Evaluating Transport Diversity
Evaluating Transport Diversity
Evaluating Transport Diversity
org
Info@vtpi.org
250-508-5150
By
Todd Litman
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
Abstract
Transportation diversity refers to the variety of mobility and accessibility options
available in a particular situation, including various modes, services and destinations. A
transport system must be diverse in order to serve diverse demands, including the
needs of people who cannot, should not or prefer not to drive. Multimodal planning that
increases transport system diversity tends to increase efficiency, equity and resilience,
and achieve various planning goals including congestion reduction, infrastructure
savings, affordability, improved mobility for non-drivers, traffic safety, increased public
fitness and health, environmental protection and support for strategic development
objectives. Conventional planning undervalues many of these benefits, resulting in less
diverse, more automobile-dependent communities than optimal. This report examines
consumer demands for non-auto travel options, the roles that various modes play in an
efficient and equitable transport system, transport diversity benefits, and methods for
determining optimal transport system diversity.
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2
The Diversity of Travel Demands .................................................................................... 6
Transportation Diversity Benefits ................................................................................... 10
Congestion Reductions and Infrastructure Cost Savings ......................................................... 10
Consumer Savings and Affordability ......................................................................................... 12
Mobility for Non-Drivers ............................................................................................................. 13
Traffic Safety ............................................................................................................................. 14
Increased Public Fitness and Health ......................................................................................... 15
Energy Conservation and Pollution Emission Reductions ........................................................ 16
Strategic Development Goals ................................................................................................... 17
Local Economic Development ................................................................................................... 18
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 19
Multimodal Performance Indicators ............................................................................... 20
Indicators by Mode .................................................................................................................... 20
Aggregate Multimodal Indicators ............................................................................................... 22
Transportation for Everyone Ratings ........................................................................................ 26
Optimal Transportation Diversity ................................................................................... 27
Method 1: Market Principles ...................................................................................................... 27
Method 2: Comprehensive Planning ......................................................................................... 28
Method 3: Equity – A Fair Share for Non-drivers ...................................................................... 29
Method 4: Equity – Optimal Urban Design ................................................................................ 31
Method 5: Accessibility Indicators and Targets ......................................................................... 32
Reforms for More Multimodal Planning ......................................................................... 33
Scope of Impacts....................................................................................................................... 33
Analysis of Demand .................................................................................................................. 33
Accessibility-Based Analysis ..................................................................................................... 33
Transportation Performance Evaluation.................................................................................... 34
Funding Practices ...................................................................................................................... 34
Development Policies ................................................................................................................ 34
Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 35
References.................................................................................................................... 36
A motorist driving on a rural road stops to ask an old farmer for directions to a nearby town. The
farmer ponders the question and replies, “I’m afraid you can’t get there from here.”
This old joke is amusing because it contradicts what we know about transportation. Given
accurate directions and sufficient fuel a motorist can reach nearly any location on a public road.
But if the visitor were walking, the situation might not be so funny. Rather than suggesting that
the destination is generally inaccessible, it could mean, “You can’t get there, at least not the way
you are traveling.” It is tragic rather than comic if some groups of people have inferior
transportation options.
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Introduction
To be efficient and fair, a transportation system must be diverse or multimodal, in order to serve
diverse demands. This lets travellers choose the best option for each trip: walking and bicycling
for local travel, public transit for longer urban trips, and automobiles when they are truly most
efficient overall, considering all impacts. A diverse transportation system ensures that
everybody, including non-drivers, has viable mobility options and receives their fair share of
transportation infrastructure investments.
Transportation diversity declined during much of the last century due to automobile-oriented
planning which invested transportation resources (money and land) primarily in roads and
parking facilities, with little support for alternatives. This created automobile-dependent
communities that favor driving over other travel modes. This can create problems for both
individuals and communities.
Many people cannot, should not or prefer not to drive for most trips. Without suitable options,
non-drivers lack independent mobility, which deprives them of economic and social
opportunities, and forces motorists to chauffeur non-driving family members and friends.
Automobile dependency forces many households to spend more than is affordable on
transportation, and exacerbates traffic problems including congestion, risk and pollution.
Multimodal planning can reduce these problems.
Of course, it is not feasible to provide every travel option everywhere but more multimodal
planning can significantly increase transportation system diversity and respond to currently
unmet travel demands. The results can benefit everybody. Multimodal planning is not anti-car: a
multimodal transportation system includes a significant amount of automobile travel, as
opposed to “car-free” planning which severely limits driving. Table 1 compares approaches.
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Multimodal planning is the process for creating a diverse transportation system, in contrast to
automobile-oriented planning which favors automobile travel to the detriment of other modes,
which creates automobile-dependent communities. Multimodal planning applies comprehensive
analysis of travel demands and impacts, which tends to increase investments in walking, cycling and
public transit, and justify Transportation Demand Management programs. Multimodal planning also
integrates transportation and land use development policies, and corrects system gaps, such as poor
pedestrian and bicyclist access to public transport stops.
Resilience refers to a system’s ability to accommodate unpredictable changes, including sudden and
extreme conditions. Option value refers to the benefits that people may place on having options
available for possible future use. Transportation diversity tends to increase resilience which provides
option value to people who may want a mode or service in the future.
