  • providing incentives to encourage people to change the time, or route they travel
  • managing freight travel movements and scheduling
  • marketing and travel planning in travel behaviour change programmes to encourage uptake of quality routes, reducing the need to travel and services or to help manage disruptions and leverage longer-term change
  • measuring desired change with feedback loops to ongoing programme development.

Best practice and scale of demand management

The most effective programmes incorporate a wide range of demand management strategies in a coordinated way to achieve defined travel change outcomes. Safety, health, efficiency and environmental benefits will also be realised and measured.

Demand management programmes can be wide ranging in scale. They might:

  • target a range of projects and land uses from singular small trip generators like schools, to larger trip generators such as businesses, universities and hospitals
  • focus on a part of an urban area, such as a central business district, a key transport corridor, or a neighbourhood
  • be developed to drive change across an entire city or a region, for example mode shift plans
  • be national activities where these support national, regional or local demand management actives.

Travel behaviour change required to realise investment benefits

Travel behaviour change activities are part of the suite of demand management activities. These are non-infrastructure measures to change mode or travel patterns using persuasive or dissuasive techniques.

Benefits of investment in better provision for shared and active modes are realised only when people change. Travel behaviour change requires continuous programmes over a period of time to build significant mode shift, especially as active and shared networks and services are expanded.

We (Waka Kotahi as investor) expect approved organisations and Waka Kotahi (for its own activities) to accompany investment in shared and active modes with travel behaviour change activities to ensure uptake.

Travel behaviour change is effective when integrated and targeted

When delivering mode shift, travel behaviour change initiatives are most effective when active or shared travel mode options already exist or will soon be provided. Travel behaviour change activities can help realise the benefit of these investments in two ways by:

  • encouraging people to change and use the new service or route
  • building social licence for further change.

Travel behaviour change activities can be used to reschedule or reduce people’s travel to optimise the existing network and reduce congestion on roads or public transport services. These are effective when targeted around significant disruptions to the network, or congestion hot spots. Targeting change moments in people’s lives has proven an effective tactic.

Travel behaviour change programme scope and initiatives

Effective travel behaviour change programmes:

  • incorporate a wide range of strategies in a coordinated way and are part of a wider demand management programme
  • are informed by understanding the wider land use and travel planning environment
  • are built on a good understanding and articulation of behaviours and trips needing to be changed, and insight into people who can make the change, what they do, why and what is important to them
  • are developed through a process of trial, measurement and iteration, and with feedback from those affected.

Travel behaviour change activities

There is a wide range of educational, promotional, policy and experiential activities to encourage and influence people to make changes to their travel behaviour, such as:

  • development of policies to encourage mode shift or trip reduction, retiming or rerouting including freight management plans, and pricing and parking policy development
  • information, education and promotion of new facilities or services to encourage a change in travel choices around major events or disruptions to the network, and to normalise behaviour change
  • events such as open streets and car-free days, challenges and competitions, awards and conferences, and skills training for active and shared modes
  • facilities and services including temporary traffic restriction trials, tactical urban mobility initiatives installation of e-bike charging points, bike and scooter parking, public end-of-trip facilities such as showers, bike fix it hubs or services and guaranteed ride home schemes
  • financial tools such as parking pricing and policy to improve the relative attractiveness of behaviour changes; bike loan or purchase incentives, grants for community-based schemes to encourage behaviour change and loan schemes to trial alternative modes
  • travel planning tools and activities including development and delivery of personalised workplace and school travel plans, promoting measures that reduce the need to travel
  • establishment and ongoing support for transport management associations
  • research to assess current level of service of alternative modes, to better understand audiences, test messages and interventions, and measure changes in behaviour, and beliefs.

Developing a programme of demand management activities

The Government Policy Statement on land transport expects demand management initiatives (including travel behaviour change) to be developed as part of land use planning, transport planning and business case processes, and funded from the most appropriate activity class.

Government Policy Statement on land transport 2021(external link)

Links to planning

Approved organisations and Waka Kotahi (for its own activities) should link their proposals under work categories 421 and 432 to planning documentation such as:

Activity management planning

Proposals for funding assistance for any transport service delivery activity will be supported by a business case. Proposals for services associated with significant public infrastructure investment should reflect activity management plans (AMPs) or similar plans that meet the requirements of schedule 10, clause 2 of the Local Government Act 2002 for approved organisations, or Cabinet Office circular CO (15) 5: Investment Management and Asset Performance for the State Services, Crown entities, including Waka Kotahi (for its own activities), and the Department of Conservation).

Local Government Act 2002, schedule 10, clause 2(external link)

Cabinet Office circular CO (15) 5: Investment Management and Asset Performance(external link)

The proposal should include:

  • recommendations in the approved organisation’s and Waka Kotahi (for its own activities) travel demand management strategies in the AMP
  • changes to levels of service targets relating to transport user satisfaction, safety and access
  • quality assurance
  • innovation.