Todd Litman

Todd Litman is the executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

Member for
19 years 4 months

Contributed 446 posts

Full Bio

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.

Evaluating Smart Growth Benefits and Costs

This is the third in a series of columns that respond to recent claims by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that smart growth policies are ineffective and harmful. The first was, An Inaccurate Attack On Smart Growth [...]

Integrated Planning for Community Health and Safety

Automobile travel imposes significant health risks. Traffic fatality rates, obesity and related illnesses such as diabetes, and total air pollution emissions tend to increase with per capita annual vehicle mileage.

New Report Evaluates Transportation Policies for Healthier Communities

Major study by the Partnership for Prevention identifies numerous ways to reduce air pollution, increase physical fitness and reduce traffic risk.

Land Use Impacts On Travel: Current State of Knowledge

As discussed in my previous column, An Inaccurate Attack On Smart Growth, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) sponsored a research program intended to raise doubts about smart growth’s ability to reduce vehicle travel [...]

An Inaccurate Attack On Smart Growth

Note: This column was originally titled, "A Stupid Attack on Smart Growth," intended as a pun on 'smart' and 'stupid.' However, that sounds harsh so I retitled it. - T.L. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has a well-financed campaign to discourage communities from considering <a href="http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/tisg.htm">smart growth</a> as a possible way to conserve energy and reduce pollution emissions. They contend that compact development has little effect on travel activity and so provides minimal benefits. The NAHB states that, “The existing body of research demonstrates no clear link between residential land use and GHG emissions.” But their research actually found the opposite: it indicates that smart growth policies can have significant impacts on travel activity and emissions.