Illustration of different transportation modes against a green background The face of commuting has changed drastically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March. Hesitancy toward transportation modes that put us close together with strangers in an enclosed space, a huge increase in working from home where possible, and even lower gas prices (for a time) have seen people reconsider the way they get from home to work and play. So what does that mean for transportation demand management (TDM)?

Stanford University still has demand for TDM. Vanpools are still running, transit is still in use, and while TDM budgets have been cut (along with so many others), there’s still a need for it, and that need will likely grow as life gets back to something resembling normal.

Brian Shaw, CAPP, executive director of parking and transportation services at the university, takes a hard look at how the commuting landscape has changed and what that means for TDM, now and looking ahead, in the current issue of Parking & Mobility. It’s a great read with lots to think about–and the perfect, sustainable kickoff to Earth Day for parking and mobility professionals. Check it out here.

By Isaiah Mouw, CAPP, LEED GA; and Brian Shaw, CAPP

Technology has and will continue to change the travel options and services made available to the traveling public. It is hard to predict with certainty the long-term effects of autonomous (self-driving) vehicles, alternative transportation services such as Uber or Lyft, the role that ride-matching services such as Scoop will play in influencing carpooling, or how people will choose to travel when they can use Mobility as a Service (MaaS) tools. What if one could monitor commuter behavior real-time and issue rewards for reducing driving and charge higher parking rates for frequent drivers? Sounds like science fiction, but technology exists today or will very soon to make this possible.

The transportation network companies (TNCs), Uber and Lyft, continue to impact millennial-generation members’ car use. Abandoning car ownership is a real option for a growing number of urbanites. As the millennial generation moves out into the work force and lives on their own, they are choosing at an increasing rate to forgo vehicle ownership. They are using TNCs because they are cost effective and simpler than owning and operating a vehicle in an urban environment. By combining their use of TNCs with car-sharing, some members of this group are able to live car-free, or at least car-lite. A portion of these millennials will continue to rely on TDM programs to support their chosen lifestyle and will likely choose to live and work where they can do so without owning a vehicle, at least for a period of years. What they may need is not a parking space, but rather pick-up/drop-off points for a TNC ride, access to public transit, and support for biking/walking. In addition, the advent of the autonomous vehicle will certainly have impacts on TDM strategies and planning, and these impacts remain unknown at this time.

This is excerpted from A Guide to Parking. To read the full chapter, check out the whole book here.

Isaiah Mouw, CAPP, LEED GA, is vice president, municipal division, with Citizens Lanier Holdings.

Brian Shaw, CAPP, is executive director, parking and transportation, with Stanford University.

Tag Archives: transportation demand management

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