Evaluation

Effective behavioural change programmes have the potential to significantly shift habitual travel patterns - at both an individual and societal level.

Understanding the impact of such programmes lies in the collection of robust monitoring data to facilitate evaluation against defined objectives. ITP's team typically measures how people's travel behaviour has changed in response to improved transport options and campaign information, while seeking to identify lessons that could be applied to future programme development.

We’re advocates of embedding evaluation into programmes at their design stage. This ensures clear processes are agreed to collect robust data before, during, and after programmes have been delivered and helps evidence the impact of, and critical success factors for, influencing people's travel behaviour.

By adopting different approaches to suit the nature of the transport interventions we evaluate, we provide meaningful findings that offer detailed feedback and insights into the effectiveness of transport interventions and services. Our work helps clients' understand 'what works' and what they can do to improve future initiatives.

Capabilities

Output, outcome and process evaluation planning and design for specific interventions.
Pre- and post-implementation data collection, analysis and reporting.
Ongoing monitoring of project and programme metrics relative to target outputs and outcomes.
Appraisal of the congestion, carbon and health related impacts of behavioural change programmes.

Personalised Travel Planning Evaluation

Leicestershire County Council funded a Personalised Travel Plan programme to provide tailored sustainable travel advice to 38,000 households in Loughborough & Coalville. Our role was to act as a 'critical friend’ to AECOM, who delivered the travel advice to households, and to carry out independent project evaluation.

Over 25% of targeted households actively participated in the PTP project and car mode share trips for work reduced between 4% and 22% amongst project participants.

We were recognised for our expertise when the programme received the CIHT ‘Sustainability Award’ in 2014. Subsequently the team have successfully redeployed the Choose How You Move PTP delivery model in Hinckley and Leicester North West. Learn more.

Cycle Superhighway Evaluation

Improving the quality and safety of walking and cycling routes in Leeds is a priority for West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds City Council, and Bradford City Council. The CityConnect programme established a network of high quality walking and cycling routes across the Leeds city region, starting with Cycle Super Highways 1 and 2.

We were appointed to collect and analyse pre-implementation data to establish a baseline of walking and cycling activity in the local area, this involved analysing 2,000 household surveys and contrasting our findings with corroborative data. We were re-appointed to carry out the post-implementation evaluation to understand the impact of the scheme in terms of increasing the number of cycling trips, increasing activity levels in the community, and understanding if these changes were statistically significant.

Access Fund Programme Evaluation

Nottinghamshire County Council secured funding from the Department for Transport's Access Fund to deliver a travel behaviour change programme called Travel Choice, and ITP were commissioned to evaluate the impact on travel behaviour.

At the planning stage we developed a robust Evaluation Plan detailing the outputs and outcomes targets, and how these would be measured during the programme. This included the collection of primary travel behaviour data via pre and post intervention surveys, supplemented by corroborative secondary data sources.

Process and impact evaluations were carried out each year to highlight the programme influenced local attitudes, connected jobseekers with employment opportunities, and encouraged people to travel more sustainably. The long-term impacts of delivery will be assessed at the end of the programme in 2021.

LSTF Programme Evaluation

From 2011 to 2015 Nottingham City Council deliverd the Nottingham Urban Area LSTF programme on behalf of a local partnership. We were commissioned to undertake an independent evaluation of how the programme was deliverd and its impact.

We quantified the outputs from the interventions and combined primary data to identify impacts of cycle hire initiatives and jobseeker public transport concessions, as well as analysing secondary data from project output reports.

The process evaluation, user interviews and a literature review examined how the programme was developed, delivered, and marketed by the LSTF stakeholders, partners, and delivery teams.

Our evaluation report identified key impacts and lessons learned, reporting a Benefit Cost Ratio of 4.3:1, which has since helped the City Council make the case for further sustainable transport funding.

National Behaviour Change Programme Evaluation

The Scottish Government funded the ‘Smarter Choices, Smarter Places’ behaviour change programme to help save people money, improve their health, build stronger communities, and improve the environment.

Alongside Aberdeen University and Derek Halden Consultancy, our role was to evaluate the programme to establish whether, how and where benefits were achieved and to suggest ways of improving delivery. An extensive quantitative survey programme; including area-wide travel diary surveys, telephone surveys, local data collection and user consultation initiatives; formed the basis of the evaluation. The findings from our research have informed the continued delivery of the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme in additional towns and cities across Scotland.

Smart Network, Smarter Choices

From 2013 to 2015 Centro delivered the Smart Network, Smarter Choices sustainable transport project in the West Midlands. It sought to improve sustainable transport options across the region to encourage more people to travel by walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing.

ITP's role was to set up, manage and engage with a stakeholder panel of 165 high-level policymakers and businesses across the region to evaluate the programme’s impact. Key research questions focused on behaviour change, attitudes to sustainable travel, employment opportunities, business confidence and perceived impacts of the programme.

Our impact evaluation report fed into the future development of transport options in the West Midlands, providing insights into the needs and expectations of local people.

Healthy Borough evaluation

Tower Hamlets was one of nine areas supported by the Department of Health's Healthy Community Challenge Fund. The Council's Heathy Borough programme supported children, families and the wider community to be more physically active, eat well, and maintain a healthy weight throughout their lives.

ITP undertook an output, outcome and process evaluation of the walking and cycling components of the programme. Our evaluation identified the most-successful projects delivered in Tower Hamlets and drew on process-learning findings to recommend how they might be replicated in other parts of the country to achieve wider uptake of active travel modes.

Smarter Choices, Smarter Places

The Scottish Government funded the ‘Smarter Choices, Smarter Places’ (SCSP) behaviour change programme to help save people money, improve their health, build stronger communities and improve the environment.

Alongside Aberdeen University and Derek Halden Consultancy, ITP’s role was to evaluate the SCSP programme to establish whether, how, and where benefits were achieved - and to identify ways of improving delivery. An extensive quantitative survey programme; including area-wide travel diary surveys, telephone surveys, local data collection and user consultation initiatives, formed the basis of the evaluation. Our team members worked closely with local delivery teams in the participating towns of Barrhead, Kirkintolloch, Dumfries, Dundee, Glasgow East, Kirkwall, and Larbert-Stenhousemuir.

The findings from our research have informed the continued delivery of the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme in additional towns and cities across Scotland.