Southampton City Council is a member of My Journey, a Hampshire wide behaviour change programme which aims to ‘Create a culture of walking and cycling’. The programme covers a range of activities and initiatives to change people’s travel behaviour through engagement, journey planning, promotion and marketing.
Cycling as a means of employment and training
In the last 2 years, the ‘My Journey to work’ programme has reached 6,000 people.150 unemployed people have received 1:1 training, bike loans and personalised journey planning. A number of campaigns have been delivered in workplaces to raise awareness of cycling and create a culture of cycling in organisations. Workplace leaders and champions have been supported to adopt and promote policies and practices which encourage sustainable travel.
Engaging with pupils and parents
From 2017-2018, there was a 4% increase in sustainable travel to Southampton schools (walking, cycling/scooting or public transport) from 75.9% to 79.8%. This success is thanks to a number of activities which have helped people to understand the challenge, remove barriers to walking and cycling and trigger and motivate people to take action.
Events, behaviour change campaigns, community support and changes to the built environment
In the last 18 months, over 400 separate events have been delivered to help residents explore more sustainable options for travelling across the city. The Annual Big Bike Revival has provided grant funding to organisations in the city to put on local events which remove barriers to cycling. Also a five year partnership with British Cycling has seen regular led rides alongside an annual mass participation closed road ride, ‘HSBC UK Let’s Ride Southampton which has successfully attracted new and returning cyclists.