These factors can be evaluated based on inputs, outputs and outcomes, as illustrated below. For
example, multimodal planning tends to increase the amount of money and road space devoted to
active modes, which increases the quantity and quality of sidewalks, paths and bikelanes, which
often increase walking and bicycling trips, and reduces automobile travel.
Transportation diversity can be evaluated based on input, such as investments in various modes,
output such as the quantity and quality of facilities and services, or outcomes such as how and how
much people travel by different modes.
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There are many possible ways to evaluate transportation diversity. A narrow perspective only
considers the degree that a particular option achieves a particular objective, such as whether a
sidewalk improvement solves parking problems or whether a new transit service reduces traffic
congestion on a particular corridor. A more comprehensive perspective considers a broader
range of impacts, and the potential for network effects, and so considers whether particular
sidewalk improvements and public transit service expansions can together help create a more
multimodal community where residents own fewer cars, drive less and rely more on alternative
modes, and how this can provide multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. More
comprehensive analysis reflects current planning practices.
A new paradigm is expanding the range of impacts and options considered in transportation
planning, which supports more multimodal planning. The new paradigm recognizes that mobility
is not usually an end in itself, rather, the ultimate goal of most transportation is access to
desired services and activities (school, work, shopping, healthcare, recreation, etc.), and so
recognizes the important roles that walking, cycling and public transit can play in an efficient
and equitable transport system, and it expands planning goals to include affordability, safety,
mobility for non-drivers, and public fitness and health.
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To their credit, many decision-makers support walking, cycling, public transit and Smart Growth
polices more than is justified by conventional planning analysis: they realize intuitively that
diverse transport systems provide important economic, social and environmental benefits that
conventional analysis undervalues. However, more comprehensive evaluation of these impacts
can lead to better policy and planning decisions. This report is intended to provide practical
guidance for more comprehensive and multimodal transportation planning analysis.
This report explores multimodal planning concepts, investigates travel demands for alternative
modes, discusses benefits provided by transportation diversity and practical ways to evaluate
these impacts, investigates barriers to increased transport diversity, evaluates criticisms of
multimodal planning, and discusses examples. This report should be of interest to policy makers,
practitioners (planners, engineers and economists), and multimodal planning advocates.
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Conventional travel data often undercounts and undervalues non-auto travel. For example,
many travel surveys only count peak-period trips between traffic analysis zones (TAZs), which
ignores shorter trips (within TAZs), non-commute trips, recreational travel, travel by children
and many active mode (walking and bicycling) trips. A bike-bus-walk trip is often coded simply as
a transit trip, and the trips between parked vehicles and destinations are ignored even if they
involve several blocks of walking. Commute mode share statistics indicate that only 3.6% of trips
are by active modes, implying that they are unimportant, but more comprehensive surveys
indicate that walking and bicycling trips are actually two to six times more common, so if
statistics indicate that only 5% of trips are by active modes the actual amount is probably 10-
30% (Forsyth, Krizek and Agrawal 2010).
Similarly, planning analysis is often based on vehicle ownership data. About 92% of North
American households own at least one vehicle, implying that auto travel is nearly universal.
However, many vehicle owning household members cannot, should not or prefer not to drive
and will use non-auto modes that are convenient and affordable. The study, The Multimodal
Majority? (Buehler and Hamre 2015) found that during a typical week about 7% of Americans
rely entirely on non-auto modes, 65% use a car plus another mode one to five times, and 25%
use non-auto modes seven or more times.
Non-auto travel demands are particularly high among seniors, people with disabilities, youths,
lower-income households and recent immigrants whose ability to drive is limited (Park, et al.
2022; Wang and Renne 2023). For example, many lower-income households have fewer vehicles
than drivers, as illustrated in the following graph, so vehicles must be shared.
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Table 2 describes various types of non-auto travel demands. This indicates that in a typical
community, 20-40% of travellers cannot, should not or prefer not to drive and will use non-auto
modes if they are convenient, comfortable and affordable.
Table 2 Types of Non-Auto Travel Demands (Brumbaugh 2021; Census 2021; OIA 2020)
Type Prevalence Costs if not Served
Seniors who do not or should not drive. 5-10% of population.
Non-drivers lack mobility, require chauffeuring
People with mobility impairments. 5-10% of population.
(special vehicle travel to transport a non-driver),
Adolescents (12-20 years). 10-20% of population. must use higher-cost options (such as taxis and
Drivers who share vehicles. 5-15% of motorists. ridehailing) or move to another community with
better transport options.
Drivers who temporarily lack vehicles. Varies.
Lower-income households. 20-40% of households. Lack mobility or bear excessive transport costs.
Families with pets to walk. 20% of households. Pets lack exercise or owners drive to walking areas.
Motorists who benefit from better Motorists bear more congestion, risk and
travel options for others. Most motorists. chauffeuring burdens.
In a typical community, 20-40% of travellers cannot, should not, or prefer not to drive and will use non-auto
modes if they are convenient, comfortable and affordable.
