Offices moving down town - effects on travel behaviour

S Meland

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

9-2002

Subject Area

ridership - behaviour

Abstract

In November 2000, several local public services moved office from peripheral parts of the Norwegian city of Trondheim, to the CBD. This relocation gives improved public transport services and restrictionsin parking facilities for employees and visitors. Changes in transport service from before relocation to after relocation: * Fraction of commuters having to change bus: down from 50% to 6% * Average travel time by public transport: reduced by 23%, from 43 minutes to 33 minutes * Number of free parking spaces for employees: down from 'unlimited' to none * Average parking cost: up from 'Free' to NOK 65 per day (equals EURO 8)A before-after study in four waves was carried out during 2000 and 2001, focussing on changes in mode choice related to the relocation. The study included employees and visitors. The employee surveywas based on self-completion of an electronic interview form with a one week travel diary, returned byemail. Findings from the survey include: * The relocation resulted in significant changes in mode choice for employees and visitors, with a shift from car to public transport as main characteristics * For the employees, the changes were mainly due to the restricted parking options. A majority of employees with a shift in mode choice, reported that they felt "forced" to carry out the change * The shift in the employees’ mode choice was less significant on days with official duties out of office * Employees with no reported change in mode choice, differed from the average employee on several points, including: poorer public transport services, a larger proportion with obligations requiring stops on the way between home and place of work, a larger proportion with young children in the household.

Comments

Permission to publish abstract given by AET.

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