Walking and cycling to shops. Make sure all stakeholders are well informed and aware of the scheme Gather local data and examples of best practice from other countries that underpin your ideas. Set out a plan of activities to consult on with stakeholders. Approach shopkeepers individually and/or their association to inform them of the benefits of supporting active travel and how the scheme will work. It can be helpful to host a meeting with all the shopkeepers and stakeholders together so they feel a sense of community and momentum amongst themselves and they all receive the same information about the campaign. It is also helpful to interview shopkeepers individually to understand their perspective and needs and to identify options for their potential contribution to the campaign. Provide shopkeepers with an information pack for staff so they know how to run the scheme, reward customers and promote the campaign in the shop. Information is important, but people also need to be engaged and excited Run a range of creative promotional activities to sell the message and attract customers to join the scheme. Incentives or promotional merchandising, for example branded shopping bags build brand identity and remind people to walk or cycle. Host local picnics and markets to promote the scheme and invite the media to run stories about both the events and the scheme to reach a large audience. Enabling people to test ideas, such as using a shopping trolley, gives them a direct experience to feel confident they can choose to walk and still be able to bring their shopping home. Reward shopkeepers as well as customers Certify active-travel friendly shops and have an awards ceremony with local politicians and the media. Promote shops through scheme websites and social media as well as local media. Make sure enough shops with a range of products, participate in the scheme to attract customers, particularly in local neighbourhood centres or small town centres. Address infrastructure and safety needs for people to feel safe and confident about cycling or walking. Work with the local municipality and shopkeepers to provide bicycle parking, bicycle routes and safe crossing points as needed for people to access their local shops. Different ways to engage stakeholders If stakeholders, especially shopkeepers are reluctant to become involved, find alternative ways to approach them about active travel: • Prepare a brochure that outlines the reasons and benefits of shopping by bike, one side for the customer, on...
Walking and cycling to shops. For the success of this approach one of the milestones is to get the participation of the inhabitants of l’Alcúdia, as all of them are potential shoppers. The walking case study No. 1 (Tewkesbury Healthy Town) provides a useful link (xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx) that includes creative ways to engage the community. Some of them can be adapted and used to promote the approach in l’Alcúdia. On the other hand, to provide information about the location of the shops in the municipality it is crucial for people to learn that they can go by foot to do their shopping in l’Alcúdia town centre instead of taking the car to go shopping to a big mall in the outskirts. Walking case study No. 3 (Walking Maps for Camden) will be used as an example of how to elaborate stylish walking maps and how to involve citizens to elaborate them. Also the case study from the internal web site Walking maps will be useful for this purpose, so it is a guide to elaborating walking maps. Shopkeepers in l’Alcúdia are reluctant to undertake measures focused on promoting walking for shopping. It is thought that reducing parking means loss of business. We will adapt the pedestrian and merchant surveys included in Walking case study No. 5 (Bike Lanes, On-street Parking and Business) to find out which measures should be more suitable to enhance walking and cycling for shopping in the town centre. The case studies from the internal web site Encouraging walking and Which aspects are important for mobility impaired pedestrians will also provide key points to take into account when preparing the questionnaires. As initiatives to promote cycling have been undertaken by l’Alcúdia Town Council, the next step will be to take advantage of these measures to promote cycling to shops. General ideas from Cycling case study No. 1 (Einkaufen mit dem Rad) will be useful to engage shopkeepers in supporting campaigns to building up motivation to use bicycles for shopping (cycle friendly shops). Tips on setting marketing campaigns included in the case studies from the internal web site Recipe for campaign design and How to set up campaigns will be taken into account when preparing campaigns to promote walking and cycling to shops.
