Transit often fails to get the credit it deserves for reducing traffic and emissions. In most U.S. cities, transit’s mode share is in the single digits, so the direct effect of ridership seems small. And while it’s clear that even in places with low mode share transit plays a role in raising densities—and thereby reducing travel distances—this relationship has been hard to quantify; conventional demand models simply take land use as an input. Filling this gap is a report and tool from TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program.
TDM
To cut automobile travel, locate jobs near transit
When people live and work near transit stations, transportation service providers have a much easier job of providing essential first- and last-mile connections. While both ends of the trip matter, the location of jobs may be more important to consider in cutting automobile travel, according to researchers at the University of Denver. Moreover, locating both homes and jobs near transit stations can drastically reduce automobile use, even for travel unrelated to work.
Oregon DOT promotes Drive Less Challenge
On October 21, Oregon Department of Transportation and its regional transportation partners launched the first statewide Oregon Drive Less Challenge. The immediate goal of the campaign is to reduce statewide vehicle miles traveled in single occupancy vehicles by half a million miles. The broader goal for the campaign is to raise awareness for ongoing alternative transportation programs aimed at reducing traffic congestion, environmental impacts, and other transportation system costs.
Oregon DOT promotes Drive Less Challenge
On October 21, Oregon Department of Transportation and its regional transportation partners launched the first statewide Oregon Drive Less Challenge. The immediate goal of the campaign is to reduce statewide vehicle miles traveled in single occupancy vehicles by half a million miles. The broader goal for the campaign is to raise awareness for ongoing alternative transportation programs aimed at reducing traffic congestion, environmental impacts, and other transportation system costs.
New report from SSTI discusses freight transportation demand management strategies
A new report, funded by SSTI with a matching grant from the Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education, identifies and evaluates freight transportation demand management strategies to improve transportation efficiency by reducing the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas.
Getting the Goods Without the Bads: Freight Transportation Demand Management Strategies to Reduce Urban Impacts (SSTI, 2013)
This project, funded by SSTI with a matching grant from the Center for Freight Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE), identifies and evaluates strategies to reduce the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas by managing freight transportation demand.
Regional TDM Action Plan (Pugest Sound Regional Council, 2013)
This transportation demand management plan from the Puget Sound Regional Council and the TDM Steering Committee lays out strategies to reduce single occupancy car trips through the region. A variety of efforts are outlined, including neighborhood-based alternative transportation education, car-sharing, employer-based ride-sharing, parking management, and regional transit cooperation.
New transportation app to replace personal cars in Las Vegas
A new integrated transportation system of car and bike share, shuttle buses, and on-demand cars with drivers—all linked together with a smartphone app known as Project 100—will give residents of Las Vegas a convenient way to avoid owning their own cars.
ASCE report card coming this month
The American Society of Civil Engineers’ quadrennial U.S. Infrastructure Report Card will be released March 19, and it will be of interest to state DOTs in several ways.
MassDOT seeks to triple transit, bike and walk share
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation last week announced a goal of tripling the share of trips in the state taken by transit, bike, and walking by 2030. Strategies to achieve the growth in non-single-occupant-vehicle modes are still being considered. If MassDOT can show progress toward its ambitious goals, it could provide best practices for peer agencies pursuing related policy ends.