Here at Mobility Lab, we throw around the term “transportation demand management,” or “TDM” for short, as the core concept that unites our research and coverage. But the idea itself is one that is often not present in the widespread public understanding of and discussions about transportation and transit issues.
Hence the purpose of our new video:
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Put broadly, TDM is the outreach, design and education that informs all the mode choices commuters make on a daily basis. Some of these — office carpool matching programs, for example — are more explicit, while other pieces are harder to spot, like the allocation and pricing of parking.
It’s easy for many to see a congested highway and think, “we need to build the subway out to here,” but more difficult to imagine the behavior changes that make daily crowds and traffic functional and sustainable. Nevertheless, TDM works closely within existing infrastructure to ensure that everyone can easily access more efficient modes of traveling. And in the case of transit-system closures or massive events, TDM can be an essential tool in minimizing the potential disruption to an entire region.
In our latest video, we spoke with several leaders in the transportation industry, and staff at Mobility Lab, about what TDM really is, how it works, and why it’s a key part of the transportation discussion.
For more background on how TDM works, visit our “What is TDM?” page.