Transportation Demand Management Insights from the Mobil.TUM 2012 International Scientific Conference on Mobility and Transport

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Transportation Demand Management Insights from the Mobil.TUM 2012 International Scientific Conference on Mobility and Transport Gebhard Wulfhorst, Benjamin Büttner (Editors) Transportation Demand Management Insights from the mobil.TUM 2012 International Scientific Conference on Mobility and Transport Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning Schriftenreihe Heft 2 Transportation Demand Management Insights from the mobil.TUM 2012 International Scientific Conference on Mobility and Transport Edited by Gebhard Wulfhorst Benjamin Büttner Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning Institute of Transportation Technische Universität München Germany Contents Preface Gebhard Wulfhorst, Benjamin Büttner ................................................ 1 Transportation Demand Management : Win-Win Solutions to Transport Problems Todd Litman ........................................................................................ 3 Part I: The revival of urban mobility by walking and cycling Accessibility analysis with space syntax: The pedestrian movement network in the city centre of Munich Christian Schwander, Stephen Law. ................................................. 11 Incorporating the Influence of Walkability into a Model of Pedestrian Accessibility David Jonietz, Sabine Timpf ............................................................. 31 From international experience to French case studies PORT-VERT: a French research project investigating various possibilities of bicycle-transit intermodality Claude Soulas, Sylvie Abours, Francis Papon .................................. 44 Part II: Pro-active development of transport supply How and why planners make traffic-increasing plans – and what could be done to change the situation Aud Tennøy....................................................................................... 61 Tramway renaissance in Munich – Effects of the new Tram 23 on urban structure and mobility behavior Roland Priester, Benjamin Büttner .................................................... 84 Evaluating the impact of environmental constraints in networks: formulation and analysis in a simple case Xin Lin, Ben Immers, Francesco Viti, Chris Tampère ...................... 104 Megacities and High Speed Rail systems: which comes first? Francesca Pagliara, Joao de Abreu e Silva, Joseph Sussman, Naomi Stein .................................................................................... 125 Part III: Accessibility as a key to sustainable mobility Accessibility Analysis and Dutch Transport Policy Karst Geurs ..................................................................................... 144 Interdependencies between Supply and Demand of Transport: The Evolution of Accessibility within the Lyon Metropolitan Area Yves Crozet, Aurelié Mercier, Nicolas Ovtracht, Loïc Sapet ........... 160 Assessment of the impact of Road Pricing to Achieve a more Sustainable Development of the Transport System Oliver Roider, Christoph Link .......................................................... 176 Part IV: Innovative methods for land-use and travel demand modeling Modelling the Relationsship between Urban Environment and Travel Behaviour: Policy and Indicators Lissy La Paix, Andrés Monzón, Elisabetta Cherchi ......................... 191 Meta-analysis of long-term trip generation modelling Johannes Hartwig, André Kühn, Florian Senger, Michael Krail, Wolfgang Schade ........................................................................... 215 Part V: Modeling for sustainable mobility decisions Modelling the impact of local policies to optimise the development of electric vehicles Benjamin Mousseau, Anne-Sophie Fulda, Guenter Emberger........ 233 Clean, Safe and Healthy Mobility through Non-Technical Measures – Linking Individual and Public Decision Levels Claus Doll, Johannes Hartwig ......................................................... 249 Conclusions Towards sustainable mobility solutions Gebhard Wulfhorst .......................................................................... 271 Preface 1 PREFACE Sustainable mobility is at the heart of our global concerns for livable cities and regions, now and for the generations to come. Major efforts are needed in research and practice on both the invention and implementation of sustainable mobility solutions. Regarding the crucial challenges of sustainable development, we can no longer take travel demand as a given. The task is to pro-actively design, model and implement our transport supply options, to transform the spatial structure of our cities and regions and to create mobility management measures so that our individual daily mobility behavior better matches global long-term needs. Transportation Demand Management (TDM) in that sense can have an important impact on economic prosperity, social welfare and ecological viability. We are organizing the International Scientific Conference on Mobility and Transport “mobil.TUM” at TUM’s Institute of Transportation since 2008 because we intent to develop and foster a scientific, international, interdisciplinary forum for exchange about the state of the art and state of practice on a selected transportation topic. The “mobil.TUM 2012” conference was organized by the Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning and was a dialogue on the challenges and achievements in the field of Transportation Demand Management. One aim was to draw connections between research and practice in order to develop innovative scientific contributions as well as