Smarter Travel Sutton is the first phase of Transport for London's

Transport for London

Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...

 Smarter Travel initiative aiming to ease congestion in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 by enabling and encouraging people to substitute car journeys for more sustainable forms of transport, and to ensure that public transport systems, footpaths and cycle paths are running at optimum capacity.

The Project is a joint venture between the Transport for London and the London Borough of Sutton

London Borough of Sutton

The London Borough of Sutton is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It is one of the southernmost boroughs of London...

, with support from the Mayor of London

Mayor of London

The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

.

Schedule

Phase one, which ran between September and October 2006 covered the Worcester Park region.

The next phase will cover the entire London borough of Sutton and will run from April to September 2007.

Similar schemes will be run in other London Boroughs, such as Camden.

Personalised Travel Planning

Personalised Travel Planning

Personalised travel planning is an initiative pioneered by Transport for London in conjunction with London borough councils in order to make transport systems more efficient....

Following a letter informing residents of the project, teams of Travel Advisors trained in the borough's transport infrastructure will visit every household in the borough aiming to discuss one-to-one with the residents their travel habits and main modes of transport. They will then talk with them about possible alternatives they may not have considered, which may suit them better, save them time, money or hassle, or be more sustainable and less congested. They can supply them with information and incentives which can inform them about local transport, amenities and organizations, and assist and encourage them to more comfortably make changes to the way they travel.

Business & Schools Travel Planning

Travel Advisors will also be visiting businesses and schools to advise them on what they could do to assist their employees and students in changing their travel, for example allowing flexible hours so the rush-hour can be avoided.

Grants will also be made available for minor engineering projects for example, shower facilities or secure bicycle storage to encourage traveling by bike.

Feedback

Participants will be given the opportunity to voice their views on Sutton's transport in order for the borough to gauge public opinion and the issues the public think need to be addressed.

Resources

A wide range of information is available to be freely delivered to residents, this includes…

Cycling

• TFL guides to cycling and planning cycle journeys in the local area.
• Special offers on personal Cycle training.
• Information on the Immobilize bike security scheme.

Walking

• Pocket Maps on walking routes in the local area
• Information on walking for leisure in the local area, The Chalk Downloads, The Wandle Trail
  River Wandle
  The River Wandle is a river in south-east England. The names of the river and of Wandsworth are thought to have derived from the Old English "Wendlesworth" meaning "Wendle's Settlement". The river runs through southwest London and is about long...
  
   and The London Loop
  London Outer Orbital Path
  The London Outer Orbital Path — more usually the "London LOOP" — is a signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M25 for walkers"...
  
  

Public Transport

• Multi-modal pocket maps of Local public Transport links
• Oyster Card
  Oyster card
  The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport services within the Greater London area of the United Kingdom. It is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on a number of different travel systems across London including London Underground, buses, the Docklands...
  
   information
• Network Rail Card information
• Cabwise taxi cab safety scheme details
• Timetables
• Tube Maps

Other

• Greener Driving – information on saving petrol with more efficient driving techniques
• Details home shopping delivery
• Information about the Whizzgo car club
• Information on climate change
• Details on Green spaces to visit in Sutton
• Information on accessibility on Sutton's public transport system

The requested information is delivered personally to the householders by Bicycle Courier.

Friday 13 April 2007

• The project was featured on ITV's
  ITV
  ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
  
   London Tonight
  London Tonight
  London Tonight is a regional news programme broadcast on ITV London . Produced by ITN, the programme is broadcast at 6pm every weeknight, also including local sports news and local features of interest.Like all regional news programmes on ITV in England and Wales and Channel Television, it uses...
  
   programme, the article featured footage of the Travel Advisors talking to residents and contrasting views from both advocates of and opponents to the project.

• The project was also featured on the BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
   London evening news. The article outlined views advocating and opposing the project and featured interviews with official spokespeople for the project and a case study of a local businessman who had recently substituted his car journeys for cycling to local client visits.

• The London Paper published and article by Widiane Moussa entitled "Big Plan to Lure Drivers on to Public Transport."

Events

On Sunday 13 May an event will be held in Sutton Town Centre to raise awareness of the project.

Groups

The project is collaborating with a number of groups representing various demographics within Sutton's population.

External links

• The London Borough of Sutton's page about Smarter Travel Sutton