A possible blueprint for mainstreaming travel plans in the UK?

The purpose of this paper is to briefly review the evolution of the travel plan since its introduction in the UK just over a decade ago, and then draw on this to suggest how travel plans may develop over the next ten years. The paper draws on existing literature and the experience of the authors and colleagues to suggest that travel plans have gradually shifted from being predominantly a niche product towards being an integrated, comprehensive yet still focused tool in three senses: segment, scale and scope, and proposes that a fourth element ‘structure’ is also important. It then suggests that policy makers might use these observations to provide an eventual target destination that might inform a more strategic approach as to the potential of the travel plan in the future and sets out some possible intermediate stops along the way.