The doorbell will be ringing unexpectedly in millions of homes from next year as an army of government-funded “travel advisers” tries to persuade people to switch from driving to walking, cycling and public transport.

If you are out, they will keep coming back and will call up to ten times, even in the evenings or at weekends.

They will ask you about your travel habits and will offer advice tailored to your journeys, including maps for walking and bus timetables.

If you appear unconvinced, they will offer incentives such as discounts at local bike shops and outdoor stores and free pedometers to measure how far you are walking.

The initiative is part of the Government’s Sustainable Transport Strategy, announced yesterday. It rejects the idea that congestion can be eliminated by investing billions of pounds in building more roads and railways. Instead, it favours smaller schemes that aim to change behaviour and attitudes.

Trials costing a total of £10 million in Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester found that car journeys fell by about 11 per cent after travel advisers visited every home. Cycling increased by at least 25 per cent, walking by 17 per cent and trips on public transport by 13 per cent.

In Darlington, the public response was far more positive when the advisers stopped mentioning the council’s involvement in the scheme. Asking people to sign a pledge to use their cars less proved less attractive in getting people to change their transport habits, however, than offering incentives, such as a free meal at a local restaurant or a £50 sports voucher.

A study by the Department for Transport found that the biggest challenge faced by the advisers was overcoming initial suspicion on the doorstep. It said: “Door-to-door contact is often associated with double-glazing sales and therefore is not always particularly well received. A non-accusatory but assertive manner is required.”

In Worcester, former bus drivers have been employed as advisers because they are deemed more convincing when trying to sell the benefits of leaving the car at home.

The study found that “individualised travel marketing” cost £20 to £38 per household but achieved benefits of £30 for every £1 invested. This is a far higher return than for big road or rail projects, which typically deliver from £2 to £4 of benefit for every £1.

The Sustainable Transport Strategy states: “Decisions about small, everyday journeys can make a big difference. Fifty-six per cent of all journeys by car are less than five miles and 23 per cent are less than two miles.”

It quotes a recent report, funded by the Department for Transport, which found that Britain ranked 12th out of 15 European nations in terms of the average distance people cycle each year and 14th on distance walked. The department says the strategy will publish details soon of a big increase in investment in travel advisers, who will also visit schools and workplaces.

It also compares modern travel habits with those of the 1950s and proposes a return to the more sustainable modes of transport that dominated then. In 1952 buses had the highest share of journeys and the car accounted for just over a quarter of the total distance travelled. By 1996 people were travelling three times as far and 87 per cent of the distance was by car.

Theresa Villiers, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said: “I’m not sure that sending nannyish inspectors round to people’s houses is the right way forward. There’s no point telling people about a local train if it is so overcrowded that they can’t squeeze on to it.”

In rejecting substantial investment in infrastructure, the strategy has accepted the advice of Sir Rod Eddington, the former British Airways chief executive, who was commissioned by the Government to study Britain’s transport needs and recommended that it avoid “grand projects”.

A bus service has been running close to the home of Karl and Ping Roche, above with their daughter Phoebe, for several years. But until recently they had no idea where it went. The Roches are among thousands in Sutton, Surrey, who were visited by a travel adviser seeking to change their habits with a little gentle persuasion and a lot of maps and timetables. Mr Roche, 37, who works for IBM, said: “The doorbell rang and a man on the doorstep asked if I wanted advice on making local journeys.” After getting advice about cycle and bus routes, the couple bought bicycles and a child seat for Phoebe, 2. “We used to use the car every day but now it’s only once or twice a week,” Mr Roche said. Two thirds of those contacted under the Transport for London-funded scheme showed interest in learning about other forms of transport. Ben Plowden, TfL’s director of travel demand management, said: “Often people have not used buses since their youth. All they need is information about routes, times and fares.”

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Unlocking the cruellest prison
• Prince Charles named in £81m court battle