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#6 Unlocking TDM: Lessons learned from both sides of the Atlantic
140 Plays1 year ago
How can we make more efficient use of our transportation system? How can we encourage people out of their cars and onto bicycles, buses, trains or walking, or change the time that they travel or even where they travel to?
These questions are cast in a new light in a climate conscious, public-health focused post-COVID world and one place where answers can be found is in transportation demand management (TDM).
In this episode of ‘Voices of the Industry’, London-based Steer Director Lisa Martin is joined by our Associate in the US Julia Wean as the pair discuss lessons learned from their careers in TDM, or behaviour change as it is commonly called in the UK.
An interesting insight into one of Steer’s primary markets, this episode spans national boundaries and multiple decades as we discuss the changing motives and methods of TDM.
Guest
- Julia Wean, Associate at Steer, is a dynamic force in transportation and a specialist in Transportation Demand Management (TDM). With a graduate degree in Transportation Planning and extensive experience, she leads the North American TDM Strategy market at Steer. Julia's expertise empowers public and private sectors alike to achieve significant reductions in vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and trips through inventive behaviour change policies and strategic planning.
Host
- Lisa Martin, Director, Steer, is a sustainable mobility expert with over 25 years of experience, specialising in travel behaviour change strategies worldwide. From leadership roles at Steer to pivotal contributions at Heathrow Airport, Lisa champions modal shifts away from cars through innovative interventions, emphasising public transport and reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips.
www.steergroup.com
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Theme
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Voices of the Industry, a podcast series bringing you leading industry voices who challenge thinking across transportation, infrastructure and cities.
Post-COVID Transportation Challenges
00:00:27
Speaker
We are here today to talk about how we can make more efficient use of our transportation system. How can we encourage people out of their cars and onto bikes, buses, trains, or indeed walking, or perhaps think about the way we change the time that they travel or where they travel to. So it's a question which having long played on the minds of governments the world over is seen in a new light in a climate-conscious and public health-focused post-COVID world.
00:00:52
Speaker
Transportation demand management, as it is known in the US, or behaviour change, as it is more commonly called in the UK, is a way to address this key transport and planning issue in our towns and cities.
Expert Insights on Transportation Demand Management
00:01:03
Speaker
I'm Lisa Martin, a director at Steere. I've worked in the field of TDM since its infancy in the UK since the late 1990s. At that time, we were developing and piloting behavior change strategies. We were drafting best practice guidance on travel plans for clients such as then the Department for Transport and Energy Savings Trust. We led the way in developing personal traveling planning techniques, including motivational interviewing. And we played a key role in the delivery of the Sustainable Travel Towns program.
00:01:33
Speaker
and subsequent local sustainable transport projects. In 2014, I made the move to the United States with a remit to establish STEER's planning business, subsequently opening offices in Los Angeles and San Diego. I've been back working in the UK since 2020, still with a very keen interest in TDM. And with me today is Julia Wien, who I first met in 2017, whom I have enjoyed working with immensely on many TDM challenges over the intervening years. Julia, please introduce yourself.
00:02:03
Speaker
Thanks, Lisa. I'm Julia Wien. As Lisa mentioned, I am an associate with STEER. I've been working in the TDM industry since 2012 and with you since 2017, Lisa. I've worked across a few different areas in the industry. I started with a small nonprofit transportation management association in the Boston area.
00:02:24
Speaker
helping to manage TDM programs on the ground. And then now with Steer, my focus is more on the strategic side of TDM, so sort of helping to design TDM strategies and policies for our clients. And it's been really great to work with you and learn from you over the years, Lisa, I think particularly watching how you've been able to bring behavior change principles
00:02:47
Speaker
from the UK and from your work internationally to the States. And now that you're back working full time in the UK, really interesting to just stay in touch and be able to keep each other up to date on what's happening in both of our markets. So really excited for this discussion today. Indeed. Thanks, Judith. That's great.
00:03:04
Speaker
So let's talk more, let's get into TDM and let's start with just how would we define
Understanding and Implementing TDM
00:03:08
Speaker
it? What do we mean by TDM? And as you know, there's so many interpretations, but put simply, I like to describe it as managing demand on the transport system by thinking about the people who use the system and providing those people with more choices.
00:03:22
Speaker
And those choices might be about what mode they're going to travel on, what time of day they might travel, or where they travel to, but only by connecting with the users and thinking about the users of the system and providing them with real choices. Can we really truly make the most efficient use of the system and not just keep building? Is that a fair summary, Julia, or what would you add to that?
