Todd Litman is founder and executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transport problems. His work helps to expand the range of impacts and options considered in transportation decision-making, improve evaluation methods, and make specialized technical concepts accessible to a larger audience. His research is used worldwide in transport planning and policy analysis.
Mr. Litman has worked on numerous studies that evaluate transportation costs, benefits and innovations. He authored the Online TDM Encyclopedia, a comprehensive Internet resource for identifying and evaluating mobility management strategies; Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis: Techniques, Estimates and Implications, a comprehensive study which provides cost and benefit information in an easy-to-apply format; and Parking Management Best Practices, the most comprehensive book available on management solutions to parking problems. Mr. Litman is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops. His presentations range from technical and practical to humorous and inspirational. He is active in several professional organizations, including the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Transportation Research Board (a section of U.S. National Academy of Sciences). He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Transportation Research A, a professional journal.
*Video: Explaining Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)
Conventional planning evaluates transport system performance car-centric indicators such as roadway Level-of-Service (LOS). Many jurisdictions are shifting to Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), which supports multimodal planning and Smart Growth policies.
What Happens When a Downtown Becomes Nearly Car-Free?
"Parking spots are now bike lanes, transit is fast and easy, and the streets (and local businesses) are full of people."
A Better Travel Experience
Transportation engineers sometimes treat people as objects to be moved as quickly and cheaply as possible from one location to another, but people have preferences and feelings which should be considered when planning transport systems.
Report Tracks Transport Emissions Trends and Raises Transport Policy Ambition
The Sustainable Low Carbon Transportation ( SLoCaT) Partnership recently released the "Transport and Climate Change Global Status Report," a resource to help raise ambition on climate sustainable transportation policy actions.
Toward More Comprehensive Multi-Modal Transport Planning
Transportation planning is undergoing a paradigm shift. The new paradigm is more multi-modal and comprehensive, and so can better respond to changing travel demands and emerging community needs.