Voices of the Industry presented by Steer - #6 Unlocking TDM: Lessons learned from both sides of the Atlantic

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hello and welcome to voices of the industry a podcast series bringing you leading industry voices who challenge
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thinking across Transportation infrastructure and
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[Music]
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cities we are ahead today to talk about how we can make more more efficient use of our transportation system how can we
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encourage people out of their cars and onto bikes buses trains or indeed walking or perhaps think about the way
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we change the time that they travel or where they travel to so it's a question which having long played on the minds of
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governments the world over is seen in a new light in a climate conscious and public health focused postco World
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Transportation demand management as it is known in the US or behavior change and it is more commonly called in the UK
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is a way to address this key transport and planning issue in our towns and cities I'm Lisa Martin the director at
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steer I've worked in the field of TDM since its infancy in the UK since the late 1990s at that time we were
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developing and piloting Behavior change strategies we were drafting best practice guidance on travel plans for
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clients such as then the department for transport and Energy savings trust we led the way in developing personal
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traveling planning techniques including motivational interviewing and we played a key role in the delivery of the
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sustainable travel towns program and subsequent local sustainable transport projects in 2014 I made the move to the
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United States with a remit to establish steer's planning business subsequently opening offices in Los Angeles and San
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Diego I've been back working in the UK since 2020 still with a very keen interest in TDM and with me today is
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Julia wean who I first met in 2017 whom I have enjoyed working with immensely on
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many TDM challenges over the intervening is Julia please introduce yourself
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thanks Lisa I'm Julia wean as Lisa mentioned I am an associate with steer
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I've been working in the TDM industry since 2012 and with you since 2017 Lisa I've
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worked across a few different areas in the industry I started with a small nonprofit transportation management
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association in the Boston area helping to manage TDM programs on the ground and then now with steer my focus is more on
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the Strategic side of TDM so sort of helping to design TDM strategies and policies for our clients and it's been
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really great to work with you and learn from you over the years Lisa I think
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particularly watching how you've been able to bring Behavior change principles from the UK and from your work
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internationally to the states and now that you're back working full-time in the UK really interesting to just stay
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in touch and be able to keep each other up to date on what's happening in both of our markets so really excited for
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this discussion today indeed thanks julith that's great so let's talk more let's get into TDM and let's start with
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just how would we Define it what do we mean by TDM and and as you know there's so many interpretations but put simply I
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like to describe it as managing Demand on the transport system by thinking about the people who use the system and
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providing those people with more choices and those choices might be about what mode they're going to travel on what
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time of day they might travel or where they travel to but only by connecting with the users and thinking about the
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users of the system and providing them with real choices can we really truly make the most efficient use of the
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system and not just keep building is that a fair summary Jud or what would you add to that yeah I think definitely
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you know that that capture sort of the the high level overview of what we try to do with TDM and what we're we're
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hoping to get out of it I think I'd add you know when it comes down to actually implementing TDM or delivering it lots
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of those choices are really created by making sure that people understand what
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their options are and that's what we do a lot in sort of the daytoday of of TDM delivery so you know building a bike
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lane or establishing a new bus route is is a form of TDM but so is sort of the marketing and the Outreach behind it or
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any incentivization around using those choices and so if people don't know they
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exist they're not going to get used and that's what we tend to see from from the
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behavior change standpoint is beyond just creating the choices how can we make them more attractive and how can we
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make sure that people are are making the choices that are best for them and and help us reach the goals that we're
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trying to to achieve with TDM that's so very true isn't it the the education and the encouragement to do something
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different is is fundamental it reminds me actually of when we do some of our motivational interviewing type training
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and we always talk to people about the fact that for the major it of people who aren't transport planners the idea of
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really giving a lot of thought to how they make their trips and why they make their trips is just not something people
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do it's a it's a real Habit to walk out of the door every morning and perhaps be carrying the car keys because that's all