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think definitely that captures the high-level overview of what we try to do with TDM and what we're hoping to get out of it. I think I'd add
00:03:54
Speaker
you know, when it comes down to actually implementing TDM or delivering it, lots of those choices are really created by making sure that people understand what their options are. And that's what we do a lot in sort of the day to day of TDM delivery. So, you know, building a bike lane or establishing a new bus route is a form of TDM, but so is sort of the marketing and the outreach behind it or any incentivization around,
00:04:23
Speaker
using those choices. And so if people don't know they exist, they're not going to get used. And that's what we tend to see from the behavior change standpoint is beyond just creating the choices, how can we make them more attractive? And how can we make sure that people are making the choices that are best for them and help us reach the goals that we're trying to achieve with TDM?
00:04:46
Speaker
That's so very true, isn't it? The education and the encouragement to do something different is fundamental. It reminds me actually of when we do some of our motivational interviewing type training and we always talk to people about the fact that for the majority of people who aren't transport planners, the idea of really giving a lot of thought to how they make their trips and why they make their trips is just not something people do. It's a real habit.
00:05:10
Speaker
to walk out of the door every morning and perhaps be carrying the car keys because that's all you've ever done and why would you stop and look up what your public transport route is or indeed how you might bike somewhere. So such an important part of what we do in TDM is about really making people stop and think and understand that actually there are other ways to get around and do the things they need to do.
00:05:32
Speaker
Let's think now about the drivers of TDM. I suppose they're thinking about the differences a little bit between the United Kingdom and the United States, why different governments pursue TDM.
TDM and Environmental Concerns
00:05:43
Speaker
I've been in this industry a lot longer than you are. I'm a lot older than you are in that sense.
00:05:48
Speaker
And when I think back to when I started working in TDM in the UK, the biggest driver was absolutely congestion. Everything we were doing was around reducing the number of car trips, which were creating congestion on our roadways. And I remember in particular, I look back at some of the, what at the time is really groundbreaking work that the Department for Transport here funded for a sustainable travel towns program.
00:06:12
Speaker
Back in 2004, it was a demonstration project and three towns, different parts of the UK were given a £10 million fund, a lot of money at that time, to implement what we called smarter choices programs, typically TDM type measures, over a five-year period. All three of those towns put in a range of initiatives aimed at encouraging more use of non-car options, in particular bus, cycling, walking.
00:06:37
Speaker
and to absolutely discourage single occupancy car use. That was our main goal. And the evaluation of that showed a reduction of 7% to 10% reduction in the number of car driver trips per resident, which was pretty groundbreaking at the time that we could put in this type of programming of initiatives. But it was absolutely the car driver trips we were focused on measuring. And I think now that's changed a little bit. I think
00:07:04
Speaker
Our quality sure has always been important in the environmental impact of car driver trips but I think transport's role in achieving that zero has just really moved the debate on now and it's much more important for local transport authorities and indeed private and public organisations.
00:07:21
Speaker
to be thinking about how they're working towards their own net zero goals. And then just as a third aside, I suppose new development has always been there and that was there 20-30 years ago and it's still there today that the opportunity for new developments coming forwards gives the local planning authority the opportunity often to require things that we might associate with TDM. So how does that compare to the drivers in the US and how's that perhaps changed over time?
00:07:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think in the states, there have been some similar trends. Historically, our TDM policy and programming has really flowed down from an environmental standpoint and also a congestion reduction standpoint as well. Post-COVID, we've seen that shift a little bit away from congestion, as congestion has just gotten harder to
Funding and Support for TDM
00:08:15
Speaker
control. It's not all happening at the same time anymore. It's a bit less predictable.
00:08:20
Speaker
Focusing on the environment is something that we've seen come through a bit more clearly in US policy and drivers. I think in particular, we know that the transportation sector contributes to about 30% of our greenhouse gas emissions.
00:08:38
Speaker
It's an area that's really important for us to focus on. And I think the other piece you mentioned, developers, I think is sort of coming from the private sector and thinking about the options and the choices that you mentioned a few minutes ago and how important they are to actual day-to-day travelers. And so in addition to just congestion reduction or air quality, TDM is used as a tool to make things easier for people who are getting around. And that's something that
00:09:07
Speaker
Developers want to see because they want their projects to be attractive to tenants. Employers want to see because they want their work sites to be accessible and they want to be able to provide benefits to their employees. And so we see a lot of that TDM, particularly from the private sector, coming around just wanting to be competitive and provide good service to the people who need to get around.
