Research project

Centre for Sustainable Travel Choices (CSTC)

Project overview

The Centre for Sustainable Travel Choices (CSTC) was a partnership working with the City Council and the wider region to promote local sustainable travel, walking and cycling, whilst suppressing private car use. The project continued on from the collaborative work originated through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, with TRG leading on the monitoring and evaluation of physical interventions and travel behaviour change, as well as advising and supporting Southampton City, Eastleigh Borough and Hampshire County Councils in developing an active travel culture that enriches lives, provides realistic travel choices, and tackling the pressing air quality problem in the region.

Significant progress has been made on encouraging modal shift along the major ‘cycle-to-work’ corridors as promoted through the DfT Access Fund, complementing the now established city-wide cycling freeways and quietways in the Southampton Cycle Network (SCN), and in preparations for ‘Active Travel Zones’ that were expected to be established in St. Denys, Portswood and the Polygon (around Bedford Place) among others.

Support was also provided to Southampton City Council’s development of their Green Transport Recovery Plan, following the outbreak of Covid-19 and the effects this had on people’s travel movements and subsequent mode shifts. The partnership’s focus later moved towards projects associated with the DfT’s Transforming Cities Fund in ‘Connecting Southampton’, which included:

(1) the development of ‘rapid bus corridors’ linking Southampton with Hythe and Totton to the West, Bishopstoke and Eastleigh to the North, and Woolston, Thornhill and Bursledon to the East;

(2) a ‘Park and Ride’ scheme close to the M271 in the West, providing services to Southampton General Hospital and (at weekends) into the City Centre; and

(3) an enhanced multi-modal interchange at Southampton Central Station.

The CSTC also led the monitoring and evaluation of projects associated with the Future Transport Zone in the wider Solent Transport Region, which started towards the latter half of 2020, including Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) trials, Growing ‘Solent Go’ and Breeze app, e-Scooter trials, and bike (and e-bike) share schemes.

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor John Preston

Professor in Rail Transport

Research interests

  • Demand, capacity and cost modelling for sustainable transport infrastructure.
  • The design, monitoring and evaluation of transport interventions designed to promote sustainable choices.
  • The determination of pathways for future mobility transitions to net zero carbon.
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Other researchers

Dr Alan Wong

Research Fellow

Research interests

  • the development of people-friendly, sustainable and liveable cities, that inter-link urban with transportation planning;
  • improving the de-carbonisation of road transport, with the associated improvements on air quality;
  • encouraging more sustainable modes of travel, including walking, cycling and taking public transport, with the health benefits these can also bring;
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Mr Adrian Hickford

Senior Research Assistant

Research interests

  • Methods to assess future changes to national and regional infrastructure systems
  • Promoting use of active travel and sustainable transport and improvements to road safety
  • Sustainable distribution and freight
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Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs