Transforming Travel on the Isle of Wight:

Transition to Transformation
Access Fund Programme Evaluation 2017/18

The Smarter Choice Consultancy Ltd.
Lorax Environmental Associates
November 2018 / Report for Isle of Wight Council

 04

Introduction
In 2017, following a local authority funding competition,
the Isle of Wight Council was awarded £1.35m from the
Access Fund by the Department for Transport, to fund
delivery of the three-year ‘Transforming Travel on the
Isle of Wight: Transition to Transformation’ programme.
Transforming Travel
The Isle of Wight Council and its partners are delivering the
Transforming Travel programme between April 2017 and
March 2020. The programme is delivering a range of initiatives
to enable and encourage local residents and visitors to travel
around the Island sustainably – by walking, cycling,
car sharing and using public transport more.
The 19 projects being delivered are grouped in to three
thematic workstreams:
1: Access to Visitor Experiences – targeting visitors
travelling for leisure; embedding active travel into visitor
experiences and growing the visitor economy.
2: Access to Employment, Training & Skills – targeting
jobseekers and people commuting to work and training;
normalising walking and cycling and transforming access
to opportunity.
3: Access to Education & Active Communities – targeting
pupils and students travelling to education, and local
residents; improving the health and wellbeing of young
people and families through more active travel.

Monitoring & Evaluation
The funding bid for Transforming Travel outlined ambitious
targets for the number of car trips the programme aims to
replace with trips by foot, cycle, car share and public transport.
These targets were calculated using assumptions about the
scale of ‘mode shift’1 each theme might achieve, based on the
change achieved by past sustainable transport programmes
(both on the Island and elsewhere). These targets were
calculated using the best available baseline ‘mode split’ data
at that time, such as from the 2011 Census, Island Visitor Monitor
and 2011 School Census data. This baseline data was often
dated or too high-level to capture the exact travel habits of
the specific audiences the programme is targeting.
The Smarter Choice Consultancy Ltd. and Lorax Environmental
Associates have been commissioned by Isle of Wight
Council to independently evaluate the Transforming Travel
programme. They have worked with individual projects to
advise on best practice in data collection, and are using
the data subsequently collected by the projects to assess
Transforming Travel’s outcomes. Their specific focus is
assessing the scale of mode shift achieved, the number of
new sustainable transport trips generated, and the associated
saving in car trips, car km and carbon emissions, using the
data sources listed in Appendix A.
The evaluation will review each theme’s progress against the
‘trip variation’ targets laid out in the original funding bid (i.e. the
decreases in the number of car trips and increases in the number
of trips by sustainable modes). However it is primarily focused
on assessing mode shift and calculating trip variation outcomes
against baseline data collected from the programme’s target
audiences in 2017/18; as this provides the most appropriate and upto-date benchmark for change to be measured against.
A number of assumptions have to be made in calculating mode
shift, trip variations and their outcomes (and are noted in the text
where appropriate). As such all figures herein are best estimates
and caution is advised when quoting specific numbers – to avoid
inadvertently conveying the impression of false precision.

1

‘Mode split’ is the proportion of the target audience using each mode of travel. ‘Mode shift’ is the change in these proportions over time
– as measured against the original (baseline) mode split.
01

 2017-18

INTRODUCTION

Year 1 Briefing: 2017/18
In Summer 2018 the first stage of the evaluation was
carried out – a review of the monitoring data available for
Transforming Travel for its initial year of 2017/18.2 Where
possible, this enabled calculation of baseline mode split
for each of the themes, and in some cases an assessment
of the mode shift and trip variations achieved over the first
year of the programme.
This briefing presents the headline findings of this first
assessment. It is presented in four sections. The first covers
the programme as a whole, while the remainder each look
in detail at one of the three thematic workstreams.

Programme: Transforming Travel on the Isle of Wight

03

Theme 1: Access to Visitor Experiences

06

Theme 2: Access to Employment, Training & Skills

10

Theme 3: Access to Education & Active Communities

14

2

For some projects analysis was completed for the period April 2017 to March 2018 – the first financial year of the programme.
Due to the later availability of some data sets and the first academic year running September 2017 to July 2018, for other projects
analysis covers the period to July 2018.
02

 TRANSFORMING TRAVEL ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT

TRIP VARIATION

SAVED DRIVING

753,000

REDUCED CARBON
EMISSIONS BY

CAR KM

136 TONNES

SAVED

84,000
CAR TRIPS

+71,000
BUS TRIPS

+3,000
CYCLE TRIPS

+175,000
WALKING TRIPS

03

 Programme: Transforming
Travel on the Isle of Wight
Trip Variation
In its first year the Transforming Travel programme has
saved 84,000 car trips (33,000 car driver trips and 50,500 car
passenger trips). This has saved the driving of an estimated
753,000 car km and the release of almost 136 tonnes of
carbon emissions.
The programme has also increased use of sustainable
transport – generating 71,000 bus passenger trips, 3,000
cycling trips and 175,000 additional walking trips.
See Table A for trip variations achieved in 2017/18
by theme and for the programme overall.