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you've ever done and why would you stop and look up what your public transport route is or indeed how you might bike
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somewhere so such an important part of what we do in TDM is about really making people stop and think and understand
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that actually there are other ways to to get around and do the things they need to do so let's think now about the
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drivers of TDM and and I think I suppose they're thinking about the differences a little bit between the United Kingdom
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and the United States why have different governments pursued TDM and I've I've been in this industry a lot longer than
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you are I'm a lot older than you are in that sense um and when I think back uh to when I started working in TDM in the
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UK the biggest driver was absolutely congestion everything we were doing was around reducing the number of car trips
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which would great in congestion on our roadways and I remember in particular I look back at some of the what at the
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time was really groundbreaking work that the department for transport here funded for a sustainable travel towns program
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back in 2004 it was a demonstration project and three towns different parts of the UK were given a 10 million pound
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fund a lot of money at that time to implement what we called smarter choices programs typically TDM type measures
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over a 5year period and all three of those towns put in range of initiatives aimed at encouraging more use of of
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non-car options in particular bus cycling walking and to absolutely
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discourage single occupancy car use that was that was our main goal and the evaluation of that showed a reduction of
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s to 10% reduction in the number of car driver trips per resident which was
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pretty groundbreaking at the time that we could put in this type of program of initiatives but it was absolutely the
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car driver trips we were focused on on many meur in and I think now that's
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changed a little bit I think um air quality sure has always been important in the environmental impact of car
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driver trips but I think transport's role in achieving that zero has just really moved the the debate on now and
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it's much more important for local transport authorities and indeed P private and public organizations to be
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thinking about how they're working towards their own Net Zero goals and then just as a a third aside I suppose
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new develop velopment has always been there and that was there 2030 years ago and it's still there today that the
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opportunity for new developments coming forwards gives the local planning Authority the opportunity often to
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require things that we we might associate with with TDM so what are the
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how does that compare to the drivers in the US and how's that perhaps changed over time yeah I think in the in the
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states there have been some similar Trends you know historically our our TDM policy and programming has really flowed
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down from sort of an environmental standpoint and also a congestion reduction standpoint as well postco
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we've seen that shift a little bit away from congestion as congestion has just
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gotten harder to control it's not all happening at the same time anymore it's
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a bit less predictable and so focusing on the environment is is something that we've seen come through a bit more
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clearly in US policy and drivers I think particular you know we know that the
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transportation sector contributes to about 30% of our greenhouse gas emissions and so it's an area that's
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that's really important for us to focus on and I think the the the other piece you mentioned developers I think is sort
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of coming from the private sector and thinking about the options and the choices that you mentioned a few minutes
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ago and how important they are to actual day-to-day Travelers and so in addition to just congestion reduction or air
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quality TDM is used as a tool to make things easier for people who are getting
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around and that's something that developers want to see because they want their projects to be attractive to
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tenants employers want to see because they want their work sites to be accessible and they want to be able to
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provide benefits to their employees and so we see a lot of that TDM particularly
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from the private sector coming around just wanting to be competitive and provide good service to the people who
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need to get around yeah that's a really interesting point on the workplace trying to be competitive as well right
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it's not actually just a planning condition or sustainability goal but it's also so key to the Recruitment and
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Retention exactly and postco I think that's become even more important as
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just employment has become more competitive okay so so similar similar drivers in both places which is not
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surprising I guess let's move on a bit now to funding where I think we do see some really very real differences and in
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the UK I I highlighted that sustainable travel towns program in the early 2000s and that led to the success of those
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programs led to a really good period of sustained local sustainable transport fund we called it but it was available
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for local authorities across the country to be implementing TDM that Drew to a close and now we're in a place where we
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have a much more Pro motorists agenda we have a much more constrainted funding
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environment and the funding that is coming forward for local transport authorities is far more perhaps to fund