00:09:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really interesting point on the workplace trying to be competitive as well, right? It's not actually just a planning condition or a sustainability goal, but it's also so key to the recruitment and retention. Exactly. And post-COVID, I think that's become even more important as just employment has become more competitive.
00:09:49
Speaker
Okay, so similar drivers in both places, which is not surprising, I guess. Let's move on a bit now to funding, where I think we do see some really very real differences. And in the UK, I highlighted that Sustainable Travel Towns program in the early 2000s, and that led to the success of those programs, led to a really good period of sustained local sustainable transport fund, we called it, but it was available for local authorities across the country.
00:10:18
Speaker
to be implementing TDM. That drew to a close and now we're in a place where we have a much more pro-motorist agenda, we have a much more constrained funding environment and the funding that is coming forward for local transport authorities is far more perhaps to fund capital projects and that sort of important revenue funding we need to do the smarter choices work, the education, the encouragement is much harder to come by. I'm hoping of course that
00:10:47
Speaker
that will change in the coming years, but that's the environment we're in today. How would you characterize the funding environment in the US and how that's changed?
00:10:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think in the US, Lisa, we're a little bit more friendly towards funding TDM from a federal perspective. We've had the CMAC, the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program that's existed in the states that TDM has been an allowable use for that program for years. And so that's funded lots of our TDM work across the states since, I think, the late 80s.
00:11:24
Speaker
that passes down through state governments to regional governments and local governments as well. And so really funds a whole variety of different types of TDM programming and strategies. And more recently, TDM has become a bit more well known from a federal government perspective as well, which is really great to see.
00:11:45
Speaker
just in 2022, the carbon reduction program, which we've seen come through the federal government listed TDM and its fact sheet as an option for funding emission reduction programs. And so it's really exciting to see, you know, not only
00:12:02
Speaker
more funding come through for emission reduction and air quality programs, which we've mentioned already as a driver, but seeing TDM really recognized as a tool in the toolkit. So we're not just seeing these programs fund huge infrastructure projects, but it's how are we thinking about TDM in addition to some of those larger projects that are coming through those funding sources.
00:12:27
Speaker
That's amazing. That would be a great place to get to. Do you think that was a long time coming? Do you think there's a change of heart at the federal level to recognize TDM or did it just take time to really develop the prominence of it?
00:12:42
Speaker
I think it's it's certainly something that took time and I think it's all back to kind of behavior change and recognition of how important some of these things are right we in the US have the Association for commuter transportation which is a
00:12:58
Speaker
professional and advocacy organization really fully dedicated to supporting transportation demand management. And so we've been able to really use the tools that are in their toolbox to get in touch with our policymakers and make sure that they understand what transportation demand management is.
00:13:18
Speaker
And so that's something that has come through a really dedicated effort. But I think at the same time, there's also been just more of a general understanding, maybe even if not of TDM and what transportation demand management is, but from the general public of why it's important to make
00:13:38
Speaker
a change in your behavior to make a choice to use a more sustainable mode. And, you know, that comes through both our our governments, but also just more of our, you know, trending in behavior to area and caring more about the environment in general and sort of seeing that come through everything that we're consuming in the states as well.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah, so true. Great. Well, then there's hope that that same swell of public opinion might get through here too. Thinking about other funds, so I remember probably when you and I were both in LA, I might need to be reminded of what that
00:14:18
Speaker
date was when the local Measure M funding came forward in California or within Los Angeles County itself. I remember it was actually on the ballot paper locally that residents could opt in to pay an extra cent of sales tax on everything they might purchase and that money would go towards transportation. Indeed, that's provided such a massive local fund for local projects. I think
00:14:45
Speaker
It really impressed me for two reasons. One, that a process like that could exist because it doesn't in the UK, but also that the huge majority of people that had to vote for that measure for it to go forward recognised the importance of investing in transportation and how it would help them get around.
00:15:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think that that's another thing that we've been able to see in some parts of the states. You know, of course, it's not everywhere. But we certainly have seen more jurisdictions take on we call them sort of self-help tax programs where the community is voting to impose either a
00:15:24
Speaker
sales tax or in some cases we see vehicle registration fees that create programs dedicated to supporting congestion reduction activities or transportation specifically. So it's different in every location but it's definitely I think that goes back to the culture we're seeing of people understanding the importance of some of this stuff.
