Most organisations have tried some form of travel behaviour change: a cycle-to-work scheme, a sustainable travel week, a campaign encouraging car-share. Engagement is usually modest, and the effect rarely lasts beyond the initiative itself.

This isn’t because employees don’t care. It’s because most behaviour change initiatives skip the most important step: understanding the actual barriers and motivations behind current travel choices, for this specific workforce, at this specific site.

Why generic campaigns underperform

Travel behaviour is personal and highly contextual. Someone driving to work might be doing so because public transport doesn’t serve their route, because they do the school run on the way, because cycling feels unsafe on the available roads, or simply because driving has always been the default. A single campaign message rarely addresses all of these – or any of them precisely.

Effective behaviour change starts with data, not assumptions:

• Who is travelling which way, and from where
• What realistic alternative modes actually exist for them
• What the genuine barriers are – infrastructure, safety, cost, time, caring responsibilities, confidence
• Which segments of the workforce are realistically ‘moveable’ to a different mode, and which are not

What works in practice

Once the barriers are understood, interventions can be targeted rather than generic:

• Site-specific solutions: secure cycle storage where cycling is viable but underused; shuttle links where public transport genuinely falls short
• Targeted incentives aimed at the staff segments most likely to switch mode, rather than blanket schemes with low relevance
• Policy alignment: ensuring hybrid working, parking policy and travel incentives pull in the same direction, rather than contradicting each other
• Clear measurement: tracking actual mode shift over time, not just engagement with a campaign

Behaviour change as a strategic capability, not a one-off initiative

The organisations that see sustained shifts in travel behaviour tend to treat it as an ongoing, evidence-led programme – not a single campaign to tick a Travel Plan box. They understand their workforce’s travel patterns, test targeted interventions, measure the result, and adjust.

This is a markedly different approach from the generic sustainability campaign – and a markedly more effective one.