Reversing Car Dependency

A new report by the International Transport Forum analyzes fiscal policies and other instruments for managing urban traffic and correcting current policy biases that favor automobile travel over more sustainable and affordable transport options. The report also reviews international case studies of integrated transportation and land use planning to make transportation more efficient and reduce congestion on streets.

Among the conclusions made, with much more detail, in the report:

• Cities need more efficient, less damaging and fairer use of scarce space. 
• The guiding principle for managing car use is to enable citizens to carry out their daily activities without a car and not having to rely on cars to satisfy their transport needs. 
• Significantly reducing the modal share of private vehicles in urban mobility implies significant long-term change in the spatial form of cities. 
• The most effective urban mobility management systems deploy road pricing schemes together with road space allocation and land-use planning instruments.