00:15:44
Speaker
They know they're gonna need to get around in the next 10, 20, 30 years and that they need options to do that. And so, you know, that education is hugely important and making sure that those programs and those funding structures exist. And it's again, it's great to see sort of TDM be able to be a beneficiary of those programs rather than
00:16:06
Speaker
just the huge infrastructure projects
Strategizing TDM Implementation
00:16:09
Speaker
themselves. And so seeing both community members and local governments really tie the two together has been really exciting in the states in the past few years.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, indeed. OK, let's talk about strategy, shall we? And I think when we worked together in the States, we always talked about the importance of having that experience of having worked across both strategy and implementation, that that really informed the other, the fact that we were able to write better strategies because we really had that experience on the ground in implementing different projects in different environments. And that really informed the development of a better strategy. But really,
00:16:48
Speaker
What I take away from the strategy is it helps the authority go forward and think about how what that program of implementation will look like. It gives them a structure to work to and really develops the specific projects they might want to take forward in the future, which makes it easier for any staff member coming forward to sort of pick that project up and deliver it because it's been put within a structure in an overall framework. But you'll be seeing right now, I think, working with a number of different agencies on TDM strategies.
00:17:17
Speaker
What are you seeing of the benefits of them working on those? I think developing a strategy is really hugely important to implementing TDM, particularly at a local, regional level. We are often asked what works and what strategies should be used. There's really not a one-size-fits-all answer to that. We understand that
00:17:42
Speaker
Certain strategies work better with certain audiences. It depends on what your transportation landscape looks like and what the options that exist are. And so the benefit of developing a strategy is really making sure that the tools that are being put in your toolkit, as you mentioned, Lisa,
00:18:02
Speaker
you can then pull back into and use to guide your delivery as you move forward are really tailored to the folks that you want to be serving and really built around being most successful with your audiences. And so I think that that's one of the major benefits of putting together a strategy before you're just starting programming because you don't want to build something that isn't going to work.
00:18:29
Speaker
I think the other piece that we tend to really prioritize at STEER in our projects is making sure that our strategies are built around monitoring processes. And so not only are we saying, you know, based on who your audience is, here's what
00:18:49
Speaker
probably will work the best and here's what you should try. It's here's what you should try and here's how you should measure and really understand if it is successful in the long term. We talked a little bit about TDM back in the 80s and 90s and lots of that was really focused on just delivering programs but there was less of an understanding of how successful it really was.
00:19:10
Speaker
And today I think the industry has moved toward being a bit more self-evaluating and really understanding as we go what's working and what's not because it makes us able to make changes on the go. It makes it easier for us to make little tweaks to the programs that we're putting forward so that we're able to keep them
00:19:33
Speaker
successful. The landscape is always changing. Audience needs are changing. And so just assuming something that works, you know, in 2024 is going to work again in 2020, in 2034 doesn't really make sense. We want to be able to kind of stay on top of that. And that all comes through sort of designing a strategy first so that you're making sure you're keeping track of how things are working and monitoring your progress.
00:19:57
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So true. It's agile. The landscape we're working in is changing so much. The transportation options are changing so much. But actually, the other thing we've seen is the marketing tools that are coming forward that we're able to utilize. And even if we just think about how social media has changed over the last 10 years, it means actually our communication methods can be so different. And we've really got to be keeping on top of all of that.
00:20:22
Speaker
Just thinking again about strategies and reflecting on some of the work I've been involved in there, I was thinking of the importance of winning hearts and minds of the stakeholders involved. So if I go back to the very first project, actually, I worked on in the States with the Sandagon Agency. I have a lot of respect for the great work they do. And it was designing a TDM strategy for the North Coast corridor that was going to mitigate the impacts of really quite large scale
00:20:50
Speaker
construction they had planned on the I-5 and indeed the rail corridor at the same time. And it was just really interesting taking the time to look ahead to 2040, in this case in that construction program, but really engaging many stakeholders who were involved in that construction who weren't involved day to day, if you like, in TDM. They didn't have knowledge
00:21:13
Speaker
of TDM. There was really an education piece for us, I suppose, to help those people understand the value of TDM and why it should become part of their construction projects. And I think that's something else I'd say about the benefits of really developing a good comprehensive TDM strategy is taking stakeholders with you, having the opportunity to build the understanding and appreciation of what TDM, when properly deployed, can really achieve.
00:21:42
Speaker
I think you've worked on some other strategies, if I think the one we did together for SCAG, the Southern California Association of Governments, which was far more widespread over a much, much bigger area, wasn't it? But we really had to engage those stakeholders across those different counties.
00:21:59
Speaker
Do you think that's then led to better implementation of TDM by those different counties? I remember going to somewhere there was just really low levels of awareness and understanding of TDM when we started, and I wonder how you've seen that change. Definitely. I think particularly at the local level where people are just really busy and city workers have lots on their plates, TDM is maybe not something that they're thinking about on a day-to-day basis.
