How TDM Benefits All

In an article called How to Orient Cities for People, Not Cars, Juan Miguel Velasquez discusses the use of transport demand management (TDM) as means to "improve mobility and quality of life in a rapidly urbanizing world." With growing populations in cities around the world, there is an associated growth in the number of cars on the road. Nobody likes to be stuck in traffic. TDM is a proposed solution to this problem. Most methods of mitigating congestion (such as expanding roadways) have been more or less focused on the supply side of transport. TDM offers opportunities to lessen the number of cars on the road through the demand side, or by "disincentivising unnecessary driving." Employers have great opportunities to encourage their employees to seek active modes of transport by providing facilities such as showers, lockers and bike parking, organizing methods of carpooling, or having lenient work-hour expectations so less people are driving during peak hours. If more companies engage in these forms of encouragement, there will ultimately be less people on the road which in turn means less emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. These emissions are a leading contributor to global warming and climate change and should be taken seriously by everyone. People are all too comfortable in their commuting habits. Expanding roadways may lessen congestion temporarily, but in the long-run more people will choose to drive and the congestion will return to it's formidable state. Clearly this is not an effective method. Besides, the health of our planet will not improve with less congestion. It will, however, improve with less cars on the road and in turn less fuel emissions. Providing drivers with convenient alternatives to driving alone could be a step towards this improvement. But what's in it for the businesses? Why would they spend time and money developing such incentives when it only benefits the environment? Well, it turns out businesses will benefit as well. It's a win-win scenario for everyone involved. With less vehicles showing up to the site every day, companies will experience reduced employee parking costs and tax benefits. Drivers who participate in ride-sharing or active transport will save money on gas and will be happier overall when their commute time is cut down due to decreased traffic. And of course the environment will benefit as well with less cars on the road emitting carbon dioxide. These benefits could all be realized as TDM becomes a more widely recognized concept.

http://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-orient-cities-people-not-cars