See Table B for car km and carbon savings for 2017/18
by theme and for the programme overall.
These increases and decreases in trips have been calculated
from monitoring data from specific projects within the
programme, and should be considered in the specific context
of these projects – the detail of which is covered in the
following sections of this briefing.
Progress
The programme’s car trip savings are a first step towards its
targets of a 1.6m reduction in car driver trips and 893,000
decrease in car passenger trips.
For bus passenger and walking trips in particular these
increases are positive progress towards achieving Transforming
Travel’s targets of respectively generating 572,000 and 1.2m
additional trips.
Much more limited progress for cycling can be evidenced,
against the target of 833,000 extra trips. However, data

3
4

from the Active Lives Survey suggests that there has been
a considerable increase in the frequency with which the
Island’s residents cycle in the last few years.3 Between 2015/16
and 2016/17 there was a 6.9 percentage point increase in
the proportion of Isle of Wight residents stating they cycle
at least once a week; the fifth largest increase of any English
local authority. There was also a 7.7 percentage point increase
in those stating they cycle at least once a month, as well as
smaller increases in residents reporting they cycle three or
more times a week.
The Active Lives Survey and a range of other cycling-related
data sources will continue to be developed and/or monitored
over the next two years to illustrate the broader picture of
cycling activity on the Island and corroborate data from
Transforming Travel’s projects.
Caveats
With much of the first year of any sustainable transport
programme typically focused on setting up projects,
procurement and building relationships it is usual for them to
only achieve a limited period of on-the-ground delivery in the
first 12 months. This active period is often incompatible with
the best seasons for walking and cycling, the academic year or
the main ‘visitor season’. As programmes cannot usually fully
capitalise on this limited delivery window in Year 1 large levels
of mode shift (and associated changes in trip numbers) are
therefore unlikely. As such, the programme’s limited progress
towards its trip variation targets so far is not unexpected.
When reviewing a local authority’s achievements in relation
to mode shift it is important to bear in mind that Access Fund
programmes are operating within the context of generally
rising levels of road traffic nationally. The Government’s
latest forecasts are for traffic levels to continue to increase,
predominantly driven by population growth.4

Department for Transport (2018) Statistical Dataset: Walking & Cycling Statistics
Department for Transport (2015) Road Traffic Forecasts 2018
04

 PROGRAMME

TRANSFORMING TRAVEL ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT

Access Fund programmes are also operating under sub-optimal
conditions due to the Department for Transport only granting
them revenue funding. Research for the Department shows
that sustainable transport programmes perform best when
they deploy a mixture of both capital and revenue funds.5
Revenue-only programmes are most likely to be successful
when capital funding has already been invested, or when the
size and timescale of the project is limited – neither of which
apply in the case of Transforming Travel.

Finally, the numbers herein are likely to underestimate
Transforming Travel’s achievements, as they are conservative
estimates. A range of factors inherent to the monitoring and
evaluation process (such as the limitations of surveys and
the need to use standardised metrics and make cautious
assumptions in order to calculate outcomes) mean that the
results herein err on the side of underestimation, rather than
risk exaggeration.

Table A: Trip Variation by Theme 2017/18a

ACCESS TO
VISITOR EXPERIENCES
ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT,
TRAINING & SKILLS
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
& ACTIVE COMMUNITIES
PROGRAMME TOTAL
PROGRAMME TARGET BY MARCH 2020b

CAR
DRIVER

CAR
PASSENGER

BUS
PASSENGER

CYCLE

WALK

-25,759

0

+63,504

-31,727

+164,621

-242

0

0

+242

0

-7,089

-50,434

+7,882

+34,199

+10,094

-33,090

-50,434

+71,386

+2,714

+174,715

-1,673,531

-892,860

+572,122

+832,546

+1,176,364

a See data in each theme’s individual section for more detail and notes on calculations / assumptions.
b
As per funding bid.

