Developing Professional Qualifications for Travel Planners

Professor Stephen PotterThe Open University

Dr. Marcus EnochLoughborough University

Travel Planning Skills• Travel planning represents a different

approach than traditional transport planning. It is… – about sustaining initiatives, not one-off

projects/actions – about building partnerships, consulting,

educating and empowering users• This requires appropriate skills and

management approaches

Travel Planning and Professional Qualifications• Travel Planning requires different sorts of skills and

people to traditional transport planning (or even project-oriented Mobility Management)

• Travel Planners come from a variety of backgrounds and do not fit easily into existing transport planning career structures– There can be serious problems of professional status– Existing Transport qualifications do not match to the different

approach and skills of Travel Planning

• Travel Planning is a new transport planning profession that has a qualifications gap

Travel Planning Qualifications

• With financial support from Transport for London, the Open University and Loughborough University have developed a range of Travel Planning qualifications

• The suite of qualifications recognise the need for a range of training for workplace and school Travel Planners, consisting of:

– An OU CPD short course on Travel Plan basics for newly appointed TP co-ordinators

– Other OU CPD courses to develop professional skills

– An OU NVQ level-4 Travel Planning qualification

– Loughborough MSc in Sustainable Transport and Travel Planning

Open University CPD Courses

• Part-time, web-delivered short courses designed to fit with the situation of workplace and school Travel Planners (available worldwide)

• Each 25-30 hours long, with an open start and finish (to fit with workload) Mix mode materials

• Learning Advisor support (via email – 24hr response

guaranteed) and web Conference to share experience with other learners

Assessment and Validation

• Assessment is through a work-based activity applying content of courses to own situation– If learner fails they receive feedback and can resubmit

• QA procedures require the OU to have an external and internal assessor for each of the courses

• The courses are also subject to scrutiny by the TfL Educational Advisory Group

Open University CPD Travel Planning Courses

Courses:– Introduction to travel planning

(GT013)– Travel plan development (GT014)– Social marketing: how to influence behaviour (GB017)– How to design and analyse surveys (GT032)

Course descriptions and course ‘tasters’ can be found at: http://www.open.ac.uk/cpd/?q=node/128

NVQ Certificate in Travel Planning• This will be a level-4 NVQ award for the completion of

the four CPD short courses and an assessed integrating work-based activity

• Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) accreditation for the award will be in place by Autumn 2008

• Travel Planners can already take generic National Transportation Qualification units– For details see:

http://www.transportationvg.org.uk/transportation_qualifications.htm

Example: Introduction to Travel Planning

• http://learn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2267

MSc in Sustainable Transport and Travel Planning

• TfL-sponsored MSc in Sustainable Transport and Travel Planning launched in October 2006

• Full time and part time options now available• Programmes accredited by Chartered Institute of Logistics

and Transport • For details see Loughborough University website at:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/prospectus/pg/cv/sttp/index.htm

MSc Programme

• 180 credits• Programmes are designed to allow distance attendance• Currently lectures take place fortnightly Thursday

afternoons and all day Friday.• Full-time students complete in 12 months and part-time

students over 2-5 years• Assessment is mix of coursework and exams• Validated and subject to scrutiny of external examiner

and TfL’s Travel Plan Education Advisory Group

Programme structure

Semester 1 (year 1)• Applied Research Methods

(10 credits)• Transport Policy (20)

Semester 1 (year 2)• Transport and the Environment

(10)• Transport Business Strategy and

Management (20)

Semester 2 • Travel Behaviour and Travel

Planning (20)• Applied Research Methods 2 (10)

Semester 1 (year 2)• Sustainable Cities and Transport

(10)• Marketing Transport Services

(20)

60 credit Project

Developing programmes• As well as the OU and Loughborough suite of courses,

other initiatives are taking place:• Other Travel Planning courses are

included in the ProStaTT trail• National Transportation Qualifications

can also be suitable for Travel Planners• The TPS training and development site collates many

UK courses and qualifications See: http://www.transportationopportunities.org.uk/training/

Thank You

• Professor Stephen Potter: Tel 01908 652634: Email s.potter@open.ac.uk

• Dr Marcus Enoch: Tel:01509 223408; Email: m.p.enoch@lboro.ac.uk