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These categories overlap. For example, people with mobility impairments have high poverty
rates which increase the importance of modes that are both affordable and accessible, such as
affordable housing in compact urban villages with universal design features so it is easy for
people with disabilities to easily access local services and activities. The figure below
summarizes major categories of non-drivers. Of course, many of these people travel by
automobile as drivers or passengers, but this imposes costs on them and their families, and so
would use non-auto modes if they were more convenient, comfortable and affordable.
The demand for non-auto travel depends on how it is defined and measured. For example,
although only a few percent of travellers have severe mobility impairments, most households
will at some time have members with mobility impairments and so benefit from universal
design. Physically-able people can benefit from wheelchair accessible homes and shops so they
can host visitors with disabilities and their future selves if they become impaired. Blumenberg,
Brown and Schouten (2020) find that about 20% of U.S. households are car-deficit, meaning
they have more drivers than vehicles, and they often rely on non-auto modes.
Similarly, although only a small portion of total driving is impaired by alcohol or drugs, all
motorists can benefit from better alternatives for those that do (TIRF 2019). Motorists also
benefit from non-auto improvements that reduce their chauffeuring burdens to family members
and friends who cannot drive. Some non-auto mode improvements provide often-overlooked
benefits. For example, universal design improvements are generally intended to accommodate
wheelchair users, who are less than 1% of travellers, but they also benefit parents pushing
strollers, tourists with wheeled luggage, and people using handcarts to make deliveries.
Physically, economically and socially disadvantaged people tend to depend more than average
on non-auto modes, so improving non-auto travel tends to achieve social equity goals; it
improves disadvantaged groups quality of life and economic opportunities and reduces
disparities between advantaged and disadvantaged groups (Dissell 2023).
Non-auto mode shares tend to increase with density, as illustrated below, and so tend to be
particularly high in areas with the most severe traffic problems. Small increase in non-auto
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Figure 5 Regional, Central City and CBD Mode Shares (Pisarski 2006)
80%
Region
Transit Mode Share
60%
Central City
CBD
40%
20%
0%
Non-auto mode shares are particularly high in denser urban areas where traffic problems are severe, so small
shifts to walking, bicycling or public transit can provide large benefits if concentrated in those areas.
The figure below illustrates indicators of U.S. non-auto travel demands. The first column shows
their commute mode share. The second column shows total trips, based on National Household
Travel Survey data. The third column shows estimated non-auto mode shares in larger cities
where traffic problems are most severe. The fourth and fifth columns show estimates of
potential non-auto mode shares if communities invested significantly more in them. The sixth
column indicates the portion of U.S. residents who use non-auto modes at least three times per
week. This indicates that non-auto travel demands are higher than generally recognized. The
next section describes the benefits of serving currently unmet demands.
Figure 6 Non-Auto Demand Indicators (2018 ACS, 2017 NHTS, Buehler and Hamre 2015)
60% Non-auto modes
Car + non-auto trips
serve 8% of commute
Non-Auto
Portion of Trips or Travellers
50%
Public transit trips, 16% of total
40% Bike personal trips, 27% of
Walk personal trips in large
30% cities, and a third to
20% half of potential trips
if they received more
10% investment. About
half of all travellers
0%
use non-auto modes
Commute Total Trips Large City Potential Potential 3+ Non-auto
at least three times
Trips Trips Trips Large City Trips per
Trips Week per week.
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Automobile travel
requires far more road
space than other modes,
and so causes more
traffic congestion.
Improving and
encouraging space-
efficient mode can
reduce congestion.
Vehicle travel also requires parking at each destination. Figure 8 compares the road and parking
space requirements for commuting by various modes: automobiles require many times more
space than walking, cycling and public transit.
1,400
Square Feet Per Commute Trip
1,200
400
200
0
Walking Bus Transit Bicycling Motorscooter Motorcycle Automobile
Automobile travel requires far more space for travel and parking than other modes.
1
Transport Land Requirements Spreadsheet (www.vtpi.org/Transport_Land.xls), based on Eric Bruun and
Vukan Vuchic (1995), “The Time-Area Concept: Development, Meaning and Applications,” Transportation
Research Record 1499, TRB (www.trb.org), pp. 95-104; at https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=452722.
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As a result, walking, cycling and public transit help reduce traffic and parking congestion in the
short run, and over the long run can help reduce road and parking facility costs. Critics
sometimes argue that because transit only carries a small portion of total travel it can do little to
reduce congestion, but on the most congested, such as urban highways and downtown arterials,
alternative modes can carry a significant portion of peak-period travel and provide significant
congestion reductions (Litman 2014a; Nelson\Nygaard 2006).
Congestion can be measured in various ways that give very different conclusions about the
nature of this cost and the effectiveness of various solutions (Litman 2014a; Wallis and Lupton
2013). Indicators such as roadway Level-of-Service and the Travel Time Index measure
congestion intensity, the degree that traffic speeds decline during peak periods. Measured this
way, alternative modes only reduce congestion if they reduce motorists’ delay. More
comprehensive indicators, such as per capita congestion costs or commute duration, also
account for the congestion avoided by travellers who choose alternative modes or shorter
commutes. For example, compact, multi-modal cities such as New York, Boston and
Philadelphia tend to have more intense congestion (greater peak-period speed reductions), but
lower congestion costs (fewer annual hours of delay per capita) due to lower auto mode shares
and short trip lengths, which reduces congestion exposure (the amount residents drive during
peak periods). More dispersed, automobile-oriented cities such as Houston, Atlanta and Detroit
tend to have less intense congestion but greater congestion costs.