Table B: Trip Variation Outcomes by Theme 2017/18a

ACCESS TO
VISITOR EXPERIENCES
ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT,
TRAINING & SKILLS

ESTIMATED CO2e SAVING (TONNES)

-448,889

-81

-386

< 0.1

ACCESS TO EDUCATION
& ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

-304,868

PROGRAMME TOTAL

-753,372

a

5

ESTIMATED CAR DISTANCE SAVING (KM)

-55
-136.1

See data in each theme’s individual section for more detail and notes on calculations / assumptions.

Sloman et al (2014) Finding the Optimum: Revenue / Capital Investment Balance for Sustainable Travel, report for Department for Transport

05

 ACCESS TO VISITOR EXPERIENCES

TRIP VARIATION
SAVED DRIVING

449,000

REDUCED CARBON
EMISSIONS BY

CAR KM

80 TONNES

SAVED

26,000
CAR TRIPS

VISITOR
MODE SHIFT
1.6
0.6

BUS KEY CARDS
SAVED

1,200
CAR TRIPS

SAVED

2.5

TONNES CARBON
EMISSIONS

-0.3

SAVED

14,000

-1.1

CAR KM

ADDITIONAL

+3,200
BUS TRIPS

percentage points

06

 Theme 1: Access to
Visitor Experiences
Mode Shift
At the end of Year 1 results from the Tourism Trend surveys6
show that amongst visitors there was a reduction in car and
cycling mode share and an increase in walking and bus mode
share compared to 2016/17. However the changes were
generally small (<1.6pp), and the surveys only pick up main
mode of travel. It is worth noting that in the last quarter of 2017
walking mode share reached 12.3%, the highest ever recorded.

Trip Variation
In total the Visitor Experiences theme reduced nearly 26,000
car trips, 449,000 car km travelled and saved over 80 tonnes
greenhouse gas emissions in 2017/18. There was also an estimated
increase in bus trips of over 63,000, an increase in walking trips of
over 164,000 and a reduction in cycling trips of over 31,000.
See Table D for trip variation data for
all projects in this theme.

See Table C for visitor mode shift by all modes.

An additional question was added to the survey in early 2017
regarding other modes of travel used while on the Island. For
visitors whose main mode was their own car, a small proportion
of them (ranging from 2% to 8% each quarter) also walked, cycled
or used the bus while on the Island. Next year it will be possible to
include evaluation of changes in other modes of travel.

It is important to note that these figures are based only on
the visitors for whom walking and cycling was their main
mode of travel. Based on the number of visitors to the Island
in 2017/18 and travel mode changes above, and assuming
a very conservative number of four trips per visitor this is
estimated to result in an additional 39,000 walking visitors
and a fall in 8,000 cycling visitors in 2017/18.
Progress
The Visitor Experience theme aims to save 604,000 car trips
by 2020, and increase use of bus (+319,000 trips), cycling
(+350,000 trips) and walking (+477,000 trips).
The bus and walking trip increases achieved this year
represent significant progress towards the targets and
although the car trip reductions are somewhat lower than
the targets these are heading in the right direction. While
the Visitor Experience theme appears to be a long way off
achieving the cycling targets, it should be noted that the
Tourism Trends surveys is likely to significantly underestimate
walking and cycling leisure trips. Next year we will also be
able to estimate the change in walking/cycling trips by visitors
whose main mode of travel is their own car. It is also hoped
to include additional data on cycle hires in future to help
supplement the current survey data.

6

These are quarterly surveys of departing visitors at ferry terminals, with a typical sample size of 4,000+.

07

 THEME 1

ACCESS TO VISITOR EXPERIENCES

Bus Key Cards (part of Project 1A)
The Bus Key Card project (free one-day bus passes given to
staying visitors with cars by selected accommodation providers)
is estimated to have saved around 1,200 car trips, 14,000 car km
travelled and 2.5 tonnes greenhouse gas emissions between
June 2017 and April 2018. These bus journeys would not be
picked up by the Tourism Trends survey, since the car is the
main mode of travel for these visitors, and should be considered
additional reductions. Data on the actual number of bus journeys
obtained from the bus operators between July and September
2017 showed a total of 956 bus trips were made in 3 months
alone. Scaling up for the remainder of 2017/18 and based on the
proportion who had brought their own car suggests that the Key
Cards will have generated nearly 3,200 additional bus trips that
would have otherwise been made by car.
The Bus Key Card project is clearly reaching people who are
not regular bus users. Based on the survey data there were a
significant proportion (approximately one third) who had not
used a bus for over a year (in some cases many years), or did not
know or could not remember the last time they had used a bus.
The vast majority of people rated the bus service highly: 90%
rated the punctuality as either good or excellent, with over 97%
rating reliability, cleanliness and ease as good or excellent.
From the additional comments made it was clear that
visitors enjoyed the bus service with many citing lack of
parking issues, more relaxed journeys (particularly in view
of the narrow country roads), great views from the top of
the bus and great fun. Typical comments included:
“Fabulous – very enjoyable car free day – made a change.”
“Great – open deck provided great views and both of us
could enjoy the scenery.”
“Less stressful than driving – able to go everywhere we
wanted – no car park fees.”
It also allowed visitors to enjoy other modes:

