TravelSmart is a successful programme run by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and supported by the Town of Vincent which is designed to encourage individuals to make smarter transport choices for journeys where a car is not essential.
To travel smart is to use the most appropriate form of transport for each journey. About 80% of the trips West Australians make in our day-to-day life are made using a car. Many Vincent residents make around 20 car trips each week. However, only about half of these trips actually require a car, for example when transporting bulky items such as the weekly shopping. For the other half of the trips that we make, it is just as easy, and often quicker, cheaper, better for our health, and better for the environment, to walk, cycle, or use public transport:
• Walk 500 metres to the local shop or park for some exercise
• Take the bus to the shopping centre or cinema
• Cycle 1 kilometre to meet friends.
The TravelSmart challenge is for each resident to pick a couple of trips each week to do differently. Currently, many people make at least two car trips a week of less than 1 km. Another nine trips are between 1 km and 5 km with an average trip length of 3 km. Some of these trips are quick and convenient and could be made by walking or cycling. Some longer trips may be to places on a good bus route. While it doesn't sound like much, if everyone in Perth travelled smart for just two trips per week, that would be more than 2.5 million car trips saved each week.
The benefits of travelling smarter include less traffic congestion on our roads and cleaner air. There are also personal health benefits from more cycling and walking and savings from reduced vehicle running costs. People already involved in TravelSmart programmes also say they enjoy the sense of "community belonging" that develops in their area.
Vincent residents already lead the way in making smarter travel choices. Our multi-award winning Vincent Vision 2024 community visioning project found that there are significant differences in vehicle ownership patterns in the Town compared with the metropolitan area. Almost 15% of households in Vincent have no motor vehicles, compared with 7.8% of metropolitan households. Vincent households also have far fewer vehicles than the metropolitan area.
The use of public transport as a method of travelling to work is almost double for people living in Vincent (9.1%), compared with the metropolitan area (4.8%). A much higher proportion of people in Vincent also walk or cycle to work (8.8%) compared to 2.3% for the metropolitan area. Almost 10% less people in Vincent (54.9%) drive a car to work, compared to the metropolitan area (63.2%).
The Town of Vincent is committed continuing these trends and to creating a community where walking, cycling and using public transport are attractive and convenient alternatives to travelling by car. The Town is keen to promote TravelSmart within our locality and public transport maps [PDF] and cycle and walking maps [PDF] are available from the Customer Service Centre.
TravelSmart have also compiled a list of cycling opportunities [PDF] and walking opportunities [PDF] for the Vincent area.
The Town encourages all residents, visitors and local businesses to TravelSmart when possible, and is actively working to promote, support and enable the use of more sustainable transport modes.
For more information visit the Travelsmart website.