State and Provincial Government Actions for Efficient Transportation
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TDM
Encyclopedia
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
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Updated
June 20, 2007
This chapter identifies TDM policies and programs suitable for implementation by state and provincial governments.
State and provincial governments significantly influence transportation and land use decisions in many ways. They finance, plan, build and operate major transportation facilities and services, including highways and transit services, and establish regulations and funding sources for ports, airports and various transportation services. They often control the largest total transportation budgets, employ the largest number of transportation engineers and planners, in a jurisdiction. They influence transport conditions indirectly by determining the location and design of public facilities (such as schools and medical facilities), by controlling land use regulations and development practices, and by providing fund and financing options to other levels of government and by other government agencies.
State and provincial governments are responsible for interregional transportation, and so must deal with traffic problems on major corridors, plus non-transportation planning objectives such as public health, economic development and environmental quality. When viewed from this broad perspective, TDM programs often turn out to be more cost effective and beneficial than other solutions, such as expanding roadway facilities. However, current planning and evaluation practices by state transportation agencies often overlook many TDM benefits.
State governments can support TDM implementation in the following ways:
The following strategies are particularly suitable for implementation by state and provincial governments. For more detailed information see the TDM Summary Table.
Access management
increases coordination between roadway design and land use development patterns
to improve transportation system performance, including reduced congestion and accidents,
and improved accessibility.
Various policies and
programs can help preserve the value of assets such as roadways and parking
facilities.
Various management
strategies can increase air transport efficiency, including strategies that
encourage use of alternative modes, reduce total air traffic, increase air
travel system efficiencies, and reduce specific aviation external costs such as
air and noise pollution.
There are various
ways to improve the integration of bicycling and public transit travel,
including improved cycling access and bicycle storage at transit stops and
stations, and the ability to carry bikes on transit vehicles.
Bus Rapid Transit
(BRT) systems provide high quality bus service on busy urban corridors.
Change Management
involves various techniques that help build support for innovation within
organizations.
Various commuter financial incentives can be used to encourage use of
more efficient commute modes. These include parking cash out, travel allowance, transit benefits, and rideshare
benefits. They are often provided as an alternative to subsidized employee
parking.
Transportation price
and market reforms can encourage more efficient transportation and support TDM
objectives.
Comprehensive
Transport Planning
Various planning
reforms can result in more comprehensive and accurate transportation
decision-making. Current planning results in omissions and distortions that
tend to overvalue automobile-oriented improvements and undervalue alternative
solutions to transportation problems. More comprehensive planning is
particularly important when evaluating TDM and alternative modes.
Flexible design
requirements to reflect community values.
Planning that deals
with uncertainly by identifying solutions to potential future problems.
Mileage-based
vehicle fees include Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) vehicle insurance, registration
fees and vehicle taxes. Converting fixed costs into distance-based charges
gives motorists a new opportunity to save money when they reduce their mileage.
Emergency
Response Transport Management
Mobility management
strategies can help improve transportation services during emergencies.
Employee
Commute Trip Reduction
Commute Trip Reduction
(CTR) programs provide encouragement, incentives and support for commuters to
use alternative modes, alternative work hours, and other efficient transport
options.
Freight
Transportation Management
Freight Transport
Management increases freight transportation efficiency by shifting improving
the quality of efficient freight modes (such as rail and integrated
distribution services), providing incentives to use the most efficient option
for each type of delivery, increasing load factors, improving logistics, and
reducing unnecessary shipping distances and volumes.
Fuel taxes can be raised to increase roadway user fees and cost recovery,
reduce vehicle travel, conserve energy and reduce pollution emissions.
There are various
ways to fund transport programs, some of which support TDM objectives by
charging directly for vehicle use.
High Occupant Vehicle
(HOV) priority strategies give priority to public transit vehicles, vanpools
and carpools in traffic and parking.
Institutional
reforms include various changes to transportation organizations’ policies and
practices that support Transportation Demand Management.
Intelligent
Transportation Systems
New information
technologies can improve transportation system performance and efficiency.
Least Cost Planning
refers to planning and investment reforms that support demand management
implementation when overall cost effective. This tends to support TDM policies
and programs.
Light Rail Transit
(LRT) systems provide convenient local transit service on busy urban corridors.
Nonmotorized planning can improve walking and cycling conditions, and
encourage use of nonmotorized modes.
Improved operations
and management can encourage more efficient use of existing roadways.
Park & Ride
facilities are parking lots at transit stations and stops. They support
ridesharing and public transit use.
Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) vehicle insurance means that a vehicle’s insurance premiums are based directly on how
much it is driven during the policy term, providing additional savings when
motorists reduce their annual mileage.