Bicycle Island Research (Project 1BB)
Results were also reported from the initial pilot year of the
Bicycle Island Research project, which is investigating the
influence an initial positive leisure cycling experience on the
Isle of Wight might have on participants’ cycling habits back
home. Participants were invited to complete three surveys
over the course of the year, asking them questions about
any changes to their cycling behaviour.
A total of 283 people responded to the first survey, 76 to the second
and 62 to the third. Due to reasons outside the project’s control
the timing of the first survey meant that the survey failed to reach
many summer visitors, which would have affected overall numbers.
The overall sample size and the limited number of new, novice and
lapsed cyclists have restricted statistical significance of the findings
from this first year.
From the first survey 49% were regular cyclists (cycling once a
week or more in any category), 56% of the respondents were
female and 44% male. This may not reflect the gender split
of cycling on the Island as typically women are more likely to
be over-represented in cycling surveys. Compared to national
data which shows many more children and young people
cycling, the peak is much older: over 50% of participants were
over 50, with the majority in the 50-59 age category. The
majority of participants stayed for five or more nights on the
Island. Of those who cycled 86% were cycling with someone
(evenly split between those cycling with family and those
cycling with friends) and 15% cycled on their own. Three
quarters of participants brought their own bike to the Island,
although over 20% hired a bike. A small number both bought
their own bike and hired a bike.
The frequency of cycling is similar for the whole sample for
all three surveys. In general there has been a decrease in high
frequency leisure cycling (probably related to weather) and an
increase in high frequency commuting. However the sample
size is too small to push the statistical significance of these results.

“We used buses to get back to the starting points of our long
walks, meaning we didn’t need to do circular walks.”
“Great as no need to park – got bus one way and train
back – great day out.”

08

 THEME 1

ACCESS TO VISITOR EXPERIENCES

Table C: Visitor Experiences Theme Mode Shift 2017/18a
BEFORE
(%)

AFTER
(%)

CHANGE
(PERCENTAGE POINTS)

CAR

58.3

57.2

-1.1

BUS

7.9

8.5

0.6

CYCLING

1.3

1.0

-0.3

WALKING

8.8

10.4

1.6

a

Main mode of travel only from Tourism Trends surveys. Car trips include ‘own car’ and ‘rented car’ modes from the Tourism Trends surveys but excludes taxis.
Bus mode does not include coach trips. Other transport modes from the surveys are not included in the targets or analysis.

Table D: Visitor Experiences Theme Trip Variation 2017/18
CAR

BUS PASSENGER

CYCLE

WALK

-24,258a

+60,317b

-31,727b

+164,421b

BUS KEY CARD

-1,231

+3,187

–

–

THEME TOTAL

-25,759

+63,504

-31,727

+164,621

THEME TARGET BY MARCH 2020c

-604,198

+319,407

+350,097

+477,147

TOURISM TRENDS SURVEY

a Based on 2,378,216 visitors; car modal share as shown in Table C; 4 car trips per visitor; and two passengers per car.
b
Based on visitor numbers as above and a conservative assumption of four trips per visitor.
c
As per project targets.