sound solutions for implementation. This book contains papers on the five topics “The revival of urban mobility by walking and cycling”, “Pro-active development of transport supply”, “Accessibility as a key to sustainable mobility”, “Innovative methods for land-use and travel demand modeling”, “Modeling for sustainable mobility decisions” which were presented at the mobil.TUM 2012 conference on the 19th and 20th of March, 2012 in Munich. These contributions were selected after a call for papers with more than 60 submissions. In addition, 20 posters were presented and discussed in a lively session and have been taken into account as a basis for the selected papers within this book. mobil.TUM 2012 2 Transportation Demand Management The quality of the following papers has been ensured and improved by the constructive comments received from our peer reviewers Udo Becker (Technische Universität Dresden), Marco te Brömmelstroet (Universität von Amsterdam), Fritz Busch (Technische Universität München), Yves Crozet (Laboratoire d'économie des transports, Lyon), Regine Gerike (BOKU, Vienna), Karst Geurs (University of Twente, Enschede), Martin Lanzendorf (Goethe Universität, Frankfurt), Todd Litman (Victoria Transport Policy Institute) and Michael Wegener (S&W, Dortmund). We are grateful to them and highly appreciate their effort and support. Last but not least, we would like to thank the authors for their rich contributions to the conference and especially to the book at hand. The conference has been an exciting opportunity to meet and exchange ideas. A lot of inspiration has emerged from the presentations, discussions and informal networking. May this book capture and reflect these ideas, so that we can build upon them individually and as a community. Gebhard Wulfhorst, Benjamin Büttner June 2013 Transportation Demand Management Win-win Solutions to Transport Problems 3 TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT : WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS TO TRANSPORT PROBLEMS Todd Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute Corresponding author: Todd Litman; [email protected] Abstract Transportation Demand Management (TDM) includes various policies and programs that increase transport system efficiency. This can significantly reduce the need to expand roadway facilities, and provides other economic, social and environmental benefits. Current demographic and economic trends, and new community concerns, are increasing TDM benefits. Conventional transport economic evaluation tends to overlook and undervalue many of these benefits. More comprehensive and multi-modal evaluation can identify “win-win” solutions, TDM strategies that provide multiple benefits and are most cost effective overall. Keywords: Transportation Demand Management Introduction A paradigm refers to the basic assumptions used to define problems and evaluate solutions (Kuhn 1962). A discipline’s paradigm sometimes shifts, during which practitioners must reexamine their basic assumptions and analysis methods. For example, the Copernican revolution which recognized that the earth revolves around the sun, and the theory of evolution which explained biological change through natural selection, are well-known paradigm shifts. Transportation planning is undergoing a similar change (Litman). The old paradigm developed during the period when automobile travel demand was growing rapidly and so focused primarily on expanding roadway capacity. The new paradigm is more comprehensive and multi-modal: it considers a broader range of modes, objectives, impacts and transport system improvement options. This new paradigm supports Transportation Demand Management (TDM, also called mobility management) which is the general name for various strategies that result in more efficient use of mobil.TUM 2012 4 Transportation Demand Management transportation resources, including road space, parking facilities, fuel, and clean air. Table 1 summarizes major categories of TDM Strategies. Table 1 Transportation Demand Management Strategies (VTPI 2013) Improves Transport Land Use Implementation Options Incentives Management Programs Carsharing Distance-based pricing Complete streets Commute trip reduction programs
Recommended publications
  • Enhancing Walkability in a Downtown: a Case Study of Adel, Iowa
    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Creative Components Dissertations Fall 2020 Enhancing Walkability in a Downtown: A Case Study of Adel, Iowa Yaw Kwarteng Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/creativecomponents Part of the Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons Recommended Citation Kwarteng, Yaw, "Enhancing Walkability in a Downtown: A Case Study of Adel, Iowa" (2020). Creative Components. 656. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/creativecomponents/656 This Creative Component is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Creative Components by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Enhancing Walkability in a Downtown: A Case Study of Adel, Iowa by Yaw Yeboah Kwarteng A creative component submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING Major: Community and Regional Planning Program of Study Committee: Monica Haddad, Major Professor Brian Gelder Sungduck Lee The student author, whose presentation of the scholarship herein was approved by the program of study committee, is solely responsible for the content of this creative component. The Graduate College will ensure this creative component is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2020 Copyright © Cy Cardinal, 2020. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION This report is dedicated to my mum, Akosua Gyapomaa. Your love keeps me going. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Pdf 379.82 K