Empirical evidence indicates that residents of more multimodal communities experience less
traffic congestion than in more sprawled, automobile-dependent areas. A major study in
Phoenix, Arizona found less intense congestion, and less congestion experienced by residents of
more compact, multimodal neighborhoods than in lower-density, automobile-dependent areas
(Kuzmyak 2012). Hamilton and Wichman (2016) used a unique fine-grained traffic dataset to
measure the Washington DC Capital Bikeshare program’s congestion impacts. They found that
bikeshare stations reduced congestion by 4% or more compared with what would otherwise
occur, with the greatest reductions in the most congested areas. Because transit riders tend to
travel on congested urban corridors, they usually have much larger congestion reduction
impacts than their mode share. For example, although only 11% of Los Angeles commuters use
transit, when a strike halted transit service for five weeks, average highway congestion delay
increased 47%, with 11% to 38% increases in regional congestion costs (Anderson 2013).
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Potential saving are even larger than these surveys indicate since many households spend more
on vehicles than necessary, for example, owning expensive vehicles for status sake, or additional
vehicles for recreation. Transportation diversity also increases economic resilience by providing
savings opportunities for responding to financial stresses such as reduced income or a vehicle
failure, an option that is not feasible in automobile-dependent areas. This helps explain why
housing foreclosure rates are much lower in more multimodal communities (NRDC 2010).
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Traffic Safety
An extensive body of research using various data sets and methods indicates that traffic casualty
rates (deaths and injuries) tend to decline with more compact and multimodal urban
development (Duduta, Adriazola-Steil and Hidalgo 2013; Welle, et al. 2015). Per capita traffic
crash rates tend to decline with more compact and mixed development, smaller block sizes,
increased street connections, narrower streets, better pedestrian and cycling facilities, better
crosswalks, roundabouts and more traffic calming (Ewing and Dumbaugh 2009; Garrick and
Marshall 2011). Ewing and Hamidi (2014) found that more compact U.S. urban areas had slightly
higher crash rates but much lower traffic fatality rates than sprawled areas: each 10% increase
in their compact community index is associated with a 0.4% increase in total crashes, and a
13.8% reduction in traffic fatalities.
Traffic fatality rates tend to decline with increased transit ridership (Stimpson, et al. 2014). The
figure below illustrates the relationship between transit trips and traffic fatality rates for U.S.
cities. Higher-transit-ridership regions (more than 50 annual transit trips per capita) have about
half the average traffic fatality rates as low-transit-ridership cities (less than 20 annual trips per
capita). This represents a small increase in transit mode share, from about 1.5% up to about 4%,
but is associated with large reductions in traffic fatality rates. This suggest that many of the
factors that encourage transit travel, such as more compact development, improved walking
conditions, and reduced parking supply, also tend to reduce traffic fatality rates.
Figure 12 Transit Travel Versus Traffic Deaths in U.S. Cities (Litman 2016)
20
Traffic Fatalities Per 100,000 Residents
18
As transit travel
16 increases, per capita
14 traffic fatality rates
tend to decline. Cities
12 where residents
10 average more than
50 annual transit
8 trips have about half
6 the average traffic
fatality rates as cities
4
where residents
2 R² = 0.2676 average fewer than
20 annual transit
0
trips.
0 50 100 150 200 250
Annual Transit Trips Per Capita
As active travel (walking and cycling) increases in a community, total per capita traffic casualty
rates, and per-mile pedestrian and cyclist crash rates tend to decline, an effect sometimes called
safety in numbers (Jacobsen 2003; Myers, et al. 2013). This probably results from a combination
of less total vehicle travel, less higher-risk (youth, senior, impaired, etc.) driving, slower traffic
speeds, and more caution by drivers in compact, multimodal communities.
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An extensive body of research indicates that living in a more multimodal community increases
the portion of residents who are physically active and fit (Ewing and Hamidi 2014). Controlling
for other factors Frank, et al. (2019) found that improved walkability is associated with
significant increases in active travel, and reductions in obesity and diabetes. Improving walking
and bicycling conditions, improving public transit services, more connected roadway networks,
more compact and mixed development, improved access to parks and recreational facilities, and
programs that promote active transport tend to increase public fitness and health (CPSTF 2017).
Most public transit trips include walking links so physical activity tends to increase with transit
travel. Lachapelle, et al. (2011) found that transit commuters average 5 to 10 more minutes of
moderate-intensity physical activity, and walked more to services and destinations than
nonusers. Melbourne, Australia residents who use public transit average 41 daily minutes of
walking or cycling for transport, five times more than the 8 minutes averaged by residents who
travel only by automobile (BusVic 2010).
Ewing and Hamidi (2014) found that every doubling in their Compact Community index life
expectancy increases about 4%. For the average American with a life expectancy of 78 years,
this translates into a three-year difference in life expectancy between people in a less compact
versus a more compact county.