09

 ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING & SKILLS

JOBSEEKER
TRANSPORT
SURVEY

COWES

SMART
CYCLING
CORRIDOR

7%

INCREASE

Bicycle Island App
tracks journeys along the
Cowes > Newport cycle route

USE MOTORISED
TRANSPORT
TO JOB CENTRE

4%

INCREASE

RIV
ER
ME

819

TRANSPORT
IS NOT A
BARRIER TO
EMPLOYMENT

D IN

DOWNLOADS

A

CYCLE SERVICE
DELIVERY

BICYCLE
ISLAND

70 242 386

KG
CARBON

2,455

CAR
TRIPS

CAR
KM

SAVED

COMMUTING & LEISURE
CYCLE TRIPS

13,497
KM CYCLED

NEWPORT
BY USING AN ELECTRIC BIKE

10

 Theme 2: Access to
Employment, Training & Skills
Mode Shift & Trip Variation
The employment workstream aims to save 926,000 car trips by
2020, and increase use of car sharing (+66,000 trips), bus (+239,000
trips), cycling (+542,000 trips) and walking (+333,000 trips).
As outcomes data for this theme is not yet available it is not
possible to assess its achievements in relation to mode shift
and trip variation at this time.
Sustainable Transport Broker Programme (Project 2A)
To date neither baseline nor follow-up data from jobseekers
participating in this project has been collected. However the
Jobseeker Transport Survey carried out each spring at Newport
and Ryde jobcentres gives an indication of any changes in local
jobseekers’ attitudes to transport.
Between 2017 and 2018 there was a 7% increase in the number
of respondents saying that transport had never been a barrier
to employment. However, over the same time period there
was a 4% increase in respondents reporting they normally use
motorised transport7 for part of their journey to the job centre.
So while transport issues may be becoming less of a hindrance
to taking up employment, jobseekers’ transport choices are not
necessarily becoming more sustainable.
Workplace Engagement Programme (Project 2B)
Five large workplaces have so far been engaged in workplace
travel planning, and have conducted surveys of how their
employees travel to work. Data from surveys at other workplaces
will be added to this dataset in 2018/19 – which will enable
calculation of baseline mode split for all participating workplaces.
Follow-up surveys will be done every year in each workplace
to allow for calculation of mode shift, trip variations and other
outcomes for this project. As such, data collection for this
project is still a work in progress.
At this time the only completed analysis is the individual
baseline mode splits for the five workplaces so far engaged.

7

• The company with the most sustainable commuting is HMI
Vestas (64% of trip stages by car share, walking, cycling and
public transport). The Isle of Wight Council has the smallest
proportion of staff travelling sustainably (37%).
• On average 51% of staff drive alone during their commute,
although this can be as high as 61% (Isle of Wight Council)
and as low as 34%.
• On average 11% of the staff car share on their commute,
although this can be as low as 6% or as high as 23%
(Department of Work & Pensions: Newport).
• On average 7% of the staff travel by bus, coach or minibus
during their commute; although this can be as low as 2%
and as high as 14% (HMI Vestas).
• On average 11% of the staff cycle on their journey to
work; although this can be as low as 2% and as high as
26% (HMI Vestas).
• On average 14% of staff walk on their way to work;
although this can be as low as 7% and as high as 19%
(Department of Work & Pensions: Newport).
See Table E for baseline mode split data
for each company.
Note: mode split is calculated on the basis of all modes used
for all trip legs on all commuting journeys in a typical week.
This approach more accurately captures use of sustainable
modes that are only used for stages within an overall journey,
or on a limited number of days of the week. Caution is required
when comparing these figures to mode split calculations based
only on data for main mode used on a typical day.

Car as driver or passenger, or motorcycle.

11

 THEME 2

ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING & SKILLS

Cycle Service Delivery - Domiciliary Care (Project 2CA)
By the end of June 2018 staff at care provider Island Healthcare
had saved 242 business and commuting car trips, by doing
them by electric bike instead. This saved 386 car km and an
estimated 70kg of carbon. The project aims to save 5,320 car
trips by March 2020.

SMART Cycling Corridor (Project 2D)
The Bicycle Island App had been downloaded by 819 people
by the end of March 2018. The app tracks journeys along the
Cowes – Newport cycle route, with each kilometre cycled
contributing to a monthly target. If the target is reached it is
converted in to a donation for one of the Island’s charities.
Over the first year users made 2,455 commuting and leisure
cycle trips along the route, covering a total distance of 13,497km.
If all these trips replaced a car trip, they would have saved nearly
2.5 tonnes of carbon emissions.8

8

These trips and car km / carbon savings are not factored in to overall progress for the employment theme – as some of these journeys
may already be accounted for by monitoring of other employment, education and visitor travel projects.
12

 THEME 2

ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING & SKILLS

CAR DRIVER (ALONE) (%)

CAR SHARE (%)

BUS PASSENGER (%)a

RAIL (%)

FERRY (%)

CYCLE (%)

WALK (%)

TAXI (%)

MOTORCYCLE (%)

HOMEWORKING (%)

ALL SUSTAINABLE COMMUTING (%)

Table E: Baseline Mode Split at Engaged Workplaces 2017/18

BAE
SYSTEMS

49.0

7.1

1.7

1.4

8.9

12.5

13.7

3.2

2.4

0

45.4

DEPARTMENT
OF WORK &
PENSIONS:
NEWPORT

49.7

23.1

5.2

0.6

1.2

1.5

18.5

0

0

0

50.3

HMI
VESTAS

34.0

5.5

13.5

0

12.2

26.2

7.0

0

1.3

0.3

64.4

ISLE OF WIGHT
COUNCIL

60.5

6.3

7.9

0.3

0.7

6.4

15.4

0

1.5

0.9

37.1

ISLE OF WIGHT
NHS TRUST

59.1

10.6

7.1

0.1

1.7

6.7

13.3

0

1.3

0

39.6

a

Including minibus and coach.

