Setting up local travel plan groups : the future of workplace travel planning in urban conurbations? Examples from London, UK.

Any group of organisations that comes together to share resources and ideas for developing and implementing a travel plan (site based Transportation Demand Management plan, known as a Travel Plan in the UK) in their local area could be described as a local travel plan group. Whilst the concept is not new for workplace travel planning in North America, recently several new variants have been established in the UK. This paper reviews and sets out a typology of local travel plan groups, including development zones, area based groups, Transportation Management Associations and Business Improvement Districts. It then highlights the case of London, where, perhaps uniquely, at least one example of each type of group is present. One new example is then examined in more detail to illustrate some of the challenges in setting up a local travel plan group and the way in which they may develop in the future to providing a framework for involving businesses in local transport improvement decisions. Finally, the main characteristics of the London groups and how they differ from their North American predecessors are briefly explored.