Frederick, Riggs and Gilderbloom (2017) analyzed the relationships between commute mode
share (the portion of commuters who do not drive an automobile, which ranges from 11% to
36%) as an indicator of transportation system diversity, and twelve public health and quality of
life indicators for various mid-size U.S. cities and counties. The results indicate that, after
adjusting for various demographic factors, there is significant positive relationship between
more modal diversity and positive public health outcomes including healthier behaviors
reported in the Gallup/Healthway’s Well-Being Index, more leisure quality reported by Sperling’s
Cities Ranked and Rated, more access to exercise reported by the Environmental Systems
Research Institute, less sedentary living and obesity reported in the Center for Disease Control’s
Diabetes Interactive Atlas, more Years of Potential Life Lost (an indicator of longevity and overall
health), and higher birth weights (an indicator of infant health) reported by the National Center
for Health Statistics. These relationships are stronger than many other sociological,
geographical, and economic indicators including density, latitude, race, education and income,
suggesting that living in a more multimodal community provides significant health benefits.
Many of the health benefits found to be associated with urban density may actually reflect
those areas’ transportation diversity, which suggests that policies that improve walking, cycling
and public transit can provide health benefits in cities, suburbs and small towns.
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More compact, multimodal development reduces per capita energy consumption and pollution
emissions by reducing vehicle travel and building energy use (Decker, et al. 2017; Litman 2011;
Meyer 2013). The figure below illustrates these impacts.
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Openspace includes farmlands and undeveloped lands such as forests, shorelines, parks and
wilderness areas, which provide various economic, social and environmental benefits including
agricultural production, tourism, recreation, cultural activities, water and air quality, wildlife
habitat and beauty (Jacob and Lopez 2009; Tagliafierro, et al. 2013).
More compact development reduces the costs of providing public infrastructure and services
such as roads, parking facilities, utilities, emergency services and school transportation. Burchell
and Mukherji (2003) found that modest increases in development density can reduce road lane-
miles about 10%, public service costs 10%, housing development costs 8%, providing capital cost
saving that average of $13,000 per dwelling unit or $550 annually. A study for West Des Moines,
Iowa calculates that, to accommodate 9,275 new housing units, compact development designed
to maximize neighborhood walkability would generate $11.2 million ($417 annual per capita)
net fiscal gains (incremental tax revenue minus incremental costs), about 50% more than the
$7.5 million ($243 annual per capita) generated by the lowest density scenario (SGA and RCLCO
2015). The figure below shows how density reduces per capita lane-miles, and therefore
roadway and stormwater management costs, and environmental impacts.
Figure 15 Urban Density Versus Roadway Supply (FHWA 2012, Table HM72)
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At both state and regional scales, per capita GDP tends to decline with vehicle-miles traveled
(VMT) and increases with per capita transit ridership (Kooshian and Winkelman 2011). The
figure below illustrates the negative relationship between per capita vehicle travel and
economic productivity. This reflects the efficiencies of reduced transportation costs and more
compact development.
Figure 16 Per Capita GDP and VMT for U.S. States (BTS 2006 and BEA 2006)
$50,000
Per Capita Annual GDP (2004)
$40,000
Per capita economic
$30,000 productivity increases
as vehicle travel
declines. (Each dot is a
$20,000
U.S. state.)
R² = 0.3546
$10,000
$0
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000
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Summary
Compared with automobile travel, other modes can provide various savings and benefits, as
summarized in Table 4. Depending on the audience, walking, cycling and public transit can be
called space-efficient, affordable, inclusive, healthy, green or sustainable modes. Not every non-
auto mode improvement provides all of these benefits, but most provide several.
Even people who do not currently walk, bicycle or use public transit can benefit from living in a
community that accommodates these modes if they reduce traffic and parking congestion,
accident risk, chauffeuring burdens, and pollution emissions, and non-users might need these
modes in the future, called option value (ITF 2017). This is not to suggest that walking, cycling
and public transit can serve all trips and driving should be eliminated, but it does suggest that
everybody can benefit from multimodal planning which allows each mode to serve the trips for
which they are best suited.
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Performance indicators are metrics suitable for evaluating conditions and measuring progress
(or the lack thereof) toward goals. Most commonly-used transportation performance indicators,
such as roadway Level-of-Service (LOS) ratings and distance-based traffic accident rates (traffic
crashes per 100 million vehicle miles), evaluate transportation system performance based on
automobile travel conditions, with little consideration of other modes. This favors automobile-
oriented improvements and undervalues improvements to other modes. In recent years,
professional organizations have developed multimodal performance indicators suitable for
multimodal planning (Brozen, et al. 2014; De Oña, et al. 2016; FDOT 2012; NYDOT 2012).
Indicators by Mode
Walkability
Walkability refers to the overall quality of the pedestrian environment. Dowling and Associates
(2008-2010) describe walking Level-of-Service (LOS) indicators. Semler, et al. (2016) describe
how to choose and implement such indicators. Seiff and Weissman (2016) describe the process
for collecting these data in typical communities. The Walkability Level of Service Website
(www.levelofservice.com) provides information on methods for evaluating pedestrian LOS.
Universal Design
Universal Design (also called barrier-free design) refers to facilities that accommodate people
with diverse abilities and needs, including wheelchairs users, people who walk with difficulty or
have visual disabilities, and pedestrians with strollers, handcarts or wheeled luggage. The term
Universal Design is preferred to handicapped access because these design requirements can
benefit many users, not just those with disabilities.
