Kris Murrin
"We have a fantastic transport system a pair of legs." Kris Murrin Britain is a nation of car lovers who need to radically rethink how they use their vehicles. Despite record fuel prices, higher vehicle taxes and more awareness of the environment and obesity issues, UK motorists are using cars more and more. But the majority of road trips in towns and urban areas span a walk-able distance of two miles or less. Trouble-shooter Kris Murrin is on a mission to stop unnecessary traffic using Britain's roads. In a new three-part series for Channel 4, Kris's journey starts in the Buckinghamshire town of Marlow, where car ownership is one of the highest in the country. The aim is simple for just one day, Kris will persuade the people of Marlow to leave their cars at home and go car-free. Kris's aim is to get one in five cars to stay at home. And it's a message she herself lives by, using her bike to get around London and cycling her children to school.With ten years experience trouble shooting for big business and advising government on public policy, psychologist Kris knows a lot about human behaviour and breaking habits, even driving ones. Once we have been shown something once that is different of doing something, we are much more likely to try it again. For Kris a resounding success on one day is likely to mean a high proportion will convert to her campaign.Psychologist Kris says: "It's a problem that absolutely fascinates me and that is traffic. It doesn't sound the most glamorous but it affects our lives every single day." It may not be a radical message, but taking it to the heart of middle England leads to fireworks. With apathy and opposition to the idea from the local council, community leaders and mums on the school run, will Kris be able to persuade a town to leave the gridlock and congestion behind?Kris hopes that after four weeks the town of Marlow will be prepared to go car free. The gauntlet is thrown at her first meeting of the great and the good where one gentleman says: "There is no way you're going to persuade them to do it." Not one to be knocked back on her first attempt, Kris demonstrates just what the town would look like in ten years' time if they adopt leaving their car at home for one day, and this seems to have the desired effect. "I'm not anti-car. I've got three kids. I'm a family of five. I'm not exactly going to be able to do a huge weekly shop on my bike. But the thing that bugs me is that a lot of people get into their car without even thinking Is there another way I could do this journey?' Marlow is defined by its cars the car is the centre of that community," says Kris.Kris's starting point is Marlow's traffic expert Tony Blackmore who can uniquely visualise the town's congestion with a state-of-the-art computer programme. Tony also shows Kris what is potentially the key to unlocking a solution when he demonstrates what rush hour traffic looks like during the school holidays. With a drop of 15-20%in traffic - the equivalent of not using the car one day a week traffic flows freely. Kris says: "If you change your behaviour once a week you get a town that works .One journey, one day a week to find an alternative."The solution might be simple but getting a car-loving nation to leave behind their motors is another challenge as Tony points out to Kris by saying: "Everybody is of the opinion traffic is everybody else on the road, not me."
Now Kris has to sell her campaign to the people who drive the cars. After tackling some of the parents at the school gates she invites the parents from one of the local primary schools to a meeting. Out of the 150 parents only 12 turn up, including on Mum, who drives 12mins to take her children to school, and despite the fact they identify that the traffic is a nightmare they don't take responsibility. That is until Kris shocks them with some hard to ignore stats about children's obesity levels and environmentally related asthma.
As Kris attempts to step the campaign up a gear, she brings together a handful of volunteers to become the Campaign Group. But before Kris even begins to tackles how the group will motivate the 16,000 residents of Marlow she has a walk out - the representative from the chamber of commerce, indicating to Kris just what she is up against. Despite this, the meeting continues, generating ideas about spreading the word about No Car Day.
But as always finances are not plentiful as one of her volunteer's notes: "You don't get money out of a council in a week." If anyone can make this happen, it's Councillor Alex Collingwood. But as Kris makes her case, to him, for her campaign on a street corner in Marlow, it's not as straightforward as she hoped.
Concerned she might fail, Kris seeks the assistance from Alex Allen from Sustrans, a charity that encourages walking and cycling. Alex meets with local businessman Peter Kelly and the employees of one of the local businesses. She hopes that by demonstrating that the office workers' perceived two minute journey' into town, is unrealistic. With a challenge set pitting two wheels against four and of course two legs, the race is on to get to a pre-arranged point in the centre of town a usual journey for the workers' at lunch. Alex is the first to arrival at the meeting point, with the driver five minutes later followed closely by the walkers who were only seconds behind.
With the council coming good with money for posters and publicity, the campaign group start spreading the word about No Car Day. Kris, however, still has to tackle the school run mums and she effectively employs kiddie-pester-power as the primary school students demonstrate a near 100% enthusiasm for the scheme. But will it be enough?
With less than a week to go, the local media are on board and posters are being plastered around the town by everyone from the local fire service to members from the Campaign Group, with Kris pounding the pavement. And with the Mayor turning up to greet the school children on Marlow's No Car Day will Kris succeed by cutting 20% of the traffic or will the High Street be a congestion nightmare?