Climate change associated with greenhouse gas emissions is widely recognised as one of the world’s most serious challenges. Road transport is a key contributor, accounting for a 20.9% increase in South Australia’s emissions between 1990 and 2005. Of the State’s total transport-related emissions in 2005, road transport made up about 89%.

In mid 2003 the National Travel Behaviour Change Project (NTBCP) was established, in a partnership with the Australian Government Department for the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) (formerly the Australian Greenhouse Office) and the Governments of South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland. The common goal was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by changing travel behaviour and decreasing demand for private car travel. Each jurisdiction devised its own project/s, specific to local needs and conditions.

South Australia’s component of the NTBCP became the TravelSmart Households in the West Project, initiated by DTEI. It followed small scale feasibility studies in metropolitan Adelaide between 1997 and 2002 and drew upon national and international experience.

TravelSmart aims to achieve reductions in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions through travel behaviour change and a shift in societal values towards sustainable travel patterns.

This report details the TravelSmart Households in the West project from its conception and design, through the approaches used to engage the community and deliver the project on the ground, to the innovative methods used to measure the results.

The evaluation of the project showed a significant reduction in car travel, which is by far the most dominant mode of transport in the Adelaide region.