2009a), Are Vehicle Travel Reduction Targets Justified? Evaluating Mobility

Bus priority can reduce total vehicle travel in ways that benefit everybody, including transit users who enjoy better service and motorists who experience less congestion, crash risk and pollution. This report investigates whether transportation policies should include mobility management objectives, such as targets to reduce vehicle travel and encourage use of alternative modes. Such objectives are justified on several grounds. Mobility management objectives provide guidance to help individual short-term decisions support strategic, long-term goals. Mobility management can provide numerous benefits. Many mobility management strategies are market and planning reforms that increase transport system efficiency and equity. Mobility management objectives help shift planning practices to better prepare for future demands. Mobility management criticism tends to reflect an older, automobile-oriented transportation planning paradigm which 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