Achieving behaviour change in transport — what should be the guiding principles?

WE ARE VERY PLEASED to record our holding of the second successful TAPAS Round Table event in association with the ‘Transport Thinking Forum’. This addressed the theme of achieving behaviour change in transport.

A challenging introductory presentation by Pete Dyson from the University of Bath looked hard at the concept of ‘Carrots and Sticks’ as applied within the transport world to influencing travel behaviour and questioned its efficacy and suitability as he had set out in his paper published on TAPAS in November 2023 (link to paper). He offered some alternative paradigms and approaches based on his work on behaviour change at creative communications and advertising consultancy Ogilvy, the Department for Transport, and now his PhD research exploring how theories of cooperation might inform policymaking around sustainable travel behaviour.

Pete wrote the ground-breaking book, ’Transport for Humans — are we nearly there yet’ with Ogilvy director, Rory Sutherland.

Pete Dyson was followed by three shorter contributions bringing different perspectives to the behaviour change discussion. These were made by David Metz, honorary professor in the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London, on ‘Heuristics’; Dr Lara Salinas, Director of Service Futures Lab, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, on ‘A Reflective Societal Readiness Assessment’; and Lisa Martin, Director at Steer on 'Reflections on 25 years in travel behaviour change’.

Then after the break, there was a facilitated discussion, which sought to find some areas of potential policy and practice innovation to support behaviour change activity.

All in all, it was generally regarded as a very stimulating and productive event.

After the formal discussions, most of those present enjoyed an hour or so’s socialising at the excellent facilities provided by our event host, sustainability-driven engineering and design consultancy Whitby Wood.

We were delighted with the response from our participants drawn from the TAPAS contributors and network members. Those present comprised 20 people bringing a range of perspectives and experience on this important subject. This lead to an excellent discussion and kick off what we hope to be a continuing exchange of thoughts on TAPAS about this topic.

We look forward to our next Round Table event, considering another challenging transport topic. Details will be posted here in due course.

Access to material from these Round Table events is limited to those attending or who express a specific interest in the subject matter and in joining the professional discussion on it. If you would like to be considered for such access let us know using this link.

• You can also read the Editorial Opinion by Peter Stonham, Travel behaviour change: what’s possible, what works, and what’s needed?