13

 ACCESS TO EDUCATION & ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

TRIP VARIATION

SAVED DRIVING

305,000

REDUCED CARBON
EMISSIONS BY

CAR KM

55 TONNES

SAVED

57,000

+8,000

CAR TRIPS

BUS TRIPS

+34,000
CYCLE TRIPS

+10,000
WALKING TRIPS

Isle of Wight

area of outstanding
natural beauty

119
WALKS

4

RIDES

2,510

PARTICIPANTS

2,510
TRIPS

0

TRIPS

340
WALKS

15

RIDES

3,888

4,177

151

153

PARTICIPANTS

PARTICIPANTS

TRIPS

TRIPS

66

EXPEDITIONS

12

EXPEDITIONS

274

5,826

4

144

PARTICIPANTS

PARTICIPANTS

TRIPS

TRIPS

14

 Theme 3: Access to
Education & Active Communities
Mode Shift
Between 2017 and 2018 there was a large reduction (-4.5
percentage points (pp)) in car mode share for primary Year
5/6 students and secondary Year 12/13 students (-7.3pp) and
a similarly large increase in cycling mode share (+3.0pp and
+6.9pp respectively). There was also an increase in bus mode
share for Year 12/13 students (+2.4pp). There was little change
or a slight decrease in walking mode share. Mode shift for
Further Education will be included in later years.
See Table F for full mode shift results for all
targeted age groups.9
Trip Variation
In its first year the Education & Active Communities theme
has reduced car trips by over 57,000 per year, increased cycling
trips by 34,000, walking trips by over 10,000, and bus trips
by nearly 8,000. These changes are mainly attributable to
the Schools Engagement Programme, although the smaller
community based projects have significantly contributed to
the increase for walking.
This reduction in car trips was estimated to save 305,000
car km and 55 tonnes greenhouse gas emissions.
See Table G for the trip variance achieved
by each project in this theme.
Progress
The Education & Active Communities theme aims to save
178,000 car driver trips and 356,000 car passenger trips
by 2020, and increase use of bus (+65,000 trips), cycling
(+179,000 trips) and walking (+419,000 trips).
Although the trip variation achieved this year appears to fall
short of the targets it should be noted that the results do not
include Further Education, which contributes significantly to

the targets. The schools results are also heavily influenced by
the results from secondary schools where levels of engagement
were generally much lower. Due to the difficulties of accessing
older students due to curriculum pressures the levels of
engagement and mode shift achieved in secondary schools
should still be seen as a considerable achievement.
Schools Engagement Programme (Project 3AB)
Due to the emphasis on Transition Years the monitoring
for the Schools Engagement project focused on primary
years 5 and 6 (who are the most likely to be able to travel
independently to school and who will have undergone
Bikeability training); secondary years 7 and 8; and years 12
and 13.10 Baseline survey data from 2017/18 indicates that a
much higher proportion of secondary students take the
bus (due to distance travelled) and a much lower proportion
travel by active travel modes. There also appears to be a
gradual decrease in travel by active modes and a marked
increase in car mode share over the years of secondary school.
See Table H for baseline mode split data for
all targeted age groups.
The survey for older students (16-19) additionally asked the
reason why students do not walk or cycle to school. The
baseline results for all students surveyed indicates that for
the majority the reason is distance (46% for cycling, 53% for
walking). The other reasons are fairly evenly spread between
‘effort’ (13%), ‘easier to get a lift’ (11%), ‘I drive’ (11%), ‘hot and
sweaty’ (11%), and ‘roads are too dangerous’ (10%). Less than
3% indicated that they didn’t cycle because ‘cycling is not cool’.
The Schools Engagement project has also introduced an app
to continuously monitor travel to school modes. This will help
to provide more accurate results of mode shift as it will remove
any bias due to weather/season at the time of an annual survey.
The app was piloted in five schools in Summer 2018 and the
aim is to roll it out to more schools from September.