Several planning and professional organizations publish Universal Design guidelines and
standards, including the U.S. Access Board (www.access-board.gov) and Access Exchange
International (www.globalride-sf.org).
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Bicycling
Dowling and Associates (2008-2010) describe bicycling Level-of-Service indicators. Semler, et al.
(2016) and Seiff and Weissman (2016) describe how to choose and implement such indicators.
Public Transit
Public transit includes various vehicles and services (demand response, bus, train, ferries, etc.)
that provide motorized transport to the general public. This includes local services within a
community, and interregional services that connect distant communities. Various publications
provide guidelines for evaluating transit service quality (Kittelson & Associates 2017). The Local
Index of Transit Availability (LITA) rates transit service availability within urban areas, taking into
account demographic and geographic factors (Rood 1999). Transit service can be assessed with
respect to specific mobility needs, such as welfare-to-work (Tomer, et al. 2011).
Taxi
Taxi services provide chauffeured automobile travel to the general public. Ridehailing services
such as Uber and Lyft are a variation. Taxi services are often regulated, in part to maintain
service quality (Linton 2016).
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Automobile
Automobile travel provides mobility for people who have a driver’s license and a vehicle, and
can afford the expenses, although it can be delayed by congestion. Automobile travel can
include ridesharing (passengers on a vehicle trip that would occur anyway) and chauffeuring
(special vehicle travel to transport a passenger). Vehicle rental and carsharing services provide
occasional automobile use. The Highway Capacity Manual (TRB 2010) describes roadway Level-
of-Service ratings.
Telework
Electronic communications (telephones, Internet, and other communications services) can
substitute for some physical trips, including telecommuting (working offsite to avoid travel),
telelearning, Internet shopping and e-government services.
Delivery Services
Delivery services include postal systems, private couriers, and local delivery services for goods
such as groceries. Such services can provide basic access and substitute for vehicle trips.
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This Accessibility Explorer map shows the number of jobs that can be accessed within 30-minutes by
public transit at 8:00 am. It can be changed to indicate other modes, destinations and time periods.
Mode share, vehicle ownership and vehicle travel data are available from various sources
including Census, the American Community Survey, and local travel surveys. The figure below
illustrates commute mode share for various U.S. cities. Although commuting represents only
about 20% of personal travel, commute mode share can be a useful indicator of transportation
diversity: areas with high automobile mode shares tend to be automobile-dependent, with high
rates of per capita vehicle ownership and use, and low rates of active transport.
Figure 18 U.S. Cities Commute Mode Shares (American Community Survey 2014)
100%
Other
80%
Commute Mode Shares
Walk
60%
Bike
40%
Transit
20%
Auto
0%
Passenger
Drive Alone
Automobile commute mode shares (driver and passenger) range from 27% in New York City to 92% in
Indianapolis. Similar ranges are often found between multimodal and auto dependent areas within a region.
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The figure below illustrates average annual vehicle-miles driven per household for
neighborhoods in Olympia, Washington. This ranges from 16,432 in central, multimodal areas up
to 31,381 in more automobile-oriented areas.
The H+T
Affordability Index
website produces
maps indicating
average annual
vehicle-miles per
household by U.S.
census tract based
on travel survey
data. This
information is used
to calculate average
transportation costs
and affordability.
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A higher rating is particularly important for people whose ability to drive is constrained,
including youths, people with disabilities or low incomes, and people who are frequently
impaired or distracted, plus drivers who want to avoid chauffeuring household members with
such constraints, or who may value having non-automobile options for current or future use.
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According to this approach, optimal transportation diversity is what travellers would choose if
the transport system reflected these principles, for example, if the planning process delivered
facilities and services that travellers demanded; if funding allocation reflected least-cost
principles so alternative modes and demand management programs whenever they are more
cost effective than other solutions; and if motorists were required to pay directly for using roads
and parking facilities, plus efficient pricing of congestion, accident risk and pollution emissions.
Such reforms could significantly change planning decisions and travel activity (DeRobertis, et al.
2014; Litman 2014c). There is evidence of significant latent demand for non-auto modes,
indicated by increases in walking, cycling and public transit travel that often occurs after these
modes are improved (FHWA 2014; Schmidt 2018), so consumer sovereignty would improve
these modes. More efficient pricing would significantly increase vehicle user charges and reduce
automobile travel (cost-based parking pricing alone typically reduces affected automobile travel
by 20%, and distance-based insurance and registration fees could reduce vehicle travel another
10%). This suggests that optimal transportation diversity involves less automobile travel and
more use of alternative modes than what currently exists in North America.
Transportation market distortions result in economically inefficient automobile travel, that is,
lower-value vehicle travel that motorists would forego if they had better options or more
efficient pricing. If an employee drives to work when their parking is free but uses another mode
if they must pay directly, the additional vehicle travel stimulated by free parking is economically
inefficient; the marginal value is worth less than the parking space costs.