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capital projects and and that sort of important Revenue funding we need to do the smarter choices work the education
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the encouragement is much harder to come by I'm hoping of course that that will
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change in the coming years but that's the environment we're in we're in today so how would you characterize the
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funding environment in the US and how that's how that's changed yeah I think in the US Lisa we're you know a little
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bit more friendly towards funding TDM from a a federal perspective we've had
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the CAC the congestion mitigation and air quality program that's existed in the states that TDM has been an
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allowable use for that program for years and so that's funded lots of our TDM
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work across the States since I think the late ' 80s that that passes down through
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state governments to Regional governments and local governments as as well and so really funds a whole a whole
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variety of different types of TDM programming and strategies and more
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recently TDM has become a bit more well known from a a federal government
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perspective as well which is really great to see just in 2022 the carbon Reduction Program which
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we've seen come through the federal government listed TDM and it's fact sheeet as an option for funding emission
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reduction programs and so it's really exciting to see you know not only more
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funding come through for for emission reduction and air quality programs which you know we mentioned already as a
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driver but seeing TDM really recognized as a tool in in the toolkit so we're not
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just seeing these programs fund huge infrastructure projects but it's you know how are we thinking about TDM in
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addition to some of those those larger projects that are coming through those funding sources that's amazing that
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would that would be great place to get to do you think that was a long time
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coming do you think there's a change of heart at the federal level to recognize TDM or did it just take time to really
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develop the prominence of it I think it's it's certainly something that took
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time and I think it's all back to kind of behavior change and recognition of of
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how important some of these things are right we in the US have the association for commuter Transportation which is a
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profession and advocacy organization really fully dedicated to supporting
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Transportation demand management and so we've been able to really use the tools
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that are in their toolbox to get in touch with our policy makers and make sure that they understand what what
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Transportation demand management is and so that's something that you know has come through a really dedicated effort
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but I think at the same time there's also been just more of a a general
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understanding Maybe maybe even if not of TDM and what Transportation demand
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management is but from the general public of why it's important to make a
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change in your behavior to make a choice to use a more sustainable mode and you
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know that comes through both our our governments but also just more of our
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you know trending and behavior to and um carrying more about the environment in
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general and sort of seeing that come through everything that we're we're consuming in the states as well yeah so
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true great well then there's hope that uh that's that same swell of public opinion might might get through here too
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thinking about other funds so I remember uh probably when you and I were both in La I might need to be reminded of what
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that date was when the the local measure M funding came forward in California
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were within Los Angeles County itself and I remember it was actually on the ballot paper locally that residents
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could opt in to pay an extra scent of sales tax on everything they might purchase and that money would go towards
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transportation and indeed that's provided such a massive local fund for
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local projects and I think it really impressed me for two reasons one that something a process like that could
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exist because it it it doesn't in in the UK but also that the huge majority of
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people that had to vote for that measure for it to go forward recognize the importance of investing in
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transportation and how it would help them get around yeah I think that that's another thing that we've been able to
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see in some parts of the States you know of course it's not everywhere but we certainly have seen more jurisdictions
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take on we call them sort of self-help tax programs where the community is
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voting to impose either a sales tax or in some cases we see vehicle registration fees that create programs
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dedicated to supporting congestion reduction activities or Transportation specifically so it's you know it's
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different in in every location but it's definitely I think that goes back to the culture we're seeing of people
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understanding the importance of some of this stuff you know they know they're going to need to get around in the next
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10 20 30 years and that they need options to do that and so you know that education is is hugely important in
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making sure that those programs and those funding structures exist and it's again it's great to see sort of TDM be