Due to the large difference in ways that primary and secondary students travel the results are presented separately rather than
aggregated. The relatively low survey sample numbers for Year 12/13 means the results for this age group should be viewed with slight
caution. Also because of the impact a school’s location has on travel mode, only the evaluation results for matched schools have been
presented (i.e. only schools where there is before and after data available).
10
For indicative purposes only, trip variation has also been calculated for all school years for participating schools. See Table G.
9

15

 THEME 3

ACCESS TO EDUCATION & ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

Further Education Engagement Programme
(Project 3AC)
Only baseline results for the Further Education project were
available for evaluation. However results from previous student
and staff travel surveys in 2008 and 2015 were also available to
inform the targets for this project and indicate travel trends.
Between 2008 and 2017 there has been an increase in car driver
share for staff (+3.5pp) but a significant reduction in car driver
(-11.9pp) and car passenger share (-14pp) for students. Notably
cycling mode share declined for both students (-1.3pp) and staff
(-1.3pp) between 2008 and 2017 from already low levels. There
is therefore room for considerable improvement in both active
travel for staff and students and car use for staff. However the
student target for car driver mode has already been achieved.
See Table I for the mode share for students and
staff in 2008, 2015 and 2017.
The 2017 survey asked staff and students that currently use a car
to rank the factors influencing their choice of this mode in terms
of importance. Just under half ranked as ‘very important’ the
factors ‘convenience’ (49%), ‘reliability’ (48%), ‘time saving’ (47%)
and ‘free parking’ (47%). For staff in particular 61% chose ‘free
parking’ as ‘very important’ compared with 47% of students.

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Cycling & Walking
(Project 3BA)
This project developed a series of guided walking and cycling
experiences across the Island’s AONB (Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty) to encourage an increase in physical activity
and mental wellbeing. During 2017/18 the project resulted in 119
organised walks with 2,510 participants equivalent to 2,510 walk
trips (on the basis that each walk is circular). The AONB project
has therefore achieved over twice its target of 1,200 walking
trips and 60 walks. The project was less successful attracting
participants for cycle rides. The survey data also indicated that
nearly half the participants were children, and nearly 60% were
Isle of Wight residents. The majority (68%) were also one-off
participants.
Isle Be Active / Duke of Edinburgh Cycling & Walking
(Projects 3BB / 3BC)
Isle Be Active is a diverse collection of activities designed to
improve levels of cycling and walking within communities. In
2017/18 Isle Be Active organised 340 walks with 3,888 participants,
generating a total of 4,177 walk trips. It also organised 15 cycle
rides with 151 participants and set up a Strava group that
generates around 240 cycle trips per week.11
The Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Cycling and Walking project
supports walking and cycling expeditions on the Isle of Wight.
In 2017/18 it organised 66 walk expeditions with 274 participants,
generating 5,826 walk trips. It also organised 12 cycle rides,
generating 144 cycle trips.
While Isle Be Active fell short of the walking and cycling targets,
the DofE programme achieved over five times the target
number of participants. The two programmes combined
achieved the target number of walking trips (10,333).

11

The Strava group generated approximately 8,640 trips by September 2018. However it is not known what proportion of these are new
trips, or whether these might be journeys already accounted for by the monitoring of other education or employment theme projects.
16

 THEME 3

ACCESS TO EDUCATION & ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

Table F: Schools Mode Shift 2017/18 (matched schools only)a
PRIMARY YEARS 5/6
(PERCENTAGE POINTS)

SECONDARY YEARS 7/8
(PERCENTAGE POINTS)

SECONDARY YEARS 12/13
(PERCENTAGE POINTS)

CAR

-4.5

0.8

-7.3

BUS

0.2

0.1

2.4

WALKING

0.6

-0.8

-1.9

CYCLING

3.0

-2.2

6.9

a

Car mode includes car drivers (16-19 only), car passengers and park and stride (which was counted twice for both car trips and walking trips). Cycling includes scoot/skate trips.

Table G: Education & Active Communities Theme Trip Variation 2017/18a

CAR DRIVER

CAR
PASSENGER

BUS
PASSENGER

CYCLE

WALK

SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT
(TRANSITION YEAR)b c

-7,089

-50,434

+7,882

+33,902

-2,419

FURTHER EDUCATION

0

0

0

0

0

AONB CYCLING & WALKING

–

–

–

0

+2,510

ISLE BE ACTIVE CYCLING & WALKING

–

–

–

+153

+4,177

DofE CYCLING & WALKING

–

–

–

+144

+5,826

-7,089

-50,434

+7,882

+34,199

+10,094

-177,532

-355,959

+64,719

+178,790

+419,187

EDUCATION TOTAL
THEME TARGET BY MARCH 2020d

Note slightly different timings for some projects.
Based on mode shift in Table F scaled up for participating schools’ Transition Year students only (i.e. years 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13).
c
For indicative purposes only; While the bulk of School Engagement activities have been focused on Transition Year students a number of whole school activities may
have possibly influenced other year groups’ travel to some extent. The trip variation if the School Engagement mode shift results were applied across the whole school roll for
participating schools (i.e. all years from Reception to Year 13) is as below. However these results are not as robust as those shown above and for evaluation purposes are not
counted towards the theme target.
a