By leveraging additional vehicle travel, these distortions have large total costs. For example, free
parking not only increases parking demand and therefore parking facility costs by about 20% by
stimulating more driving, it also increases traffic congestion, traffic accident risk and pollution
emissions by about 20%. Described more positively, parking policy reforms that require
motorists to pay directly for parking not only reduces parking costs, it is also an effective way to
reduce congestion, accident and pollution costs. Similarly, policies that underprice road use and
fuel, under-investments in non-auto modes, and policies that favor sprawl over more compact
development, all lead to economically excessive vehicle travel and associated costs.
If market reforms are infeasible, blunter policies may be justified on second-best grounds. For
example, if efficient road and parking pricing are politically unacceptable, regulations that limit
driving, and public transit subsidies may be efficient.
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This suggests that more comprehensive planning recognizes additional benefits from a more
diverse transportation system, and so would justify more support for non-auto modes and
transportation demand management programs. To the degree that current planning overlooks
or undervalues these goals, it is likely to result in more automobile dependent, less diverse
transportation systems than is optimal for society.
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Horizontal equity, which requires that everybody be treated about equally, suggests that non-
auto mode investments should at least equal non-drivers’ portion of the population, and more
to account for benefits to motorists. For example, if 30% of local trips would be made by walking
and bicycling, if their travel conditions were improved, it would be fair to invest up to 30% of
transportation resources (money and road space) to support those modes, and more to make
up for a century of underinvestment.
Currently, only about 3% of total transportation dollars are spent on sidewalks and paths, and
about 7% on public transit; the majority of these resources are devoted to automobile-oriented
roads, traffic services and government-mandated parking facilities. Of course, walkers and
bicyclists use roads, but their costs are minimal due to their small size and weight. The figure
below compares estimated infrastructure spending by mode.
Vertical equity, which requires that public policies favor disadvantaged groups, suggests that
transportation resources should be allocated to ensure that physically, economically and socially
disadvantaged groups can access basic services. For example, transportation facilities and
services must accommodate people with disabilities, and lower-income residents deserve
affordable transport options that require spending less than 15% of their household budgets to
access healthcare, shopping, school and jobs (Pereira, Schwanen and Banister 2016).
Equity can also justify policies that favor space-efficient modes (bus and HOV lanes) so users of
these modes are not delayed by congestion caused by automobile traffic. To the degree that
automobile travel imposes delay, risk and pollution on pedestrians and bicyclists, it would be fair
for motorists to bear the costs of facilities that protect active travellers from these harms. To
the degree that pedestrians, cyclists, rideshare and public transit travellers are less advantaged
than motorists, these policies can be justified for both vertical as well as horizontal equity.
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Such comparisons can be complicated because there are many ways to categorize travellers and
calculate costs. Some analysis of non-drivers focus on relatively small groups such as zero-
vehicle household occupants, transit commuters, or people with disabilities. A broader
definition also includes adolescents, lower-income households, motorists with unreliable
vehicles, people who prefer non-auto modes for exercise and enjoyment, and motorist who
benefit from reduced chauffeuring burdens for non-drivers in their households.
Modal cost comparisons are also affected by which costs are considered. About half of roadway
expenses are financed through special road user charges, such as additional fuel taxes (beyond
general sales taxes) and vehicle registration fees, and so need not be considered subsidies. On
the other hand, most zoning codes require a generous number of parking spaces in most
developments, resulting in 2-6 subsidized off-street parking spaces per vehicle, each with $500-
2,000 typical annualized costs (Litman 2009; Shoup 2005). Although privately owned, they are
government mandated and so can be considered a public subsidy of driving.
This suggest that fairness can often justify increased non-auto mode investments, including
walking and cycling facility improvements, and public transit services that provide basic mobility
to disadvantaged groups. Fairness can also justify policy reforms, such as parking cash out (non-
drivers receive cash benefits equivalent to parking subsidies given to motorists).
The primary objective of conventional transportation planning is to maximize vehicle traffic speeds
and minimize delay, measured using roadway Level-of-Service (LOS). This approach has been
criticized for being automobile oriented (LOS recognizes the benefits that wider roads provide
motorists but ignores the disbenefits they cause users of other modes) and for discouraging infill
development, and therefore more accessible urban development.
In response, many jurisdictions are fundamentally changing their transportation planning objectives
from maximizing LOS to minimizing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), based on the assumption that
more multimodal and integrated planning can increase accessibility in ways that reduce vehicle
travel and associated costs. California legislation (SB 743) established this concept in law, and
transportation agencies have worked to develop appropriate planning practices and performance
indicators for implementation. Other jurisdictions are making similar changes.
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This indicates that optimal vehicle ownership rates range from 300-400 per 1,000 residents in
unconstrained cities down to less than 200 vehicles per 1,000 residents in highly constrained
cities, and considering personal travel, private automobile modes shares can range from 20-50%
in unconstrained cities to less than 10% in highly constrained cities. These parameters can help
set optimal transportation diversity targets, and therefore help prioritize transportation
planning and investment decisions. It suggests that cities which exceed optimal automobile
ownership or mode share targets should improve alternative modes and apply demand
management strategies, such as road space reallocation and pricing reforms to limit automobile
ownership and use.
