One of planners’ most important jobs is to help develop the indicators and frameworks use to define problems and evaluate potential solution. Often, a particular solution will seem cost effective and beneficial when evaluated one way, and wasteful and undesirable if evaluated another. Opinion
Nov 27, 2012 By Todd Litman
Moving Ahead for Progress
in the 21st Century (MAP-21), the new U.S. federal transportation law, has
the following main goals:
Opinion
Oct 21, 2012 By Todd Litman
Despite many studies confirming the effect of induced traffic, the effect is often ignored in the transport models used for project appraisal, says a team of Scandanavian researchers creating an extreme bias in the assessment of new projects.
Jun 25, 2012 European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
Planners strive to anticipate future needs, which sometimes creates self-fulfilling prophecies: by preparing for a situation we help cause it. This
is particularly true of automobile Opinion
Apr 8, 2012 By Todd Litman
Once again the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) published its annual Urban Mobility Report (UMR), and once again I feel obliged to warn planners that it is based on faulty assumptions and biased analysis methods. This is not to deny that traffic congestion is a significant problem, but the UMR significantly exaggerates its importance compared with other transport costs and exaggerates roadway expansion benefits. Opinion
Oct 2, 2011 By Todd Litman
A few weeks ago the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) released its latest Urban Mobility Report, and yesterday INRIX released its National Traffic Scorecard 2010 Annua Opinion
Mar 9, 2011 By Todd Litman
Why didn't the chicken cross the road?
Because pedestrian Level-Of-Service was below "C".
Opinion
Sep 22, 2010 By Todd Litman
The graph below shows the most recent USDOT vehicle-travel data covering the last 25 years. Although vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) grew steadily during most of the Twentieth Century, in recent years the growth rate stopped and even declined a little. It is now about 10% below where it would have been had past trends continued.
Opinion
Aug 22, 2010 By Todd Litman
Jun 14, 2010 By Todd Litman
Oct 12, 2009 By Todd Litman