00:22:28
Speaker
Being able to pull them into a strategy development process is huge because not only are you saying here's something exciting that you could use if you want to, it's what's important to you and how can TDM be designed in a way that actually does work best for you.
00:22:46
Speaker
Probably not unique to tdm it's probably something we see across lots of our planning processes as transportation planners in general but you know the more we're able to pull stakeholders into decision making processes and the more we're able to give them a say in the way that
00:23:02
Speaker
strategies and recommendations ultimately get developed. I think the more they're learning from them, the more they're ultimately going to be able to prioritize the types of strategies that we'd want them to be using. And so definitely pulling those folks in is really important. And I think even beyond just local governments, it's developers and employers as well. It's business and community leaders. It's folks who have sort of that influence because in TDM in particular,
00:23:31
Speaker
we as practitioners don't usually have access to every single person traveling. And so it's really, really important to make sure that these stakeholders, if they care about some of the drivers that we've discussed already, you know, air quality congestion reduction, that they understand why TDM can help with those things and why it's important. And so they can translate some of those behavior change ideas down to the people that they're working with on a day to day basis. Yeah.
00:24:01
Speaker
Okay, so strategy is important, but actually it's only really effective if it leads to that implementation. We've engaged and educated those stakeholders and it leads to some TDM implementation on the ground.
Case Studies in Effective TDM
00:24:15
Speaker
So let's talk a bit more about some of the projects we've worked on and the way we've really been able to make a difference to the communities we've worked in and think about what's made those projects effective. And there's such a range to choose from. Where might we go first?
00:24:30
Speaker
Good question. We've done lots of different types of work in different places. Maybe one that I'll start with is, and Lisa, I think you were involved at the very beginning of this work we did up in Napa Valley in California, where we had been working with MTC, the regional agency,
00:24:49
Speaker
to try to reduce congestion along there. It's Highway 29 sort of main corridor where there are lots of vineyards and hospitality type employers really trying to make sure that we can get their employees to work and their employees are
00:25:09
Speaker
folks who work often in either hospitality or agriculture, so might not have like regular nine to five schedules that we're traditionally seeing in TDM. And so we had to think creatively about kind of how to
00:25:25
Speaker
get those employers on board and how to develop a program that would work well for their employees and try to reduce and relieve some of the congestion along the corridor. So originally, pre-COVID, we were thinking about things like carpooling and how to incentivize it and get folks to share rides. And then in the middle of that, COVID happened, and that wasn't something we wanted to be prioritizing for people anymore.
00:25:53
Speaker
And so we really shifted to thinking about e-bikes and e-scooters and micromobility as sort of a way for folks to get around easily and safely. And so we put together an e-bike incentive program pilot. This is last summer and fall, I guess, July 2022. And one of the things we were able to see, which was really great, is that by
00:26:18
Speaker
giving folks access to e-bikes and e-scooters. So cheaper cost to purchasing or renting these vehicles. We actually saw people change their behavior. So we saw 75 people who took us up on the program and were able to get a bike or a scooter out of the program. And we also saw behavior change. We surveyed folks
00:26:40
Speaker
and we're able to see a real change in people who would have been driving, but we're now using these e-bikes for commuting purposes. And so, you know, just a small sample size because we were only working with a handful of employers, but one of the sort of post COVID implementation projects that we have under our belt most recently, that's been really great to see the long-term change in sort of getting these bikes and scooters into people's hands.
00:27:07
Speaker
Amazing. And you're right, I was involved in the very early stages of that project and one of the characterisations was it's a very rural area and the distances people were commuting were very far. So that's great, actually, that an e-bike was able to transfer to that. Were they loans or were they some form of purchase? Did they loan the bike for a period of time?
00:27:29
Speaker
We actually offered a little bit of both. Most people ended up purchasing, but the vendor we were working with did also offer loans. And I think actually since that program, the other clients that they work with are now more focused on leasing the vehicles on a monthly basis versus purchasing them. But the R NAPA program ended up with lots of folks who do now own the vehicles and can use them forever, which is really great to see.
00:27:58
Speaker
Well, fantastic, leaves a real legacy. We're just doing a lot of data analysis actually for we've been doing the monitoring and evaluation of the Department for Transport's national e-bike program here, it was a pilot program. And that across four different locations in the UK gave out e-bikes, primarily as loans, always as loans, but three different settings. So actually you could either go into a bike store,
00:28:25
Speaker
and get one or it tested giving out loans to a community setting or indeed maybe a workplace or education setting. And we're just doing the analysis and reporting on that now, but I have to say our interim findings in the summer were really encouraging actually about the potential for e-bikes to really make a difference on that commuting piece and indeed other journeys. So excited to see these new modes coming into the sphere and how actually we use TDM.