b

SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT (WHOLE SCHOOL)
d

-7,089

-164,691

+13,902

+98,497

+8,000

As per project targets.

17

 THEME 3

ACCESS TO EDUCATION & ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

Table H: Schools Project Baseline Mode Share 2017/18 (all schools)a
PRIMARY YEARS 5/6 (%)
(N=2,550)

SECONDARY YEARS 7/8 (%)
(N=1,362)

16-19 YEARS 12/13 (%)
(N=417)

–

–

12.0

CAR PASSENGER

30.2

15.2

20.4

BUS

2.0

25.7

29.7

PARK & STRIDE

11.8

3.9

–

WALK

41.9

47.0

35.5

CYCLE, SCOOT OR SKATE

13.6

4.6

1.2

ACTIVE TRAVEL COMBINED

67.3

55.5

36.7

CAR DRIVER

a

Car mode includes car drivers (16-19 only), car passengers and park and stride (which was counted twice for both car trips and walking trips). Cycling includes scoot/skate trips.

Table I: FE Project Staff & Student Mode Share 2008, 2015 & 2017

2008 ACTUAL (%)

2015 ACTUAL (%)
(N=52)

2017 ACTUAL (%)
(N=79)

2020 ACCESS
FUND TARGET (%)

CAR DRIVER

23.3

21.5

11.4

19.8

CAR SHARE

25.4

16.9

11.4

–

WALK

7.3

11.9

7.6

11.0

CYCLE

1.3

0.5

0

2.6

2008 ACTUAL (%)

2015 ACTUAL (%)
(N=593)

2017 ACTUAL (%)
(N=81)

2020 ACCESS
FUND TARGET (%)

CAR DRIVER

60.7

53.8

64.2

51.6

CAR SHARE

8.6

15.4

8.6

–

WALK

8.6

11.5

7.4

12.9

CYCLE

5.0

1.9

3.7

10.0

STUDENTS

STAFF

18

 Appendix A: Data Sources
IMPORTANCE

DATA SOURCE

RELATED PROJECT

FREQUENCY

ACCESS TO VISITOR EXPERIENCES

Primary

Tourism Trends Survey

-

Quartery

Corroborating

Bus Keycard User Survey

1A

Rolling

Corroborating

Bicycle Island Survey

1BA/1BB

Annually

Corroborating

Bicycle Island Survey (Follow-up)

1BA/1BB

Annually

ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING & SKILLS

Primary

Employee Travel Surveys

2B

Rolling

Primary

Workplace Engagement Participant Survey

2B

Rolling

Secondary

Island Healthcare Electric Bike Data

2CA

Rolling

Corroborating

Jobseeker Transport Survey

2A

Annually

Corroborating

Sustainable Transport Broker Programme Beneficiary Survey (Baseline)

2A

Rolling

Corroborating

Sustainable Transport Broker Programme Beneficiary Survey (Follow-up)

2A

Rolling

Other

Bicycle Island App User Data

2D

Rolling

ACCESS TO EDUCATION & ACTIVE COMMUNITIES

Primary

Primary School Travel Survey (Years 5/6)

3AB

Annually

Primary

Secondary School Travel Survey (Years 7/8)

3AB

Annually

Primary

Secondary School Travel Survey (Years 12/13)

3AB

Annually

Primary

Digital School Data Screen

3AB

Rolling

Primary

Isle of Wight College Staff & Student Travel Survey

3AC

Annually

Secondary

AONB Participation Data

3BA

Rolling

Secondary

Isle Be Active Participation Data

3BB

Rolling

Secondary

DofE Participation Data

3BC

Rolling

19

 © 2018 Isle of Wight Council
County Hall, Newport,
Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD

01983 821000
www.iow.gov.uk

Report prepared by:
The Smarter Choice Consultancy Ltd.
in partnership with Lorax Environmental Associates.
www.thesmarterchoiceconsultancy.co.uk
www.loraxenvironmental.co.uk