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able to be a a beneficiary of those programs rather than just the huge
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infrastructure projects themselves and so seeing both community members and
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local governments really tie the two together has been really exciting in the states in the past few years yeah indeed
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okay let's talk about strategy shall we and I think um when we work together in the states we always talked about the
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importance of of having that experience of having worked across both strategy and implementation that that that really
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informed the other the fact that we were able to write better strategies because we really had that experience on the
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ground in implementing different projects in different environments and that really informed the development of
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a better strategy but really what I take away from the strategy is it helps the
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authority go forward and think about how what that program of implementation will
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look like it gives them a structure to work to and really develops the the specific projects they might want to take forward
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in the future which makes it easier for any staff member coming forward to sort of pick that project up and deliver it
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because it's been put within a structure and an overall framework but you're busy right now I think working with a number
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of different agencies on TDM strategies what are you seeing of the the benefits of of them working on those yeah I think
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developing a strategy is really hugely important to to implementing TDM
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particular at sort of a local Regional level you know we are often asked what
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works and what strategies should be used and it you know there's really not a one-size fits-all answer to that right
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we understand that certain strategies work better with certain audiences it depends on what your transportation
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landscape looks like and what the options that exist are and so you know the the benefit of developing a strategy
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is really making sure that the tools that are being put in your toolkit you
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know as you mentioned Lisa that you can then pull back into and and use to guide your delivery as you move forward are
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really tailored to the the folks that you want to be serving and really built around being most successful with your
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audiences and so I think that that's one of the major benefits of putting
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together a strategy before you're just starting programming because it's you
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don't want to build something that isn't going to work I think the other piece that we tend to really prioritize at
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steering our projects is making sure that our strategies are built around
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monitoring processes and so not only are we saying you know based on who your
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audience is here's what probably will work the best and here's what you should try it's here's what you should try and
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here's how you should measure and really understand if it is successful in the long term you know we talked a little bit about
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TDM back in the 80 ' 80s and 90s and lots of that was really focused on just delivering programs but there was less
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of an understanding of how successful it really was and today I think the industry has moved toward being a bit
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more you know self-evaluating and really understanding as we go what's working and what's not because it makes us able
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to make changes on the go it makes it easier for us to you know make little
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tweaks to the programs that we're putting forward so that we're able to keep them successful the landscape is
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always changing audience needs are changing and so just assuming something that works you know in 2024 is going to
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work again in 2020 in 2034 doesn't really make sense we want to be able to
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kind of stay on top of that and that all comes through sort of Designing a strategy first so that you're making
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sure you're keeping track of how things are working and and monitoring your progress yeah abs absolutely so so true
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it's agile the land the landscape we're working in is changing so much the transportation options are changing so much but actually the other thing we've
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seen is the the marketing tools um that are coming forward that we're able to utilize and even if we just think about
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how social media has changed over the last 10 years means actually our communication methods can be so
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different and we've really got to be keeping on top of on top of all of that just thinking again about strategies and
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reflecting on some of the work I've been involved in there I was thinking of the importance of winning hearts and minds
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of the stakeholders involved so if I go back to the the very first project actually I worked on in in the states
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with for sandag and agency I have a lot of respect for the great work they do and it was designing a TDM strategy for
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the North Coast Corridor that was going to mitigate the impacts of really quite large scale construction they had
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planned on the I5 and indeed the the rail Corridor at the same time and it it
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was just really interesting taking the time to look ahead to 2040 in this case in that construction program but really
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engaging many stakeholders who were involved in those in that construction who weren't involved day-to-day if you
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like in TDM they they didn't have knowledge of TDM We There was really an education piece for us I suppose to help
