Are Vehicle Travel Reduction Targets Justified? Evaluating Mobility Management Policy Objectives Such As Targets To Reduce VMT And Increase Use Of Alternative Modes

This report investigates whether transportation policies should include targets to reduce vehicle travel and encourage use of alternative modes, called mobility management objectives. Such objectives may be justified on several grounds: they help solve various problems and provide various benefits; they help insure that individual short-term planning decisions support strategic goals; and they help prepare for future travel demands. Many mobility management strategies are market and planning reforms that increase transport system efficiency and equity. Mobility management criticism tends to reflect an older, automobile-oriented planning paradigm that considers a limited range of objectives, impacts and options. More comprehensive analysis tends to favor mobility management. Appropriate mobility management can reduce vehicle travel in ways that minimize costs and maximize benefits to consumers and society.