    International Journal of Architecture and Urban Development Vol.5, No.3, Summer 2015 Development Urban and Architecture of Journal International Thirteen Most Common Trends Shaping Automobile Dependence Worldwide and the Global Implications of these Trends Kenya 1*Adeyemo Ajibade, 2Dayomi Mathew, 3Tugbobo Babatunde 1Principal Lecturer, Department of Architectural Technology, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria. 2Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of the Built Environment and Development Studies. 3Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of the Built Environment and Development Studies, College of Humanities, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) South Africa. Recieved 07.25.2014; Accepted 03.02.2015 ABSTRACT: Walking being the oldest form of urban transport, and until the advent of major transformations in transport technology in the nineteenth century, most cities were structured in ways that supported walkability. Today, there is a change in transportation which emphasizes, the traditional pedestrian paths which are increasingly becoming non-regulated spaces when compared to the urban spaces for automobile modes. This change in emphasis is noticeable partly because urban walkability has rarely been planned for in the past few decades and ultimately may replace our automobile dependency. It has brought enormous changes to urban landscape in recent times particularly in the developed world. Automobile dependency comes in different ways, forms and degrees. For instance, there are few cities worldwide that are absolutely automobile dependent (where driving is the only form of transport). Even areas that appear to be highly automobile dependent often have a noteworthy amount of walking, cycling and transit travel among certain groups or in certain areas, although use of these modes tends to be undercounted by conventional transportation planning.
    [Show full text]
  • Sprawl and Accessibility
    Journal of Transport and Land Use 1:1 (Summer 2008) pp. 5–11 Available at http://jtlu.org Point: Sprawl and accessibility Robert Bruegmann University of Illinois at Chicago a At least until recently, accepted wisdom has held that sprawl is recent, particularly American and that it has been caused by a rapid growth in automobile ownership and use. It is also widely believed that for economic, social, environmental and aesthetic reasons sprawl is bad and should be stopped. A good way of doing this, many observers believe, is to promote “Smart Growth.” Higher density and more compact urban pat- terns, proponents believe, would lead to less “automobile dependence,” more walking and transit use and, as a result, better access to jobs and other activities and a better environment.¹ 1 Misreading history ere are several problems with this formula. e first is that the diagnosis relies on an erroneous reading of history. Sprawl is neither recent nor particularly American, and it was in full force long before the advent of the private automobile. If sprawl is the outward movement of people at lower densities without any over-arching planning or control, then sprawl is as old as cities. e reasons for this are not hard to find. Living at the center of most cities from the earliest times until very recently meant congestion, pollution and highly unsanitary living conditions for most of the urban population. Whenever a new group of people had sufficient resources, many families were likely to try to escape the city, either by moving to the suburbs or getting a weekend or country house in the exurban belt beyond the suburban edge.
    [Show full text]
  • Parking Problems and Creative Solutions
    AN OVERVIEW OF COMMON PARKING ISSUES, PARKING MANAGEMENT OPTIONS, AND CREATIVE SOLUTIONS PREPARED FOR: CITY OF PASADENA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AUGUST 2003 Banerjee & Associates Pasadena Parking August 2003 AN OVERVIEW OF COMMON PARKING ISSUES, PARKING MANAGEMENT OPTIONS, AND CREATIVE SOLUTIONS Prepared for City of Pasadena Department of Transportation Report prepared by Banerjee & Associates Parking is a key component of Pasadena’s transportation program. The City has addressed parking problems associated with educational institutions, entertainment uses, religious institutions, commercial activities, special events, and most recently the opening of Gold Line Light Rail service. Experience with such programs underscores the need for the City to foster ongoing coordination and cooperation among businesses, institutions, residents, and governmental agencies in order to address parking needs in a collaborative manner. The Department of Transportation is conducting a more focused review of parking management programs including options for use in residential neighborhoods. The objective of this review is to create, in collaboration with the community, a toolbox of parking management solutions that can be used throughout the City to address parking problems. This information will be incorporated into a forthcoming community handbook on the City’s Neighborhood Traffic Management Program. This briefing material is intended to support and encourage public dialogue on parking solutions. BANERJEE & ASSOCIATES Pasadena Parking August 2003 COMMON PARKING ISSUES With the high percentage of vehicle ownership in the United States, parking has become a conflicting and confusing situation for a number of people. Whether at an airport, bus stations and shopping centers, problems with parking are an everyday occurrence. Lack of accessible parking can hurt local business and decrease the quality of life for residents.