Improved pricing
methods can reduce the transaction costs and increase the cost efficiency of
road tolls, parking fees and mileage charges.
Principles for
prioritizing transportation activities and investments.
Policy changes that
encourage competition, innovation, diversity and efficiency in transport
services can help encourage more efficient and equitable transportation.
Ridesharing refers to carpooling and vanpooling. Rideshare programs
include ridematching services (which help travelers find travel partners), and
strategies that give rideshare vehicles priority in traffic and parking.
Road pricing means that motoristspay directly for driving on a particular
roadway or in a particular area. “Congestion pricing” (also called “value
pricing”) refers to variable
tolls, with higher prices under congested conditions and lower prices under
less congested conditions, intended to reduce peak-period traffic volumes to
optimal levels.
Changes in roadway
design and management practices can encourage more efficient transportation by
providing more space for walking, cycling, ridesharing and public transit.
Smart Growth involves various local and regional land use planning practices that create more
accessible, multi-modal, efficient and livable communities. This tends to
reduce driving and increase use of alternative modes.
Various planning,
regulatory and fiscal reforms help create more efficient land use. These
reforms can help correct existing practices that encourage automobile-dependent
land use development patterns.
Reducing traffic speeds tends to improve walking and cycling conditions,
increase safety, reduce air and noise pollution, encourage more compact
development, and reduce total automobile travel.
Data collection and
participant surveys for TDM program evaluation.
TDM can help achieve
sustainable transport planning objectives.
TDM
Planning and Implementation
Discusses various
issues to consider when planning and implementing Transportation Demand
Management programs.
There are many ways to improve public transit service quality, including
increased service speed, frequency, convenience, comfort, user information,
affordability and ease of access.
Transportation
Model Improvements
Transportation
models can be improved to increase their accuracy when comparing modes and
evaluating TDM strategies. Current models tend to undervalue TDM strategies.
Win-Win
Transportation Solutions
Win-Win
Transportation Solutions are various TDM strategies that provide a combination
of economic, social and environmental benefits.
Governor
Mitt Romney, January 27, 2003
Statement of Policy
It
shall be the policy of the
1. Fix
It First: To give priority to the repair of existing streets, roads and
bridges; and
2. Use
Community-Friendly Solutions: Wherever a street, road or bridge needs to be
re-designed and reconstructed, to plan and undertake, in collaboration with the
affected community, a “context-sensitive” project -- one that fully protects
and enhances the surrounding community and landscape while addressing mobility
for all transportation modes.
Purposes.
The
purposes of this policy are to
* Prevent sprawl;
* Recognize all the Commonwealth’s
citizens and communities as its transportation agencies’ customers;
* Avoid the costs associated with
unnecessary road widenings and the conflicts they entail, and thereby use
available funding to complete more projects in more communities and to produce
more construction jobs; and
* Provide enhanced mobility for
sustainable transportation modes (walking, bicycling, and public
transportation).
Actions
The
Chief of Commonwealth Development and Secretary of Transportation and
Construction are hereby directed to take the following actions to implement
this policy.
1.
The Highway Design Manual and any other relevant standards, guidelines and
policies of MassHighway shall be reviewed and revised to incorporate the
principles of context-sensitive design, traffic calming, and multi-modal
accommodation. An advisory committee consisting of representatives of
municipalities, regional planning councils, and other affected interests shall
be formed to help guide this process, and ample opportunity for input from the
general public shall be provided. The process of revising the manual and any
other standards, guidelines and policies shall be completed by October 1, 2003.
2.
Projects with community-friendly design that can be undertaken immediately
using existing funds shall be identified by MassHighway as quickly as possible,
and no later thirty days from this date, and implemented immediately
thereafter.
3.
An ombudsman shall be appointed in the Executive Office of Transportation and
Construction and have responsibility for hearing and facilitating the
resolution of citizen and community concerns regarding project design. In
addition, a process for expediting project review and requests for waivers from
current design standards and guidelines, and requests for exercise of flexibility
in applying current design standards and guidelines, shall be established
within MassHighway and overseen by the Secretary of Transportation and
Construction. All documentation regarding waivers shall be made available
for public review.
4.
All actions taken pursuant to this policy shall fully honor the letter and
spirit of provisions in the Massachusetts General Laws requiring the
accommodation of bicycle and pedestrian traffic, including chapter 90E, section
2A. Where there are differences of opinion concerning the necessity or
desirability of widening pavement, eliminating curbside parking, or taking
other measures to accommodate bicyclists and/or pedestrians, full use shall be
made of creative design expertise and public involvement, facilitation or dispute
resolution processes.