00:28:53
Speaker
to do that education and encouragement piece around helping people understand how to access those new modes. Yeah, I think it's really great to see sort of the encouragement and the education come together at the same time. You know, a lot of our TDM programs are about incentivization, so providing discounted transit passes or providing things like e-bikes and being able to use that carrot, we like to call it, as
00:29:22
Speaker
A tool to get people to try something for the first time is great because they're at the same time, even though they may not know it, really learning about how to use a new mode that they haven't tried before. And so being able to tie in the education of how to use a new mode or how it works with a, we're going to make it a little bit sweeter for you and make it free or give you an extra benefit for it is
00:29:50
Speaker
fun to see and something that we do see people pick up pretty frequently. Yeah. Thinking about new modes, I was also thinking it's how we can apply those to existing modes too. And actually staying in that, roughly that geography, I was reminded of the project we did for the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, where we were asked to help them increase the number of bus riders in their local community in and around Pleasanton. And
00:30:18
Speaker
And they had a particular issue that they were serving the local BART station and the car park there was very full and they obviously had their buses running and the opportunity to increase ridership. And we introduced the concept of reaching out to all of the residents in the area with information and to some extent incentives, but largely information about what that bus service was and how they could ride that.
00:30:43
Speaker
Exciting things for me was that they measured the effectiveness of that through boardings onto the bus. And we were actually able to measure a real difference in the number of people riding the bus in their service area through that education encouragement. So yeah, it's important we think it's not just about new modes, right? It can also be really effective at getting people onto those more older and traditional modes that are still serving people's journeys.
00:31:09
Speaker
Okay. Other great projects that we've worked on. I'm interested in the TMOs. That's something you've done a lot of work with Judah in different places across the state and the effectiveness of them in working across an area and bringing businesses together.
00:31:29
Speaker
Yeah, we at STEER manage a handful of transportation management associations or transportation management organizations, TMA's or TMO's, we call them. And they all work a little bit differently, but really the similarity between them all is that they're working
00:31:47
Speaker
with a handful of sites, whether that's employers or universities or development projects, to help provide TDM services to the folks who are using those sites. And so, you know, like I mentioned a little bit before, it's tough to get that, you know, individual one-on-one behavior change conversation unless we're doing something like we did
00:32:12
Speaker
up in Livermore where we're knocking on doors and talking to individuals, but obviously that's pretty time intensive. And so what we like to see and why TMA's and TMO's are so great is
00:32:24
Speaker
because they're able to sort of be a convener of all of these different, you know, again, whether it's work sites or development projects or residential projects, to help one key individual, two key individuals at each site, be able to translate some of those programs down to the people that they are talking to on a daily basis. So rather than
00:32:46
Speaker
the TMA or TMO needing to speak to every traveler in the city, they're able to speak to, we typically call them transportation coordinators or whoever that dedicated site representative is, really get them involved in the programs that the TMA or the TMO is offering, really make sure that they have a really good understanding of
00:33:08
Speaker
transportation options in the area and that they're able to translate that down to their user base and the folks who are using their sites. And we've actually done in Santa Monica a little bit of research and sort of comparing how engaged our transportation coordinators are and
00:33:27
Speaker
how that translates to actual individualized behavior. And what we've seen is that when we have those site coordinators really involved in the TMA and the TMO when they're attending events, when they're reading our newsletters,
00:33:44
Speaker
participating in our programs, those sites have better numbers of non-single occupancy drivers than the ones where the coordinators aren't as engaged. And so it's really cool to see that flow down and really demonstrates how useful these TMA's and TMO's can be if they're engaging the right way with the right people and using that sort of economies of scale being able to get
00:34:12
Speaker
this huge number of travelers reached through this kind of flow down system. The structure. And of course, there's some I know that you work with that are more workplace focused, but you mentioned Santa Monica, which is one, of course, that goes beyond the workplaces and it's trying to reach residents and visitors to the city as well.
00:34:34
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, again, particularly with multifamily residential buildings, we're able to take a similar approach where we're working with sort of an onsite coordinator who's making sure that, you know, the TDM programs offered by the TMO are advertised to their residents. But we also in a lot of these
00:34:56
Speaker
situations are working really closely with the local jurisdictions as well. So we manage a transportation management organization in Burbank, California, where, while most of our members are employers, we do also work with
00:35:12
Speaker
the city to get messaging out to the general public so we've done some really fun work with schools we've done some really fun work with just hosting events that like the city has been able to push out on their communication channels and we've been able to then interact with a larger audiences, including residents as well.
