Achieving a balance between "carrots" and "sticks" for traffic in National Parks: the Bayerischer Wald project

Many National Parks in the UK and Western Europe are involved in projects designed to reduce the impact of private car use by visitors and encourage the use of public transport. While it appears difficult to achieve a significant modal shift through marketing/behavioural measures, it is often equally difficult to secure local acceptance of the alternative of traffic restraint. A project in the Bayerischer Wald National Park, Germany, comprises both a high-quality bus system and the seasonal closure of selected roads to cars. Survey work during the project's first season established that the bus alternative was popular with its users, who generally favoured an extension of the road closure programme; however, local residents showed a lower level of support and opposed further closures. It is concluded that a danger exists of local residents succeeding in opposition to such schemes, believing that they would damage the local tourist economy, when in fact they enjoy visitor support. It is also concluded that projects which require public funding but which consist of "carrots" alone may fail to achieve both their financial targets and the objective of securing a significant change in mode of travel.