The Local Transport White Paper (2011) recognised the importance of integration of land use planning and transport. Just a limited vision for that is developing our towns and cities to start from insight into their transport infrastructure in order to assure the required capacity for the increased travel demand of new development. More widely, a sensible planning must be adopted in order to avoid journeys in the first place or enabled them by sustainable modes of transport. Where sustainability of transport is an integral consideration in the land use planning process, non-car modes of travel become dominant. The first and most fundamental choice is the overall location of a development in relation to urban centres and transport corridors.

Once location has been determined, the character of a development depends critically upon the development density. Many studies, at all scales from city-wide down to the level of a single neighbourhood, show that development at higher density results in lower car use. Masterplanning can influence travel behaviour by provision of local facilities and jobs - mixing together living accommodation, shops, services and jobs, so that the need for travel is reduced.

Provision of public transport will not, of itself, guarantee that travel patterns are sustainable. There is a mix of factors influencing the modes of transport people choose. The final respect in which the planning system can influence travel patterns is through a requirement for developers to implement ‘smart’ travel behaviour change measures. These comprise a combination of generally small-scale physical interventions, such as cycle parking facilities or cycle lanes, combined with improved public transport services backed up by information and marketing campaigns.