00:35:31
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm just thinking about the funding of some of those programs and Santa Monica, I think, and maybe still is, was free. Anyone could benefit from the services of the TMO with no costs, whereas some do have a small membership fee that the workplace perhaps might pay each year.
00:35:50
Speaker
Yeah, so some of them are operated through the public sector directly and Santa Monica is a really great example of that where the TMO is fully funded by the city and the TMO works with any employer that wants to work with them.
00:36:07
Speaker
and they get a lot of that engagement because there's some policy and regulation that employers do need to comply with in the city. In other cases, we also see TMA's and TMO's just as fully nonprofit organizations. So, well, often they have good relationships with the jurisdictions where they operate. They're not necessarily operated by or for
00:36:32
Speaker
the public agency, they're actually, you know, nonprofit organizations managed by a board of directors that are made up of membership. So sometimes it's a group of developers or employers who are concerned about either the environment or congestion in an area kind of coming together and saying,
00:36:52
Speaker
This is something we really care about. What can we do to help make a change here? And that's how these organizations get established, you know, really similar to business improvement districts or chambers of commerce, but just focus specifically on transportation. Yeah, got it.
00:37:12
Speaker
I'm thinking of particular projects I'm working on in the UK now, where I think I've said that it feels like there's less TDM, the opportunity to implement a little bit less TDM at the moment, but some of the places I've enjoyed recently, in fact, are airports. So I do a part-time to comment to London City Airport here in the city, which has some really ambitious plans brought about both by its own sustainability plan and it's wanting to really make a difference
00:37:40
Speaker
in terms of sustainable aviation, but also through development conditions. So we are working towards some pretty ambitious targets on reducing the number of staff coming to the site by car and increasing the number of passengers who are coming to the site by public transport. So those are our two goals there. And I think
00:37:58
Speaker
In the period I've been working there, it's really been a focus on having people understand it's less about the infrastructure changes, which are the bigger things, the more expensive things, and they take time, but actually we can make a really big difference with that communication, the education, the encouragement that we keep coming back to. We set up a brand at the airport last year, Way2Work, and we've been keeping up weekly communications around that.
00:38:25
Speaker
and doing some road shows and having prize giveaways and a monthly car share draw and so forth. We're really pleased with the recent staff survey results, which shows that we had reduced a full percentage point reduction in the number of staff driving alone over the past year. That really has come down to that, I think, communication and just awareness raising, not being a big topic at the airport until we're ready.
00:38:50
Speaker
decided to set this identity of it up and really start talking to people about what we were trying to do and why we wanted to change. But we don't have that network, of course, that the TMA's would bring us.
00:39:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, then we do see TMA's and TMO's that are focused specifically on one business park, for example, or a really small area versus like a whole city footprint. And so when you're thinking about the UK and who might be interested in developing programs like that, that could be an interesting place to look because there are
00:39:28
Speaker
you know again from the developer side, maybe more drivers than there are at the sort of city or jurisdictional level as well.
00:39:38
Speaker
Cool. We are talking, and I think there's a couple of other areas I thought we should explore before we wrap up. So let's move on to them.
Innovations and Future of TDM
00:39:47
Speaker
And I guess, again, keeping thinking about how TDM can really make a difference in the climate emergency we're in at the moment. I wonder how we think about how TDM practitioners keep progressing the field and keep innovating. We touched on it a bit earlier that we need to keep in touch with those marketing techniques and how they change over time.
00:40:07
Speaker
What supporting networks and opportunities do we see? I think if I highlight one first, it's the importance of just sharing what's working best practice. How do we make sure we're constantly telling people about those great projects that really do work? I've always really appreciated that TDM listserv.
00:40:27
Speaker
that you have in the States, which is such a good articulation of people either looking for best practice or indeed sharing it and finding it. And I was excited last year here in the UK to hear that an influencing transport laboratory has been set up, is currently being housed by Transport for the West Midlands, but their ambition is to become that centre of excellence in the UK. And importantly, I think to bridge the gap between academics who are doing so much good work in this field and practitioners to help try and link that conversation together.
00:40:57
Speaker
What do you see as really key in how we keep innovating and moving forwards? I think, yeah, that's a huge, huge, important concept, Lisa, and one that you can speak
00:41:08
Speaker
to yourself in terms of the, you know, some of the tactic and the knowledge that you brought over from the UK back in 2012, 2014. And so I think that's something that needs to continue happening and, you know, agencies like the Association for Commuter Transportation
00:41:27
Speaker
which is technically an international organization, though I know it's sort of US and Canada focused for the most part, really help with some of that knowledge sharing. I think some of the other things that are really key when we're thinking about moving the industry forward is thinking about data collection and making sure that we're advocating for ourselves.