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those people understand the value of TDM and why it should become part of their
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construction projects and I think that's something else I'd say about the benefits of of really developing a good
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comprehensive TDM strategy is is taking stakeholders with you having the opportunity to build the understanding
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and appreciation of of what TDM when properly deployed can really achieve and
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I think you've worked on some other strategies if I think of the one we were did together for skag the Southern
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California Association of governments which was far more widespread over a much much bigger area wasn't it but we
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really had to engage those stakeholders across those counties do you do you think that's then led to better
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implementation of TDM by those different counties you know remember going to somewhere there was just really low
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levels of awareness and understanding of TDM when we started and I wonder how you've seen that change definitely yeah
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I think you know particularly at the local level where people are just really
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busy and city workers have lots on their plates TDM is maybe not something that they're thinking about on a day-to-day
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basis and being able to pull them into a strategy development process is huge
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because not only are you saying here's something exciting that you could use if you want to it's you know what's
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important to you and how can TDM be designed in a way that actually does work best for you and so it's probably
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not unique to TDM it's probably something we see across lots of our planning processes as Transportation
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planners in general but you know the more we're able to pull stakeholders into decision making processes and the
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more we're able to give them a say in the way that strategies and recommendations ultimately get developed
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I think the more they're learning from them the more they're ultimately going to be able to prioritize the types of
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strategies that we'd want them to be using and so definitely pulling those
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folks in is really important and I think you know even Beyond just local governments it's developers and
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employers as well it's business and Community leaders it's it's folks who have sort of that influence
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because in TDM in particular you know we as practitioners don't usually have
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access to every single person traveling and so it's really really important to make sure that these stakeholders if
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they care about some of the drivers that we've discussed already you know air quality congestion reduction that they
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understand why TDM can help with those things and why it's important and so
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they can translate some of those Behavior change ideas down to the people
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that they working with on a day-to-day basis yeah okay so strategy is important
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but actually it's only really effective if it leads to that implementation we've we've engaged and educated those
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stakeholders and um it leads to uh some TDM implementation on the ground so
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let's talk a bit more about some of the projects we've worked on and the way we've really been able to make a difference to the the communities we've
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worked in and think about what what's made those projects effective and there's such a a range to choose from
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where might we go first good question we've done lots of different types of work in different places maybe one that
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I'll start with is and Lisa I think you were involved at the very beginning of this work we did up in Napa Valley in
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California where we had been working with MTC the regional agency to try to
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reduce congestion along there it's Highway 29 sort of main Corridor where
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are lots of Vineyards and Hospitality type employers really trying to make sure that we can get their employees to
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work and their you know their employees are folks who work often in either
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Hospitality or agriculture so might not have like regular 9 to five schedules
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that we're traditionally seeing in TDM um and so we had to think creatively
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about kind of how to get those employers on board and how to develop a program
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that would work well for their employees and and try to reduce and relieve some of the congestion along the corridor so
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originally preco we were thinking about things like car pooling and how to incentivize it and and get folks to to
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share rides and then in the middle of that covid happened and that wasn't something we wanted to be prioritizing
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for people anymore and so we really shifted to thinking about ebikes and E Scooters and and micromobility as sort
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of a way for folks to get around easily and safely and so we put together an
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ebike incentive program pilot this is last summer and fall I guess July
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2022 and one of the things we were able to see which was really great is that by
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giving folks access to ebikes and E Scooters so cheaper cost to purchasing
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or renting these these vehicles we actually saw people Chang their behavior
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so we saw 75 people who took us up on the program and were able to to get a
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bike or a scooter out of the program and we also saw Behavior change we surveyed
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folks and were able to see a real change in people who would have been driving