    [Show full text]
  • Download 31Netherlands1.Pdf
    Programma Media Tour Bicycle (October, 26-31, 2014) Participants: Mr. Avraham Ganor, Ofanaim Magazine Mr. Barry Davis, Jerusalem Post Mr. Jonathan Lemze. MAKO Online Mr. Meiri Doron Menashe, Yedioth Achronot Mr. Tuvi Pollack, Megafon Weather forecast: Day Max Min %Sun rain Wind Mo 27 oct 15°C 10°C 50% 0 mm SW 3 Bft Tue 28 oct 16°C 10°C 50% 2 mm SSW 4 Bft Wed 29 oct 14°C 11°C 10% 2 mm SW 3 Bft Thurs 30 oct 14°C 10°C 30% 2 mm SSW 4 Bft Fri 31 oct 14°C 10°C 50% 2 mm SSW3 Bft Suggestion: Bring a sweater and a Coat! The tour will be accompanied by: Mrs. Jeannette Barbier Mrs. Channa Nieuwenweg Holland Branding Innovation and Public Diplomacy Netherlands Enterprise Agency Dutch Embassy in Israel T: +31629553206 1 Holland is world's cycling leader The Netherlands is the world's number one cycling country. Cycling is a major means of transportation there, serving as a sustainable, healthy and economical mobility solution. The Netherlands has vast bike-friendly infrastructure that makes cycling a practical and safe way to get around. It also has some of the most innovative bicycle technology and bike manufacturers. It's no wonder that countries around the world are calling on the Netherlands for cycling expertise and technology. Cycling is a way of life in Holland. In fact, there are more bikes than people. The 16 million Dutch inhabitants own 18 million bicycles, most of which are made in Holland. Cycling is big business in Holland; more than 1 billion euros was spent on bicycles and cycling infrastructure in 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • Can an Experience with No Car Use Change Future Mode Choice Behavior?
    sustainability Article Can an Experience with No Car Use Change Future Mode Choice Behavior? Matus Sucha *, Lucie Viktorova and Ralf Risser Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University in Olomouc, Olomouc 771 80, Czech Republic * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 21 June 2019; Accepted: 19 August 2019; Published: 29 August 2019 Abstract: In order to determine whether an experimentally induced experience has the potential to change future travel mode choice, we recruited 10 families living in a middle-sized city who used a car at least four times a week, and made them stop using the car for one month. Each adult family member kept a travel diary and interviews were conducted prior to the experiment, after one month without a car, and then three months and one year after the experiment ended. The results suggest that the participants’ attitudes towards different transportation modes did not change during the period of the study, but their actual travel behavior did. In this respect, several factors were identified that influence travel mode choice, once the participants are made aware of the decision process and break the habit of car use. Keywords: car use; travel mode choice; traffic psychology; road user behavior; sustainable traffic modes 1. Introduction Automobile dependency consists of high levels of per capita automobile travel, automobile-oriented land use patterns, and limited transport alternatives [1]. Automobile dependency has many impacts on consumers, society, and the economy. It increases mobility and the convenience of motorists. At the same time, it increases consumers’ transportation costs and resource consumption, requires significant financial and land resources for roads and parking facilities, and it increases traffic congestion, roadway risk, and environmental impacts.