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Community planners can also use these indicators and targets to identify accessibility gaps, such
as inadequate walking or cycling conditions, poor public transit services, or a lack of vehicle
sharing opportunities, and to set targets for improving overall community accessibility, and to
identify where to encourage development that maximizes transportation diversity benefits.
Note that these indicators have various constraints: most only consider a limited set of modes or
costs, for example, some only indicate time costs, ignoring monetary costs, accident risk and
health impacts. Some of these indicators only consider automobile and public transit, and fail to
account for neighborhood walkability. Comprehensive analysis should account for the greatest
number of mode, accessibility factors and impacts.
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Scope of Impacts
Current bias: Conventional planning considers a relatively limited set of impacts (benefits and costs),
as summarized in Table 7. Alternative modes, demand management strategies and Smart Growth
development policies tend to provide often-overlooked benefits such as parking cost savings,
consumer savings and affordability, and improved mobility for non-drivers.
Reforms: Apply comprehensive impact evaluation.
Analysis of Demand
Current bias: Travel surveys and other transportation statistics often undercount short trips (within a
transportation analysis zone), non-commute travel, off-peak trips, travel by children, recreational
travel, and active trips for access to motorized modes (such as walking between parked vehicles and
destinations, or walking and cycling to public transit stops). Few travel surveys analyze latent
demand for alternative modes.
Reforms: Develop more comprehensive travel surveys and statistics, including non-drivers’ travel
demands. Investigate latent demand and factors that affect travel decisions, such as the additional
walking, cycling and public transit that would occur if these travel options were improved, and
obstacles to the use of those modes.
Accessibility-Based Analysis
Current bias: conventional transportation planning tends to evaluate mobility (physical movement)
rather than accessibility (people’s ability to reach services and activities) and so overlooks many
factors that affect accessibility such as the quality of alternative modes, land use density and mix,
transport system connectivity, user information, affordability, and mobility substitutes.
Reforms: Develop and apply accessibility-based evaluation tools, such as mapping which measures
the time and money needed to access common services and activities by various modes. Use this to
evaluate the quality of accessibility for non-drivers.
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Funding Practices
Current bias: Conventional planning dedicates a major portion of transportation funding to roads and
parking facilities, which cannot be used for alternative modes or demand management programs.
Reforms: Apply least cost planning, which allocates funds to the most cost-effective transportation
improvements, considering all impacts.
Development Policies
Current bias: Most jurisdictions have policies that limit development density and mix, and require
large amounts of parking, creating dispersed and automobile-oriented communities.
Reforms: Where there is demand for compact, multimodal neighborhoods allow more density and
mix, and reduced parking requirements. Integrate transportation and land use planning in order to
create accessible, multimodal neighborhoods, particularly around rapid transit stations. Support
affordable infill development so every household can find suitable housing in a walkable urban
neighborhood.
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Conclusions
Transportation diversity refers to the quantity and quality of mobility and accessibility options
available in an area or to a group. This includes various modes and services, and is affected by
factors such as land use density and mix, user information and affordability.
Travel demands and abilities are diverse so no single option can serve all needs. Every
community contains people who cannot, should not, or prefer not to drive, and many trips are
most efficiently made by non-auto modes, such as walking and cycling for local trips, and
ridesharing and public transit for travel on major urban corridors. As a result, an efficient and
equitable transportation system requires diverse and connected mobility options, with
complementary development patterns.
For much of the last century planning was automobile-oriented. It assumed that the primary
goal was to maximize travel speeds, and so favored automobile travel to the detriment of other
modes. This created automobile dependent communities were driving is convenient but other
modes are inefficient, which creates several problems including traffic and parking congestion,
high infrastructure and consumer costs, inadequate mobility for non-drivers, high crash rates,
reduced public fitness and health, increased air pollution, and various economic and social costs
of sprawl. More multimodal planning can help increase efficiency and equity.
Current demographic and economic trends are increasing the importance of multimodal
planning: aging population, unaffordability problems, increasing urbanization, changing
consumer preferences, increasing health and environmental concerns are all increasing the
value of more resource-efficient, affordable, healthy and enjoyable travel modes.
Various tools can be used to evaluate a particular mode’s performance, and a transportation
system’s overall diversity. They can help identify gaps and guide decisions to create more
diverse, and therefore more efficient and equitable, transport systems. The Transportation for
Everyone rating system is a simplified method for evaluating the quality of accessibility in an
area (a neighborhood, city or region), and therefore people’s ability to satisfy diverse transport
demands, including non-auto travel.
There are several possible ways to determine the optimal level of transportation diversity and
therefore, multimodal planning objectives. One approach applies market principles including
consumer sovereignty, neutral planning and cost-based pricing. A second approach applies
comprehensive analysis which considers all benefits of alternative modes. A third approach
considers how more diverse transportation can achieve equity goals. Horizontal equity, for
example, suggests that non-drivers should receive a proportionate share of transportation
resources (money and road space) based on population or trips, or compared with the costs
imposed by automobile travel under the same conditions, while vertical equity suggests that
resource allocation should favor disadvantaged groups and ensure access to essential services
and activities. A fourth approach sets targets for improving non-automobile accessibility
measured using indices and mapping tools.
This report describes reforms for more multimodal planning, including more comprehensive
travel surveys and statistics, more comprehensive analysis and more multimodal funding.
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