Regional Travel Demand Management & Alternative Modes of Transportation

What is regional Travel Demand Management (TDM)? Travel Demand Management is designed to change the travel habits of single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) users through various strategies. TDM programs often encourage the use of carpools, vanpools and transit for commuting to work and all other trips. TDM also promotes human-powered modal choices (such as walking or bicycling), shifting travel outside the peak periods and eliminating work trips with telework or compressed work weeks.

What are the benefits of investing in Travel Demand Management (TDM)? As our region continues to grapple with the rising costs of fuel, traffic congestion, air pollution, global climate change and improvements to the transportation network, reducing the use of single-occupancy vehicle trips has never been as important. Providing access to alternative modes of transportation and encouraging their use has many benefits in health and community vitality, including:

• Reducedtrafficcongestion

• Reducedinfrastructureinvestmentcosts(parkingspaces,roadmaintenance,etc)

• Improvedairquality

• Improvedoverallcommunityhealth

• Improvedtraveloptionsfortheeconomicallydisadvantaged

• Lessdependenceonfossilfuels

• Reducedoverallcostofparking,gasoline,insuranceandwear/tearonautomobiles

• Reducedgreenhousegasemissions

• Improvedaccesstojobs

• Increasedworkerproductivity

How can TDM be incorporated into the 2040 RTP?There are various investments that could be made to provide a better multi-modal transportationsystemthatreducesthedependencyonsingle-occupancyvehicles.Inorderto determine what investments could be made, we need to understand what programs are currently in place.

Where are we now?Travel Demand Management in Pima County has focused on employer-based strategies that promote the use of alternative modes of transportation, such as carpooling, vanpooling, riding transit,bicyclingorwalkingfortheworktrip.Localordinanceswereenacted20yearsagothatrequiremajoremployerstoimplementalternativetransportationplansattheworksite.As part of their plans, area companies and government agencies offer incentives, subsidies, infrastructure and information to motivate their employees to find an alternative to driving alone for their commute to work. PAG offers a variety of services to assist area employers in

Pima Association of Governments (PAG) is developing a new long-range transportation plan for eastern Pima County and the Tucson metropolitan area. PAG’s 2040 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) will be a 30-year plan that provides a framework for transportation investments in the PAG region by identifying projects that could potentially be developed with federal, state and local funding through 2040.

For more information on Travel Demand Management and Alternative Modes of Transportation contact: Ruth Reiman Travel Demand Management Manager (520) 792-1093 rreiman@pagnet.org

How can you stay informed or get involved?To stay informed and get involvedinPAG’s2040RTPand/orotherPAGplanningactivities:

• VisitthePAGWebsiteatwww.pagnet.org

• AddyournametoPAG’s2040RTPmailinglistbycallingPAGat(520)792-1093

• Scheduleaspeakerforyournext meeting

their travel demand efforts, such as vanpool subsidies, a carpool matching system, outreach and marketing to employees, promotions, and various incentives and prizes to promote behavioral changes.

Where can we go from here?The region is poised to expand Travel Demand Management from an employer-based focus to make TDM services and strategies available to all residents of the region. Possible expanded strategies include:

• Web-basedservicesthatallowcommuterstofindcarpoolpartnersforanytrip,learnoftransit options for their work commute or get a route map of the safest bike route to the local grocery store.

• Direct-marketingcampaignstoarearesidentsthatimproveawarenessabouttraveloptionsand provide incentives to try other modes of travel.

• Improvedmasstransitthatreachessuburbanandruralresidentsandprovidesgreateraccessibility for all users.

• Improvedroutesforschoolchildrenthatreducethenumberofschoolbusesandprovidestudents easier and safer access to schools.

• Landusedevelopmentcenteredontransitcentersorcommercialdevelopmentsthatincorporate multi-modal transportation options in the plans.

• Parkingmanagementandpricingpoliciesthatencourageothermodesoftravelthandriving.