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but we're now using these ebikes for commuting purposes and so you know just a a small sample size because we were
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only working with a handful of employers but one of the sort of postco
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implementation projects that we have under our belt most recently that's been really great to see the the long-term
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change in sort of getting these these bikes and scooters into people's hands amazing and and you're right I was
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involved in the the very early stages of that project and one of the characterizations was you know it's a
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very rural area and the distances people were commuting were were very far so
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that's great actually than an ebike was able to transfer to that were they loans
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or were they some form of purchase did they the bite for a period of time or we
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actually offered a little bit of both most people ended up purchasing but the
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the vendor we were working with did also offer loans and I think actually since that program the other clients that they
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work with are now more focused on leasing the vehicles at a monthly basis
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versus purchasing them but the the our Napa program ended up with lots of folks
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who do now own the vehicles and can use them forever which is really great to see wow fantastic real leaves a real Legacy
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we're just doing a lot of data analysis actually for we've been um doing the monitoring and evaluation of the
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department for transports National ebik program here it was a pilot program and
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that across four different locations in the UK gave out ebikes primarily as
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loans well always as loans but through different settings so actually you could either go into a bike store and get one
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or it tested giving out loans through a community setting or indeed maybe a workplace or education setting and we
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we're just doing the analysis and Reporting on that now but I have to say our interim findings in the summer were really encouraging actually about the
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potential for ebikes to really make a difference on that commuting piece and indeed other Journeys so excited to see
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these new modes coming into the sphere and how actually we use TDM to do that
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education and encouragement piece around helping people understand how to access those new
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yeah I think it's it's really great to see sort of the encouragement and the
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education come together at the same time you know a lot of our our TDM programs
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are about incentivization so providing discounted Transit passes or providing
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things like ebikes and being able to use that carrot we like to call it as a tool
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to get people to try something for the first time is great because they're
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at the same time even though they may not know it really learning about how to use a new mode that they haven't tried
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before and so you know being able to tie in the education of how to use a new
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mode or how it works with a we're going to make it a little bit sweeter for you
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and make it free or give you an extra benefit for it is is fun to see and
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something that we do see people pick up pretty frequently yeah thinking about new modes
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I was also thinking it's it's how we can apply those to existing modes too and actually staying in that roughly that
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geography I was reminded of the project we did for the Livermore Amador Valley
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Transit Authority where we were asked to help them increase the number of bus
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riders in their local community in and around Pleasanton and they had a particular issue that they were serving
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the local bar station and the car par there was very full and they obviously
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had their buses running and opportunity to increase ridership and we introduced the concept of reaching out to all of
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the residents in the area with with information and to some extent incentives but largely information about
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what that bus service was and how they could ride that and one of the exciting things for me was that they measured the
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effectiveness of that through boardings onto the bus and we were actually able to measure a real difference in the
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number of people riding the bus in their in their service area through that that
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education encouragement so yeah it's important we think it's not just about new modes right it can also be really
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effective at getting people onto those those more older and traditional modes that are still serving people's
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Journeys okay other other great projects that we've worked on I'm I'm interested
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in the the tmos I mean that's something you've done a lot of work with judu in different places across the states and
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and the effectiveness of them in working across an area and bringing business
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businesses together yeah we at steer manage a handful of of transportation
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management associations or transportation management organizations tmas or tmos we call them and they all
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work a little bit differently but um really the the the similarity between
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them all is that they're working with a handful of sites whether that's
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employers or universities or development projects um to help provide TDM Serv
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services to the folks who are using those sites and so you know like I mentioned a little bit before it's tough
