Benefits
Actions taken through Arlington County’s mobility management programs strive to improve mobility for residents, employees and visitors. Actions result in Impacts in the choices Arlingtonians make among the multimodal mobility options available to them. Better choices result in higher Benefits enjoyed by the traveler, the community, and the planet.
Each trip has a cost associated with it. The direct financial costs to the individual are usually compared to make a smart choice among the transportation options available. However, there are also indirect costs that may be much harder to quickly quantify and compare. Making a good transportation decision can reap multi-faceted benefits to the environment, the economy, and personal quality of life.
Arlington County’s Transportation Research Center aims to quantify and compare direct and indirect benefits of encouraging Arlingtonians to make the right mobility choice.
Seven categories of benefits of Arlington’s mobility management programs are:
- Transportation Efficiency: reduced congestion on roads, increased predictability of travel, reduced infrastructure costs
- Environmental improvements: energy savings, gas conservation, better air and water quality, and less traffic noise
- Public health and safety: healthier lifestyles, higher life-expectancy, reduced rates of diabetes, asthma, and obesity
- Economic development: increased opportunities around transit stations and in walkable neighborhoods to increase efficiency and productivity of businesses, reliability of delivery time, easier recruitment and retention of employees
- Quality of Life: increased access to services, more connected neighborhoods and communities,
- Livability and Affordability: walkable and bikable communities serving a diverse population, seniors aging in place, independence for youth, reduced transportation expenses,
- Other: increased flexibility, increased awareness of surroundings, better use of public space
