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Title:

Built Environment Policies to Reduce Vehicle Travel in Massachusetts
Cover of Built Environment Policies to Reduce Vehicle Travel in Massachusetts

Accession Number:

01624565

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

Smart growth policies that reduce the distance between origins and destinations and facilitate non-auto modes of transportation present one of the most plausible paths towards a long term reduction in total vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) and associated emissions. While the implementation of any single smart growth policy may make only a small change in travel behavior, the combined effect of multiple changes to the built environment can be substantial. The goals of this study were to determine—using land use, demographic, and passenger VMT data for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts—the importance of built environment variables in influencing household vehicle-miles traveled, and to evaluate the passenger VMT reduction potential of smart growth policy packages in the state. Among the built environment variables evaluated, land use mix (the average distance between homes and the nearest retail establishment) and household density had the largest impacts on passenger VMT. Other built environment variables found to exert significant influence on passenger VMT include sidewalk coverage, intersection density, managed parking, and the distance from homes to the nearest transit stop. By enacting policies to change these built environment variables, Massachusetts could reduce statewide passenger VMT by 13.6% below the business-as-usual scenario by 2040. If policies to shift projected population gains in the state towards lower-VMT communities are enacted in addition to these built environment changes, VMT could be reduced by a total of more than 15%.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD30 Standing Committee on Transportation and Land Development.

Monograph Accession #:

01618707

Report/Paper Numbers:

17-02040

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Holloway, Bill
Sundquist, Eric
McCahill, Chris

Pagination:

16p

Publication Date:

2017

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; Maps; References; Tables

Geographic Terms:

Massachusetts

Subject Areas:

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2017 Paper #17-02040

Files:

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Dec 8 2016 10:43AM