Transportation demand management policy efficiency: An attempt to address the effectiveness and acceptability of policy packages

Abstract

As private car usage has negative effects, such as traffic congestion and air pollution, the effectiveness of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies could be considered as any reduction in car usage. However, the efficiency of TDM policies could be addressed by a combination of their effectiveness and public acceptability. Policy packaging is treated as a way to get more benefits from a set of policies in form of a package. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of a package containing a push TDM policy, which is usually effective but not acceptable, introducing a pull policy that is generally acceptable could be of interest. This research aimed to evaluate the efficiency of two packages of TDM policies containing a push policy (either cordon or parking pricing) and a pull policy (transit system development). Therefore, 535 working-purpose car commuters were interviewed to examine the trade-offs between the acceptability and effectiveness of each package. According to the results, although the transit development policy causes a 1.52% reduction in car usage, it significantly affects the acceptability of cordon pricing and transit development package. Finally, a discussion is provided regarding how to use the policy packages to achieve the highest potential effectiveness at a specific level of acceptability.