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.
Live Long and Prosper: Compact Development Increases Life Expectancy, Economic Development
The U.S. has lower average life expectancy than most peer countries. New research indicates that this results in part from sprawl. Life expectancy, economic mobility, mobility options, personal health and safety all improve in less sprawling areas.
Parking Planning Paradigm Shift
More efficient parking management can benefit everybody, including motorists, businesses, residents, and any planner who becomes an expert on this subject, as I can report from experience.
Resource-Efficient Urban Planning Helps Achieve Economic, Social, and Environmental Goals
A new report shows that low-carbon development policies can help to achieve numerous planning goals including job creation, improved safety and public health, social inclusion, and improved accessibility.
Understanding Location-Efficient Affordability Impacts
A recent study suggests that families save little by moving to location-efficient neighborhoods. There are good reasons to be skeptical of that conclusion.
Autonomous Vehicle Reality
Planners must be realistic. Autonomous vehicles will probably provide smaller net benefits, including safety benefits, than optimists predict.