Suggested Citation:
Rodier, Caroline J., Brandon Haydu, Nicholas J. Linesch, Farzad Alemi, Giovanni Circella (2013) Synergistic Effects of Transit, Land Use, and Vehicle Pricing Policies on Vehicle Travel and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-13-56

This study applies California’s Activity Based Model (ABM) to simulate the travel effects of travel demand management (TDM) policies, both individually and in all possible combinations, for the state and its five major regions (Los Angles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Joaquin Valley, and Sacramento). The results indicate that distanceâ€based auto pricing yields significant reductions in passenger and light duty vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) and the most aggressive combinations of TDMs, including transit expansion and land use measures, reduce VKT by about 20%. Elasticities are calculated for individual policy scenarios and found to be consistent with elasticities reported in the literature. Differences introduced by the failure to represent the interaction of two or more TDMs are evaluated. The model is able to represent both positive and negative VKT reduction synergies, but overestimation is the more common result. Differences are typically less than 10%, but in some instances they are over 20%. Operational ABMs are now available that are sensitive to TDMs. Future research examining deep greenhouse gas reduction scenarios should take advantage of these models to evaluate the potential of combinations of TDMs.

Keywords: transportation policy; greenhouse gas emissions; gap analysis