Our work falls broadly into four areas.
Auditing public space and providing
the vision for change
Very few people will spend an hour on the streets evaluating their local public space in a systematic way. To do so is a revelation, and can inspire a passionate belief that things can change for the better. We have developed and refined our unique pedestrian street audit techniques over ten years with communities and service providers throughout the UK.
“The Thames Valley CBT group enjoyed meeting you and found the demonstration pedestrian audit that you conducting with us in Reading town centre to be very stimulating and helpful” John Dawson, Thames Valley Campaign for Better Transport, May 2008.
If you are a local authority looking to improve the pedestrian environment, we can help by harnessing local knowledge to practical and innovative solutions.
Training practitioners to meet the demands
of today and the needs of tomorrow
Walking is the glue that binds other forms of transport together. It is free, healthy, non-polluting and offers an opportunity to meet and interact with others. But knowledge and understanding of how to promote and enhance walking is crucial if we are to harness the oldest and best form of travel to transform our society for the new century.
We provide a range of revelatory training packages for universities, local authorities, consultancies and community groups. Our subjects range from the future of travel planning to the transformation of public transport interchanges. We can deliver training at universities, in your workplace or in the heart of your community. The common theme is our passion and knowledge.
Transforming public transport interchanges
to make them accessible for all
Public transport interchanges in the UK could and should work better. Although there are notable exceptions, interchanges are often bleak, windy and frustrating places, often unmarked and lacking in relevant information. Privatisation has broken up networks that were once centrally managed and replaced them with private for-profit companies, where an integrated public transport system is not the bottom line. If we are serious about replacing car journeys with public transport, this has to change.
“Waiting round the train station. Waiting for that train. To take me from this lonesome place”
Jimi Hendrix 1967
With wide experience of working with local authorities, passengers and transport providers such as the Docklands Light Railway, we can enable change to happen. As experts on the needs of people on foot, we can provide the vision and implementation that can transform the public transport experience. If you are a local authority or transport provider, we can help you to get this right.
Inspiring and enabling individuals
and communities to make changes
“Of all exercise, walking is the best” –
Thomas Jefferson
Inspiring and enabling others to make changes is essential if we are to move towards a more sustainable way of travelling. Whether it was managing the first Walk to School project for Living Streets (Philip) or creating the hugely successful Walking Works initiative (David), we know that individuals and communities can be encouraged to make positive changes in terms of travel choices.
If you are a business, we can create a wonderfully effective workplace travel plan with you. Not by sending you complicated forms and templates, but by coming in, talking to your staff, evaluating the potential of local routes and offering practical information, encouragement, support and pure inspiration. We can also offer a personalised bespoke service to your staff to help them build exercise into their daily routine.
If you are a large consultancy, we can provide niche expertise for major project bids in the crucial areas of walking and community consultation.
If you are a local authority, we can provide personalised travel planning services to local communities. We can provide in-house training for your staff team at your workplace. Or you can commission us to write a user-friendly guide to walking for local people. We can also provide a workplace travel plan service for you.
A final thought
Having looked at this page, you may have a need that we have not covered. We may be able to help, so do take a moment to call or e-mail us. If we are not best equipped to meet your need, we can probably make a recommendation from our wide range of contacts.
