Travel Plans explained: what they include and why they help approval

For the government to achieve its ambition of a net zero transport system by 2050, every new development has a part to play in moving people away from single-occupancy car journeys. This is exactly why local planning authorities lean so heavily on Travel Plans. 

If you’ve been asked to prepare a Travel Plan partway through your planning application and aren’t sure where to start, here’s what you need to know. Below, we’ll walk you through what a Travel Plan involves, the measures it might include, and how it can help improve your chances of planning approval.

A Travel Plan is a strategic document that details how people will travel to and from your site once it’s built and occupied. This covers everyone who may use your site, including staff, residents, students, and visitors. Its main purpose is to reduce reliance on cars and instead promote more sustainable transport methods like walking, cycling, and public transport.

There isn’t a clear-cut threshold that triggers the need for a Travel Plan, which is why so many developers only find out they need one once their application is already underway. 

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and government guidance on Travel Plans, Transport Assessments and Statements state that “all developments that generate significant amounts of transport movement should be supported by a Transport Statement or Transport Assessment”. But the issue is that “significant” isn’t a number and is therefore open to interpretation. 

Your local planning authority (LPA) will make a judgement on whether or not a Travel Plan is required based on:

• The scale of your development
• The type of use
• Existing constraints on the local transport network
• Proximity to an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)
• Whether the site sits on a traffic-sensitive road or an area with pressured residential parking

As a general rule of thumb, you may be asked to submit a Travel Plan if your scheme falls into one of these categories:

• Employment uses such as offices, industrial units, warehouses, or business parks
• Retail uses, including supermarkets, retail parks, and standalone stores
• Leisure and community uses like sports facilities, places of worship, or healthcare centres
• Larger residential schemes (the thresholds can vary per council)
• Educational developments such as schools, colleges, or universities

1) A site audit and accessibility assessment

This will describe your site’s location, the existing transport infrastructure around it, and how well connected it is to walking, cycling, and public transport networks (including its PTAL score where relevant).

2) A baseline survey

This highlights how users currently travel to and from your site, or how they’re predicted to travel if it’s a new development. This is usually determined by Trip Rate Information Computer System (TRICS) data.

3) SMART targets

These are specific goals you set for shifting travel behaviour over a defined period of time. For example, you may have a SMART target to “achieve a 15% reduction in single-occupancy car trips within three years of full occupation, measured by an annual staff survey.”

4) A named Travel Plan Coordinator

This is a nominated person who will be responsible for:

• Implementing your Travel Plan
• Monitoring and reporting progress against your targets for the first five years of occupation
• Acting as the point of contact between your site and your local planning authority

5) A set of Travel Plan measures

These are the changes you will make to hit your SMART targets. This could be investments in walking and cycling infrastructure, public transport, or car management, plus behavioural and promotional measures to incentivise people to adopt the measures.

6) A monitoring and review mechanism

This will enable you and your LPA to determine whether your Plan is working. You’ll likely need to submit an annual survey of all site staff or visitors on an annual basis, which is benchmarked against your targets.

7) A statement of the resources and funding you’ll commit to delivering the plan

That way, your local planning authority can see that you’ve invested real money into your Plan, rather than just listing measures with no budget behind them.

A comprehensive Travel Plan helps to remove one of the most common reasons for planning objections: uncertainty about how your scheme’s traffic and travel impacts will be managed. By submitting a Plan to your local planning authority, you’re showing that you’ve put serious thought behind the transport impact of your scheme and are committed to mitigating any negative impacts. 

Quality matters, though. If you submit a Travel Plan that lists vague measures without any site-specific evidence or credible targets behind them, then your LPA has nothing to measure your targets against. But if your Travel Plan is grounded in site-specific evidence and backed by measurable targets, then your highways officer will likely feel confident enough to recommend planning approval. 

We recommend bringing in an expert Transport Consultant early on (ideally at pre-application stage), so that your Travel Plan can be developed alongside your Transport Assessment or Transport Statement and every base is covered.

Our expert Transport Consultants at Encon Associates have extensive experience in producing detailed Travel Plans and Transport Assessments that are tailored to the specific needs of your site and its users. 

We’ll help you set realistic SMART targets, identify which measures are most suitable for your development, and put together a monitoring process that covers you through the first years of occupation. We have a deep understanding of what local authorities look for and when they’re likely to object, ensuring your Travel Plan is best placed to help you obtain planning approval.

Get in touch to discuss your requirements and begin your Travel Plan journey with Encon Associates.