    [Show full text]
  • The Implications of Automobile Dependency in Abu Dhabi City
    Urban Transport XXI 143 The implications of automobile dependency in Abu Dhabi city M. Ochieng & M. Jama Integrated Transport Planning, Department of Transport, Abu Dhabi, UAE Abstract Global trends indicate that automobile dependency is increasing at a tremendous pace especially in developing countries – much faster than the provision of roadway and transport infrastructure. Furthermore, research shows both car use and ownership tend to increase with economic development and growth. Abu Dhabi City is a typical example of a fast growing (economically, population and wealth) city, where car ownership is growing at an annual rate of 24% and most journeys are made by car. Transport policy makers in Abu Dhabi face an uphill challenge as they try on the one hand to develop a comprehensive multi-modal transport network that includes various elements of mass transit systems and on the other, to deal with an increasing car dependency. The externalities associated with a car dependent society is currently being felt in Abu Dhabi and the region in general, with the rise of congestion, health problems associated with lack of physical mobility, accidents and environment deterioration. This paper assesses the impacts of automobile dependency in Abu Dhabi city, and includes how Abu Dhabi compares with similar international cities, outlines key challenges facing Abu Dhabi while taking into account the unique characteristics of Abu Dhabi; and finally concludes with key recommendations that Abu Dhabi can employ to overcome automobile dependency, in order to realize the long-term aspirations of a world-class city with a well-integrated multi-modal transport system. Keywords: automobile dependency, economic development, congestion, accidents, environmental deterioration, sustainability, noise, mass transit.
    [Show full text]
  • Meadowvale Analysis Breaking the Cycle of Automobile Dependency
    201 City Centre Dr., Suite 800 - Mississauga, Ontario - L5B 2T4 - (905) 896 5941 Breaking the Cycle of Automobile Dependency An Analysis of Meadowvale Business Park in the City of Mississauga Executive Summary The Meadowvale Business Park is home to more than 30,000 employees (and growing) The park has been designed around personal vehicle travel Employment area is disconnected from surrounding residential communities Transit Score = 38 “Some Transit” Walk Score = 48 “Car Dependent” Employees in the business park predominantly drive to work each day 77% drive alone 10% carpool Transit users (7% of commuters), are almost exclusively “captive riders” – they have no choice, but to use transit 52% do not have access to a car 25% do not have a drivers license Executive Summary A lack of Pedestrian, Cycling and Transit infrastructure are significant barriers to sustainable transportation choices in the business park Commuters often cite a lack of transit capacity, service (off-peak and weekend), and basic infrastructure (shelters) as reasons for not using transit More than 50% of employees in the business park live in Mississauga and Brampton 32% live within 10 km of the business park More than 500 employees live within walking distance of the park (inside a 2 km radius) More than 4,000 employees live within cycling distance of the park (inside a 5 km radius) A Commuter Shed analysis indicates that commuter trips into the park largely originate from within Mississauga, West Brampton and to a smaller extent Milton Outside of these areas, commuters
    [Show full text]
  • From Counterpublics to Counterspaces: Bicyclists' Efforts to Reshape Cities
    5 / 2012-13 From counterpublics to counterspaces: Bicyclists’ efforts to reshape cities Lusi Morhayim University of California, Berkeley Abstract This research examines bicyclists’ demand for the right to the city through an analysis of Critical Mass (CM) rides in San Francisco, California. The lack of investment allocated to alternative forms of transportation in the United States produces a form of social and spatial injustice because it eliminates freedom of choice not only for already disadvantaged populations but also for those who engage in everyday politics through their lifestyle choices. Ethnographic, historical, and iconographic analyses of CM rides demonstrate how these bicyclists perceive each other as a public built around shared values and lifestyles (that may broadly be defined as environmentally friendly and socially responsible). Bicyclists’ shared lifestyle defines their counter position on urban form. CM bicyclists appropriate urban streets and carry their counterdiscourses regarding street use into the public sphere. The rides strengthen bicyclists as a counterpublic, challenge automobiles’ cultural hegemony in modern urban life, subvert everyday urban experience, and allow bicyclists to create their counterspaces as they collectively ride. Keywords: Critical Mass, bicycling, counterpublic, counterspace, lifestyle politics. In San Francisco, on the last Friday of every month since 1992, rain or shine, bicyclists gather in Justin Herman Plaza starting at around six in the evening. When their numbers grow large enough for them to negotiate the right of way safely, they start the ride together. One by one, all of the bicyclists pour onto Market Street. At the very time when motorists are anxious to return home, hundreds of bicyclists circle the plaza, blocking traffic on Embarcadero in both directions.