5.
A plan for repairing or reconstructing the state’s structurally deficient
bridges shall be developed and finalized, in consultation with the
Commonwealth’s municipalities and metropolitan planning organizations, by July
1, 2003. This plan shall address all the state¹s bridges, including in
particular those owned or controlled by the Metropolitan District Commission,
Department of Environmental Management, and Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority as well as other agencies. It shall include a budget and a schedule
for completing the bridge repair and reconstruction process.
The
Oregon Office of Energy offers the Business Energy Tax Credit to those who
invest in energy conservation, recycling, renewable energy resources and
less-polluting transportation fuels. Projects that reduce employee commuting or
work-related travel and investments in cleaner-burning transportation fuels may
qualify for a tax credit. Projects must reduce work-related travel by 25% to be
eligible. To date, more than 5,500
The
tax credit is 35% of the eligible project costs - the incremental cost of the
system or equipment that’s beyond standard practice. You take the credit over
five years: 10% in the first and second years and 5% each year thereafter. If
you can’t take the full tax credit each year, you can carry the unused credit
forward up to eight years. Those with eligible project costs of $20,000 or less
may take the tax credit in one year.
ACT (2004), The Role Of Demand-Side Strategies: Mitigating Traffic Congestion, Association for Commuter Transportation, for the Federal Highway Administration (http://tmi.cob.fsu.edu/act/FHWA_Cong_Mitigation_11%202%2004.pdf).
Edward Beimborn and Robert Puentes (2003), Highways and Transit: Leveling the Playing Field in Federal Transportation Policy, Brookings Institute (www.brookings.edu).
Benoît Bosquet (2000), “Environmental Tax Reform: Does It Work? - A Survey of the Empirical Evidence,” Ecological Economics, Vol. 34, 19-32.
Sally
CALTRANS (2004), California Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Searchable Database, California Department of Transportation (http://transitorienteddevelopment.dot.ca.gov).
CCAP (2005), Transportation Emissions Guidebook: Land Use, Transit &
Travel Demand Management, Center for Clean
Air Policy (www.ccap.org/trans.htm).
This guidebook helps users assess the air pollution,
energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions benefits of a variety of
transportation and land use policies. Includes policy overviews, success
stories and links to key models and resources.
Centre for Sustainable Community Development: Case Studies (www.fcm.ca/scep/index.htm), Federation of Canadian Municipalities (www.fcm.ca).
Clean Air Initiative (www.worldbank.org/cleanair) and the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (www.worldbank.org/wbi/cleanair/caiasia ) provide information on innovative programs that improve air quality in developing countries.
COST, Best Practice For Sustainable Urban Infrastructures, COST Program (www.cf.ac.uk/archi/research/cost8).
Elizabeth
Deakin, Greig Harvey, Randal Pozdena and Geoffrey Yarema (1996),
Transportation Pricing Strategies for
ELTIS Case Study Database (www.eltis.org/en/indexcse.htm)
European Local Transport Information Service.
European Database on Good Practice in Urban Management and Sustainability (http://europa.eu.int/comm/urban), is designed to help local authorities to work towards sustainability by disseminating good practice and policy, facilitating the exchange of experience, and raising awareness about how cities and towns can be managed in more sustainable ways.
European Program for Mobility Management Examples (www.epommweb.org/examples/examples.html) describes various European transportation demand management programs.
European Federation
for Transport and the Environment (http://corporate.skynet.be/sustainablefreight/Good%20practice%20page.htm)
has information on good practices on sustainable freight transport in
FHWA (2006), Managing Travel Demand: Applying European
Perspectives to
FHWA, National Dialogue on Transportation Operations (www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/nat_dialogue.htm), discusses institutional changes needed to implement more efficient transportation.
Joel Hirschhorn
(2000), In the Fast Lane: Delivering
More Transportation Choices to Break Gridlock, National Governor’s Association, Center for
Best Practices (www.nga.org), Nov. 2000.
IISD, Sustainable Development Gateway, International Institute for Sustainable Development (www.sdgateway.net/topics/111.htm) contains case studies and other resources developed by members of the Sustainable Development Communications Network (SDCN). Transportation studies, case studies, assessments, colloquia, etc. 21 titles link to the relevant sites. Covering over 50 topics, the SD Topics section includes links to more than 1,200 documents: www.sdgateway.net/topics/default.htm
Institute for Transportation Development Policy (ITDP) (www.itdp.org/tra/tra_5/index.html) promotes sustainable and equitable transportation policies and projects worldwide.
