Goal

Reduce vehicle travel demand throughout the system.

Sustainability Linkage

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) supports all of the triple bottom line principles by reducing energy consumption and related emissions, improving available travel choices, and reducing costs of travel and congestion.

Background & Scoring Requirements

Background

This criterion relates to SPR-14: Transportation Systems Management & Operations; while both can help to mitigate congestion, SPR-09 focuses primarily on reducing SOV travel demand and SPR-14 focuses on optimizing the efficiency of the transportation system. Accordingly, the spatial or temporal shifting of travel demand to off-peak periods and less congested facilities is covered in SPR-14.It is important to clarify that this criterion is specific to planning for the transportation facilities that an agency owns and operates. Criterion OM-01 includes Travel Demand Management options specific to an agency’s internal staff and operations. For the purposes of this criterion, the key terms are defined as follows:

• “Transportation Management Organization (TMO)” refers to an independent entity dedicated to solving transportation problems in a particular geographic area through actively managing transportation demand and encouraging alternate travel modes.
• “TDM Program” means the coordinated & consistent implementation of strategies that aim to reduce SOV travel demand.

TDM is a tool that seeks to reduce vehicle travel by making it easier for travelers to elect travel options other than driving alone (such as transit, bicycle, walking, ridesharing, and teleworking). Common types of TDM strategies that might be implemented by a regional agency and their partners include, but are not limited to:

1. Travel option education and outreach programs
2. Challenges (e.g. Bike to Work Challenge) or incentive programs for non-auto modes
3. Rideshare and car-sharing programs
4. Parking pricing and policies
5. Road/vehicle pricing policies
6. Land use policies that promote a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly built environment
7. Employer trip reduction programs (e.g., transit benefits, trip end facilities, parking cash-out programs, teleworking, etc.)
8. Transportation Management Organizations (TMO), among others

These strategies represent a range of approaches to TDM, including those that are more appropriate for implementation at the state level (e.g., road/vehicle pricing policies, etc.) and those that are more appropriate for implementation at the MPO and/or local government level (e.g., parking policies, etc.) or a private organization (e.g. employer trip reduction program). Additionally, some of these strategies may work best in urban contexts (e.g., TMOs), while others are well suited to either urban or suburban settings (e.g., rideshare programs). Additional TDM guidance and reference materials are available on FHWA’s Travel Demand Management Website¹.

The requirements for earning points under this criterion are described below. To achieve the most points, TDM performance measures and a means of quantifiably assessing outcomes is required. It should be noted that for all the scoring requirements below, an agency may earn the points for implementing the requirements themselves or for providing support/funding (such as grants or technical assistance) to other agencies within its jurisdiction (e.g., transit agencies, MPOs, councils of governments (COG), public-private partnerships, and/or non-profit agencies, etc.) for achieving the requirements. This may often be the case for state DOTs.

Scoring Requirements

Requirement SPR-09.1

1-2 points. Set TDM Goals and Objectives

Scoring is based on the following, cumulative requirements:

• Requirement SPR-09.1a

1 point. Develop Quantifiable TDM Goals and Objectives

The agency has developed quantifiable TDM goals and objectives for reducing travel demand for the transportation network within its jurisdiction. Examples of TDM goals and objectives include vehicle miles of travel (VMT) reduction goals, transportation options goals, and/or mode split targets.

• Requirement SPR-09.1b

1 additional point. TDM Goals and Objectives are Consistent with State and Metropolitan Goals and Objectives

The TDM goals and objectives are also consistent with relevant state and/or metropolitan goals and objectives for reducing travel demand, or expanding modal choices.

Requirement SPR-09.2

2 or 4 points. Implement a TDM Program

The agency is implementing a comprehensive TDM program that includes several of the various types of TDM strategies described in the Background paragraph above. One of the following scores applies:

• 0 points. The agency is implementing less than two of the TDM strategies described in the Background paragraph above.
• 2 points. The agency is implementing a TDM program that includes two or three of the TDM strategies described in the Background paragraph above.
• 4 points. The agency is implementing a comprehensive TDM program that includes several (four or more) of the TDM strategies described in the Background paragraph above.

Requirement SPR-09.3

2 or 4 points. Develop TDM Performance Measures & Monitor Progress

The agency has quantifiable TDM performance measures and can demonstrate ongoing monitoring of its TDM program. Examples of common TDM performance measures include non-SOV mode share, VMT reduced, and vehicle trips reduced. Additionally, TDM performance measures may assess the success of TDM education and outreach programs by tracking the number of participants in various TDM programs or surveys. Additional examples of performance measures can be found in NCHRP’s Report 708: A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies².

One of the following scores applies:

• 0 points. The agency does not have TDM performance measures and is not conducting ongoing monitoring of their TDM program.
• 2 points. The agency has quantifiable TDM performance measures, but is not conducting ongoing monitoring of their TDM program.
• 4 points. The agency has quantifiable TDM performance measures and can demonstrate ongoing monitoring of their TDM program.

Requirement SPR-09.4

3 or 5 points. Demonstrate Sustainable Outcomes

One of the following scores applies.

• 0 points. The agency cannot document that they have met or are making measurable progress toward meeting their TDM goals and objectives.
• 3 points. The agency can document that they have made measurable progress toward meeting their TDM goals and objectives.
• 5 points. The agency can document that it has met its TDM goals and objectives and that its TDM program has contributed to those outcomes. For example, the agency can show that VMT has been reduced or that non-SOV mode-share has increased for its jurisdiction (in accordance with its TDM goals and objectives), and can reasonably attribute a proportion of that to its TDM program.

Resources

The following resources are referenced in this criterion and consolidated here:

1. FHWA, Travel Demand Management Website, http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tdm/index.htm
2. NCHRP, Report 708: A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies, http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_708.pdf

Case Studies & Criterion Examples

Scoring Sources

The program is considered to have met this criterion if the requirements above can be reasonably substantiated through the existence of one or more of the following documentation sources (or equal where not available):

1. Agency transportation plans (long range, corridor, CMP, non-motorized, project-selection criteria, etc.) that include a TDM component.
2. A published document, website, brochure, and/or administrative report (or equivalent) that provides evidence of the agency’s TDM goals and objectives.
3. Documentation of the implementation of the TDM strategies described in the Background section above.
4. An annual or periodically updated report of TDM program progress, which includes the TDM performance measures, baseline data collection, and the results from ongoing monitoring of the TDM program over time. This can be done independently or as part of an existing regular reporting cycle.
5. An independent review or TDM program evaluation.