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.
Public Policies For Optimal Urban Development
What amount of expansion, population and vehicle densities, housing mix, and transport policies should growing cities aspire to achieve? This column summarizes my recent research that explores these, and related, issues.
Quality Public Transit Benefits Land Use Outcomes
New research quantifies public transit impacts on urban development patterns, and resulting benefits. Current transit services reduces U.S. urban land consumption by 27 percent, which reduces VMT, fuel consumption and pollution emissions 8 percent.
More Evidence of Smart Growth Savings
Analysis of incremental tax revenues and public service costs of various development patterns in Madison, Wisconsin indicates significant economic savings from more compact land use. Modest increases in density can provide large fiscal benefits.
What do we want? COFFEE! When do we want it? NOW!!!
The City Observatory's new Cappuccino Congestion Index quantifies the delay that inadequate coffeeshop capacity imposes on caffeine consumers. For cappuccino-sucking urbanites, it is a more severe problem than traffic congestion.
Study: Sprawl Costs the U.S. Economy $1 Trillion Annually
A major new study estimates that sprawl costs the U.S. economy more than a trillion dollars annually, and results, in part, from planning and market distortions. Smart policy reforms can result in more efficient and equitable development.