Toronto's tentative approach to TDM

Abstract

Toronto, Canada has been able to achieve an enviable level of transit use as a result of historical success in maintaining an effective transit system and in integrating transit and transportation planning with land-use planning. However, although Travel Demand Management (TDM) has been adopted on paper as an integral element of the overall transportation strategy, planning and implementation of new TDM measures have been cautious. A large part of the reason for this tentative approach has to be the lack of a readily perceived problem, be it traffic congestion, poor air quality, or a shortage of fossil fuels. Combined with the knowledge that transit use is high already, the absence of an obvious problem dispels any urgency to implement TDM measures. Even in a period of fiscal belt-tightening, the possibility that TDM could help to make more efficient use of existing transportation infrastructure or, in fact, generate additional revenue to help keep that infrastructure in a state of good repair has been over-shadowed by political sensitivity to pushing changes in travel behaviour and lifestyle. For TDM to emerge as a meaningful strategy, senior levels of government need to take a more active leading role in support of their announced sustainability objectives. Enabling legislation needs to be provided so that local governments can develop meaningful TDM programs. The strident voices that have projected environmental disaster need to be supplanted with education programs that put the issues in the context of everyday living. TDM has to be recognized as an element of a broader strategy towards effective, sustainable transportation and not as a panacea for problems that are only hazily perceived and do not have imminent implications.