00:41:49
Speaker
as an industry and really demonstrating the impact that TDM has. And so being able to make sure that the programs that we're putting forward are not just successful, but that we're really tracking and monitoring that success.
00:42:05
Speaker
is hugely important. And then making sure that we're sharing that knowledge back and across our networks is really the only way to make sure that it's an industry that continues to see investment and continues to see some of the growth and excitement that we've seen in the previous 10, 15 years, I think. So that's something that I would probably focus on in terms of really prioritizing as we move forward in the next 10 years or so.
00:42:34
Speaker
Yes, so true. You mentioned the Association of Commuter Transportation and I know they recently really worked hard to introduce, I forget the name of the qualification, but there is now a TDM qualification that practitioners can work towards.
00:42:49
Speaker
Yes, there is. And it's exciting to see again, it just sort of, you know, legitimizes the industry and makes it a bit more noticeable across practitioners and general planning fields. And it's been exciting to see that program grow.
00:43:06
Speaker
and maybe policymakers too, right? Maybe that's why you are having that success even at the federal level of raising that awareness and the opportunity for TDM to really make a difference. Before we wrap up, let's just think, we've talked a lot about the past and the present, but let's
00:43:23
Speaker
Let's focus a little bit more on the future. Given the net zero by 2050 target and concerns over public health and the relative lag in reducing transport emissions, TDM could play a huge role. What would you like to see most looking forward?
00:43:40
Speaker
Great question. I think more TDM is really what we want to see. And so as we're thinking about the future and how we're implementing TDM, I think we've touched on lots of it today, but more of that sort of thinking strategically, more of that learning from the on the ground work
00:44:03
Speaker
to be able to really smartly apply it to the unique situations where we're all operating, I think is really key and ensuring that the programs and the policy and the funding that allows for TDM really leaves room for that so that, you know, we're not
00:44:23
Speaker
designing funding programs that are too specific, that don't allow for really tailored programming or education services that we're allowing our practitioners to continue to collect really good data through pilots that then gets pulled back into the new work that's coming through and just leaving room for more innovation and the ability to continue to learn from the work that we're doing.
00:44:52
Speaker
And that's what makes it so exciting to work in, right? That opportunity for that innovation and keep learning it. It doesn't grow tired. I think when I think about the UK, what I'd like to see is I'd like to, if you like, get back to the heyday of more TDM. And I think if I think of all the
00:45:09
Speaker
great focus that's perhaps been around more on our current round of local transport plans that local transport authorities across the country are developing. There's some really great vision-led planning going into those. I'd just like to see some of the TDM elements that are perhaps forming some parts of those plans be brought to life a little bit more to be further developed
00:45:32
Speaker
in really what they're thought and to work with stakeholders as we talked earlier on, understanding the important role that TDM can play in those plans. I think by setting up that structure, that framework for TDM to come forward in the UK, then perhaps we can see more funding coming its way and just really start moving the needle and encouraging people out of cars. I have to say,
00:45:56
Speaker
We've not talked about electric vehicles, amazingly. I talk about those a lot these days and I do think there's a real opportunity as we're progressing towards providing the infrastructure and the support for people to move to electric vehicle charging to make sure that we're also communicating with them about other modes so that actually there's a TDM opportunity there to encourage EV drivers to still be multimodal when it makes sense to be and to remember to use other modes of transport as well.
00:46:24
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I think sort of making sure that we're not separating out the drivers that we've talked about is really key there, right? So we're not, if we're just focused on the environment, then switching everyone to an electric vehicle will have the same impact as keep switching everyone onto a bus.
00:46:42
Speaker
but we'll all be stuck in traffic all the time. And so making sure that we're sort of pulling these drivers in together so that we understand the education can all come at the same time and we can prioritize more than one thing at once is really helpful in that. So true.
00:47:00
Speaker
All right. Well, I think we should wrap it up there. It's been great talking to you. We talk often anyway and share the different stuff we're doing in different places, but it's been really good to add this and share that with a few more people. So thank you so much, Judah, for your time and we'll speak again soon. Thanks, Lisa. This has been really fun. I appreciate hearing more about what you all are focused on in the UK and it's been great to talk a little bit more formally about all of it. Thanks everyone. Thanks.
00:47:30
Speaker
Bye!