Todd Litman

Todd Litman is the executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

Member for
19 years 2 months

Contributed 439 posts

Full Bio

Todd Litman is founder and executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transport problems. His work helps to expand the range of impacts and options considered in transportation decision-making, improve evaluation methods, and make specialized technical concepts accessible to a larger audience. His research is used worldwide in transport planning and policy analysis.

Mr. Litman has worked on numerous studies that evaluate transportation costs, benefits and innovations. He authored the Online TDM Encyclopedia, a comprehensive Internet resource for identifying and evaluating mobility management strategies; Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis: Techniques, Estimates and Implications, a comprehensive study which provides cost and benefit information in an easy-to-apply format; and Parking Management Best Practices, the most comprehensive book available on management solutions to parking problems. Mr. Litman is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops. His presentations range from technical and practical to humorous and inspirational. He is active in several professional organizations, including the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Transportation Research Board (a section of U.S. National Academy of Sciences). He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Transportation Research A, a professional journal.

Accessibility-Based Planning

Should society encourage parents to <a href="/node/40737">drive children to school</a> rather than walk or bicycle? Should our transportation policies favor driving over walking, cycling, ridesharing, public transit and telecommuting? Probably not. There is no logical reason to favor automobile travel over other forms of accessibility, and there are lots of good reasons to favor efficient modes, so for example, schools spend at least as much to accommodate a walking or cycling trip as an automobile trip, and transportation agencies and employers spend at least as much to improve ridesharing and public transit commuting as automobile commuting.

Home Location Preferences And Their Implications For Smart Growth

Location, location, location. Choosing a smart home location can help households become healthy, wealthy and wise, since it affects residents’ physical activity levels, long-term financial burdens and opportunities for education and social interaction.

Socially Optimal Transportation Emission Reduction Strategies

The recently released report, <a href="http://www.movingcooler.info/">Moving Cooler: Transportation Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions</a>, which recommends various VMT reduction strategies (also called mobility management, transportation demand management, TDM), has <a href="/node/39945">raised debate concerning the best way to reduce climate change emissions</a>. Critics argue that that reducing vehicle travel is difficult and costly to consumers and the economy, and instead support strategies that change vehicle design (increased energy efficiency and alternative fuels).

Moving Cooler Report: Solutions and Criticisms

The new report, <a href="http://www.movingcooler.info/">Moving Cooler: Transportation Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions</a>, written by Cambridge Systematics and sponsored by a variety of organizations, identifies several dozen transportation climate change emission reduction strategies, including improvements to efficient modes (walking, cycling and public transit), pricing reforms and smart growth land use policies.

The Transportation Prescription

A new report identifies ways to incorporate health objectives into transportation and land use planning.