32:05
to get that you know individual one-on-one Behavior change conversation
32:10
unless we're doing something like we did up in in Livermore where we're knocking on doors and talking to individuals but
32:16
obviously that's um you know pretty time intensive and so what we like to see and
32:21
why tmas and tmos are so great is because they're able to sort of be a convenor of all of these different you
32:29
know again whether it's work sites or development projects or residential projects to help one key individual two
32:37
key individuals at each site be able to translate some of those programs down to
32:42
the people that they're talking to on a daily basis so rather than the TMA or
32:47
TMO needing to speak to every traveler in the city they're able to speak to you
32:53
know we typically call them Transportation coordinators or whoever that that sort of dedic dedicated site representative is really get them
33:00
involved in the programs that the TMA or the TMO is offering really make sure that they have a really good
33:07
understanding of Transportation options in the area and that they're able to translate that down to to their user
33:15
base and the the folks who are using their sites and we've actually done in in Santa Monica a little bit of research
33:21
and sort of comparing how engaged our transportation coordinators are and how
33:28
that translates to actual individualized behavior and what we've
33:33
seen is that when we have those site coordinators really involved in the TMA
33:39
and the TMO when they're attending events when they're reading our newsletters when they're you know
33:45
participating in our programs those sites have better numbers of non single
33:50
occupancy drivers than the ones where the the coordinators aren't as engaged and so it's really cool to see that flow
33:58
down and really demonstrates how useful these these tmas and tmos can be if they're engaging the right way with the
34:05
right people and you know using that sort of economies of scale being able to
34:11
get this huge number of Travelers reached um through through this this
34:18
kind of flow down system the structure and of course there's some I know that you work with that are more workplace
34:25
focused but you mentioned Santa Monica which is one of course that goes beyond the workplaces and it's trying to reach
34:31
residents and visitors to the city as well yeah absolutely and I think you know again particularly with multif
34:39
family residential buildings we're able to take a similar approach where we're working with sort of an on-site
34:45
coordinator who's making sure that you know the TDM programs offered by the TMO
34:51
are advertise to their residents but we also in in a lot of these uh situations
34:58
are working really closely with the local jurisdictions as well so we manage a transportation management organization
35:04
in Burbank California where While most of our members are employers um we do also work with the
35:13
city to get messaging out to the general public so we've done some really fun work with schools we've done some really
35:19
fun work with just hosting events that like the city's been able to push out on their communication channels and we've
35:26
been able to then interact with with a larger audiences including residents as well yeah and I'm just thinking about
35:33
the funding of some of those programs and Santa Monica I think and maybe still
35:38
is was free anyone could benefit from the services of the TMO with no cost
35:44
whereas some of some do have a small membership fee that the workplace perhaps might might pay each year yeah
35:50
so some of some of them are operated through the public sector directly and Santa Monica is a really great example
35:57
of that where they are the the TMO is fully funded by the city and the TMO
36:04
works with any employer that wants to work with them and they get a lot of that engagement because there's some
36:10
policy and regulation that employers do need to comply with in the city in other
36:16
cases we also see tmas and tmos just as fully nonprofit organizations so well
36:23
often they have good relationships with the jurisdictions where they operate
36:28
they're not necessarily operated by or for the the public agency they're
36:35
actually you know nonprofit organizations managed by a board of directors that are made up of membership
36:41
so sometimes it's the group of developers or employers who are
36:47
concerned about either the environment or congestion in an area kind of coming together and saying this is something we
36:53
really care about what can we do to to help make a change here and that's how
36:59
these organizations get established you know really similar to business Improvement districts or Chambers of
37:06
Commerce but just focus specifically on Transportation yeah got it I'm thinking
37:12
of of um particular projects I'm working on in the UK now where I think I've said
37:19
it feels like there's less TDM at the opportunity to implement a little bit less TDM at the moment but some of the
37:25
places I've enjoyed recently in fact airport so I I do a um part-time to
37:30
comment to London City Airport here in the city which has some really ambitious plans um brought about both by its own
37:36
sustainability plan and it's wanting to really make a difference in terms of sustainable Aviation but also through
37:43
development conditions so we are working towards some pretty ambitious Targets on reducing the number of Staff coming to
37:50
the site by car and increasing the number of passengers who are coming to the site by public transport so those
37:56
are our two goals there and I think in the period I've been working there it's really been a focus on having people
38:03
understand it's less about the infrastructure changes which are the bigger things the more expensive things and they take time but actually we can
38:10
make a really big difference with that communication the education the encouragement that we keep coming back
38:15
to and we set up a brand at the airport last year uh way to work and we've been
38:22
keeping up sort of weekly Communications around that and doing some Road shows and having prize giveaways and a monthly
38:29
cared drawer and so forth and we're really pleased with the recent staff survey results which shows that we had
38:36
reduced a four percentage Point reduction in the number of car number of Staff driving alone over the past year
38:42
and that really has come down to that that I think communication and just awareness raising you know not being a
38:48
big Topic at the airport until we really decided to to set this identity of it up
38:54
and really start talking to people about what we were trying to do and why we wanted to change but we don't have that
38:59
that network of course that the the tmas would bring us but yeah I mean and we do see tmas and tmos that are focused
39:07
specifically on one business park for example or you know a really small area
39:14
versus like a whole city footprint and so you know when you're thinking about the UK and and who might be interested
39:22
in developing programs like that you know that could be an interesting place to look because there are you know again
39:29
from the developer side maybe more drivers than there are at the the sort
39:35
of city or jurisdictional level as well cool we are we are talking and um I
39:41
think there's a couple of other areas I thought we should explore before we wrap up so let's let's move on to them and I
39:47
guess you know again keeping thinking about how TDM can really make a difference in the climate emergency
39:52
we're in at the moment I wonder how we think about how TDM practitioners keep