    [Show full text]
  • Automobile Dependency and Economic Development
    Victoria Transport Policy Institute Website: www.vtpi.org Email: [email protected] 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA Phone & Fax 250-360-1560 "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" Institute for Science and Technology Policy Murdoch University Website: www.istp.murdoch.edu.au E-mail: [email protected] South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, AUSTRALIA Phone +61-8-9360-2913 Fax +61-8-9360-6421 Automobile Dependency and Economic Development by Todd Litman Victoria Transport Policy Institute and Felix Laube Institute for Science and Technology Policy Murdoch University, Perth, Australia 6 August, 2002 Abstract Automobile dependency consists of high levels of per capita automobile travel, automobile oriented land use patterns and limited transport alternatives. Automobile dependency has many impacts on consumers, society and the economy. It increases mobility and convenience to motorists. It increases consumers' transportation costs and resource consumption, requires significant financial and land resources for roads and parking facilities, and it increases traffic congestion, roadway risk and environmental impacts. It reduces the viability of other travel modes and leads to more dispersed land use and mobility intensive economic patterns that require more vehicle travel for access. This paper examines macroeconomic impacts of automobile dependency (impacts on overall economic development, productivity, competitiveness and employment). Both economic theory and empirical evidence indicates that excessive automobile dependency reduces
    [Show full text]
  • A Cycle of Dependence: Automobiles, Accessibility, and the Evolution of the Transportation and Retail Hierarchies
    A Cycle of Dependence: Automobiles, Accessibility, and the Evolution of the Transportation and Retail Hierarchies Susan Handy Department of Community and Regional Planning School of Architecture University of Texas Austin, TX 78712-1160 Reprinted from Berkeley Planning Journal Vol. 8 (1993), pp. 21-43 UCTC No. 233 The University of California Transportation Center University of California at Berkeley The University of California Transportation Center The University of California Center activities. Researchers Transportation Center (UCTC) at other universities within the is one of ten regional units region also have opportunities mandated by Congress and to collaborate with UC faculty established in Fall 1988 to on selected studies. support research, education, and training in surface trans- UCTCÕs educational and portation. The UC Center research programs are focused serves federal Region IX and on strategic planning for is supported by matching improving metropolitan grants from the U.S. Depart- accessibility, with emphasis ment of Transportation, the on the special conditions in California Department of Region IX. Particular attention Transportation (Caltrans), and is directed to strategies for the University. using transportation as an instrument of economic Based on the Berkeley development, while also ac- Campus, UCTC draws upon commodating to the regionÕs existing capabilities and persistent expansion and resources of the Institutes of while maintaining and enhanc- Transportation Studies at ing the quality of life there. Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, and Los Angeles; the Institute of The Center distributes reports Urban and Regional Develop- on its research in working ment at Berkeley; and several papers, monographs, and in academic departments at the reprints of published articles.
    [Show full text]
  • The Costs of Automobile Dependency and the Benefits of Balanced Transportation
    Victoria Transport Policy Institute 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA www.vtpi.org [email protected] Phone & Fax 250-360-1560 “Efficiency - Equity - Clarity” The Costs of Automobile Dependency and the Benefits of Balanced Transportation by Todd Litman Victoria Transport Policy Institute 2 August, 2002 Abstract Automobile dependency is defined as high levels of per capita automobile travel, automobile oriented land use patterns, and reduced transport alternatives. Automobile dependency increases many costs: higher vehicle expenses, reduced travel choices, increased road and parking facility costs, congestion, accident damages, and a variety of environmental impacts. Beyond an optimal level, excessive automobile dependency may reduce economic productivity and development. A more balanced transportation system can provide many benefits to consumers and society. © 1995-2002 Todd Alexander Litman All Rights Reserved The Costs of Automobile Dependency Introduction Automobile dependency is defined as high levels of per capita automobile travel, automobile oriented land use patterns, and reduced transport alternatives.1 Its opposite is balanced transportation, meaning that consumers have viable transport choices and incentives to use each mode for what it does best.2 This paper explores the costs to society of automobile dependency and benefits of more balanced transportation. Automobile dependency is not a single thing. It includes various transport and land use factors, as described in Table 1. These tend to be mutually supporting so it is generally inappropriate to consider any one factor the “cause” of automobile dependency; they all both contribute to, and result from, automobile dependency. Automobile dependency is relative. A mixed transportation system is generally in the middle range of most factors, with nodes of low automobile dependency, where transit and non-motorized travel is favored, and other areas that are more automobile dependent.
    [Show full text]