International Network for Urban Development (INTA) (www.inta-aivn.org/99-menus/ContentFrameSet10.htm) is an international network promoting urban development best practices exchange.
Gerhard Metschies (1999 and 2001), Fuel Prices and Taxation, with Comparative Tables for 160 Countries, German Agency for Technical Cooperation (www.zietlow.com/gtz/fuel.pdf and www.zietlow.com/docs/Fuel%202000.pdf).
MTE, Online Best Practices Database and Case Studies Database, Moving On the Economy (www.movingtheeconomy.ca) is an ever-expanding searchable inventory of sustainable transportation economic success stories.
NALGEP (2005), Clean Communities on the Move: A Partnership-Driven Approach to Clean Air and Smart Transportation, National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP), (www.nalgep.org).
OECD (2000), Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Best Practice Competition, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (www1.oecd.org/env/ccst/est/curract/vienna2000/EST-Best-Practices-Synthesis-Report-Part2.pdf). Includes 18 transportation best practices case studies.
OUM (2001), TDM Success Stories, Office of Urban Mobility, Washington State Department of Transportation (www.wsdot.wa.gov/mobility/TDM/TDMsuccess.html).
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) has 4 urban transportation success stories, summarized and referenced, at www.rec.org/REC/Programs/SustainableCities/Transportation.html and 2 car use reduction successes, summarized and referenced, at www.rec.org/REC/Programs/SustainableCities/Land.html
Jan A. Schwaab and Sascha Thielmann (2001), Economic Instruments for Sustainable Road Transport. An overview for Policy Makers in Developing Countries, GTZ (www.gtz.de) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (www.unescap.org); at www.gtz.de/dokumente/Economic_Instruments_for_Sustainable_Road_Transport.pdf.
SMILE - Sustainable Urban Transport Policies and
Initiatives (www.smile-europe.org/frame22.html).
170 successful and replicable European practices for sustainable mobility.
Strategic Policy Options for Sustainable Development Database (www.iges.or.jp/cgi-bin/rispo/index_spo.cgi), Research on Innovative and Strategic Policy Options (RISPO) by the Institute for Global Environmental Studies provides information, recommended best practices and case studies on a wide range of sustainable policies and strategies.
Sustainable Development
Online (http://sd-online.ewindows.eu.org)
has information on sustainable development programs throughout the world.
TC, Moving On Sustainable Transportation (MOST),
Transport
TELLUS - Bringing CIVITAS Onto the Road (www.tellus-cities.net), European Union. Describes projects to demonstrate that integrated urban transport policies can help reduce urban traffic problems.
Transport Research Knowledge Centre (http://ec.europa.eu/transport/extra/web/index.cfm) provides information on European transport research programmes that support sustainable mobility.
Transportation Demand
Management (TDM) Database (www.tc.gc.ca/programs/environment/UTSP/tdm.htm)
by Transport
UN-HABITAT, Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme United Nations Human Settlements Programme (www.bestpractices.org). Contains 1,100 demonstrated projects from 120 countries recognized by the Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme (BLP) for addressing common social, economic and environmental problems of an urbanizing world.
USEPA (2001), Directory of Air Quality Economic Incentive Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://yosemite.epa.gov/aa/programs.nsf).
USEPA, Voluntary Emission Reduction Policies and Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov/oms/transp/traqvolm.htm). This website describes the successful implementation of various voluntary mobile source reduction measures.
USEPA (2002), Transportation Control Measures Program Information Directory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://yosemite.epa.gov/aa/tcmsitei.nsf). This is an on-line searchable database with approximately 120 case studies of programs that reduce transportation pollution emissions.
USEPA (2002), Smart Moves: Transportation and Smart Growth Best Practices (www.epa.gov/livability/smart_moves.htm) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This competition profiles state and local efforts to promote smart growth principles in transportation projects.
USEPA, Gateway to International Best Practices and
Innovations,
WBCSD,
Sustainable Mobility Project,
World Business Council on Sustainable Development (www.wbcsdmobility.org/mobility_web/index.asp)
includes 200 mobility case studies with
brief descriptions and internet links.
WHO (2004), Case Studies On Sustainable Development, World Health Organization (www.who.dk/eprise/main/WHO/Progs/HCP/Documentation/20010917_2)
World Bank, Urban Transport Group Case Studies, World Bank (www.worldbank.org/transport/urbtrans/pubtrans.htm) includes information on projects in the developing world, with summaries/abstracts and full texts.
This
Encyclopedia is produced by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute to help
improve understanding of Transportation Demand Management. It is an ongoing
project. Please send us your comments and suggestions for improvement.
www.vtpi.org info@vtpi.org
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