39:59
progressing the field and keep innovating we touched on it a bit earlier that we need to keep in touch with those marketing techniques and how
40:05
they change over time but what what supporting networks and opportunities do
40:11
do we see and I think if I if I highlight one first it's the importance of just sharing what's working right
40:17
best practice and how do we how do we make sure we're constantly telling people um about those great projects
40:23
that really do work and I've always really appreciated that TDM list serve that you have in the states which is
40:29
such a good articulation of people either looking for best practice or or indeed sharing it and finding it and I
40:35
was excited last year here in the UK to hear that an influencing transport laboratory has been set up it's
40:41
currently being housed by transport for the West Midlands but their ambition is to become that center of excellence in
40:47
the UK and importantly I think to bridge the gap between academics who are doing so much good work in this field and
40:53
practitioners to help try and Link that conversation together what do you see is really key in in how we keep innovating
41:00
and moving forwards I think yeah that's a a huge huge important concept Lisa and
41:07
one that you can speak to yourself in terms of the you know some of the the
41:12
tactic and the knowledge that you brought over from the UK back in in 2012
41:18
2014 and so I think that's something that needs to continue happening in you know agencies like the association for
41:25
computer transportation which is technically an international organization though I know it's sort of
41:31
US and Canada focused for the most part really help with some of that knowledge sharing I think some of the other things
41:39
that are really key when we're thinking about moving the industry forward is thinking about data collection and
41:46
making sure that we're advocating for ourselves as an industry and really
41:51
demonstrating the impact that TDM has and so being able to make sure that the
41:56
program that we're putting forward are not just successful but that we're we're
42:03
really tracking and monitoring that success is hugely important you know and
42:08
then making sure that we're sharing that knowledge back and and across our networks is really the only way to make
42:14
sure that it's an industry that continues to see investment and continues to see some of the growth and
42:20
excitement that we've seen in in the previous 10 15 years I think so that's something that that I would probably
42:27
focus on in terms of really prioritizing as we move forward in the next 10 years
42:33
or so yeah so true you recently um you mentioned the association of commuter
42:38
transportation and I know they recently really worked hard to introduce I forget the name of the qualification but there
42:44
is now a TDM qualification that that practitioners can work towards yes there
42:50
is and it's it's exciting to see again it just sort of you know legitimizes the
42:55
industry and makes it a bit more noticeable across practitioners in in
43:02
general planning fields and it's been exciting to see that program grow and maybe policy makers too right maybe
43:08
that's why you are having that success even at the federal level of of you know raising that awareness and the the
43:13
opportunity for TDM to really make a difference so okay before we um wrap up
43:19
let's just think we've talked a lot about the past and the present but let's let's focus a little bit more on the on
43:24
the future and given the net zero by 2050 Target and concerns over public health and the relative lag in reducing
43:32
transport emissions TDM could play a huge role and and what would what would
43:37
you like to see most looking forward great question I think you know more
43:43
more TDM is is really what we want to see and so as we're we're thinking about
43:49
the future and and how we're implementing TDM I think you know we've touched on lots of it today but more of
43:56
that sort of thinking strategically more of that learning from the on the ground
44:03
work to be able to really smartly apply it to the unique situations where we're
44:10
all operating I think is is really key and ensuring that the programs and the
44:16
policy and the funding that allows for TDM really leaves room for that so that
44:21
um you know we're not designing funding programs that are too specific that don't allow for really tailored
44:29
programming or Education Services that we're we're allowing our practitioners
44:35
to continue to collect really good data through Pilots that then gets you know
44:40
pulled back into the the new work that's coming through and just leaving room for
44:46
more more Innovation and and the ability to continue to learn from the work that we're doing yeah and that's what makes
44:52
it so exciting to work in right that that opportunity for that Innovation and keep learning learning it it doesn't
44:58
grow tired I think when I think about the UK what I'd like to see is I'd like to if if you like get back to the Heyday
45:05
of more TDM and I think if I think of all the great Focus that's perhaps been
45:11
around more on our current round of local transport plans that local transport authorities across the country
45:17
are developing and there's some really great vision Le planning going into those I'd just like to see some of the
45:24
TDM elements that are perhaps forming some parts of those plans be brought to life a little bit more to to be further
45:31
developed in really what they're thought and to work with stakeholders as we talked earlier on understanding the
45:37
important role that that TDM can play in those plans and I think by setting up
45:42
that structure that framework for TDM to come forward in the UK then perhaps we can see more funding coming its way and
45:49
and just really start moving the needle and encouraging people out of cars I I
45:55
have to say we've not talked about electric vehicles amazingly I I talk about those a lot these days and I I do
46:02
think there's a real opportunity as where progressing towards providing the infrastructure and the support for
46:08
people to move to electric vehicle charging to make sure that we're also communicating with them about other
46:13
modes so that actually there's a TDM opportunity there to encourage EV drivers to still be multi multimodal
46:19
when it makes sense to be and to remember to use other modes of Transport as well yeah definitely I think sort of
46:26
making sure that we're not separating out the the drivers that we've talked about is really key there right so we're
46:32
not if if we're just focused on the environment then switching everyone to an electric vehicle will have the same
46:38
impact as keep switching everyone onto a bus but we'll all be stuck in traffic
46:44
all the time and so making sure that we're sort of pulling these drivers in
46:49
together so that we understand the the education can all come at the same time and we can prioritize more than one
46:56
thing at once is really helpful in that so true all right well I think we should wrap it up
47:02
there it's been great talking to you we talk often anyway and share the different stuff we're doing in different
47:08
places but it's been really good to air this and and share that with a few more people so thank you so much Judah for
47:14
your time and we'll speak again soon thanks Lisa this has been really fun I
47:19
appreciate hearing more about what you all are are focused on in the UK and it's been great to talk a little bit
47:25
more formally about all of it thanks everyone thanks
47:45
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