The Woman Who Stops Traffic Hits Boston

Last night saw the second episode of channel 4's "The Woman Who Stops Traffic". Set in Boston, Lincolnshire, Kristen tried to reduce the traffic in the town described as "Britain's Fattest".

Despite some small successes (particularly the number of children and parents walking to school on the day), her intervention didn't work - there was actually more traffic on the day of the car free-day!

From my point of view, I felt it was very brave of channel 4 to show the programme anyway (though the cynic in me thinks it is all part of a bigger story - this week is the "hero takes a knock", next week: "hero returns triumphant").

So what went wrong?

My feeling is that she fundamentally didn't know how to talk to the Bostonians. She was distracted by the tag of "the fattest town in Britain" and assumed that the primary behaviour change driver would be about their health. She was appealing to individuals in a long term manner, rather than the benefits they would see immediately (with health being a useful side effect).

Zoe, one of the mums at the school (who drives in 20 minutes early to ensure she gets a car parking space for the school run!) summed it up when she said "I live for now".

The area had a very strong local identity, so I was surprised she wasn't appealing to feelings of community pride in the same way as she had in Marlow. I think the programme was trying to focus on the different benefits of changing car use over the series, but "health" and "the environment" aren't motivating factors for a lot of people. She would have been better to look at a more self focused attitude - what is in it for me? - to which the answers are "more money" (not spending on petrol); more time (not driving round looking for a parking space); and "more friends" (the social aspects of walking).

There were a number of sequences when I physically cringed at the way she was preaching to the locals. It reminded me of "Marjorie Dawes" of Fat Fighters (Little Britain), in the way she used negative emotions (guilt, emotional blackmail). Again Zoe summed it up: "she nags on a bit".

Overall Boston was somewhere where everyone seemed to feel a bloody minded entitlement to drive. The ray of hope was on the estate where Mandy (the estate matriarch) persuaded everyone to walk to the school, but this was done as a social event, not for the "greater good" of improved health.