Transportation Demand Management

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Did you know the transportation sector is the largest contributor of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions in Sacramento?

The City’s draft Climate Action and Adaption Plan (CAAP) includes a goal to reduce Sacramento’s per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 63% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 100% by 2045. But how?

An important way to reduce GHG emissions produced by vehicles is to encourage and enable people to switch from driving alone to more sustainable modes such as walking, biking, carpooling, and taking transit. Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies and programs help by providing education, incentives, Guaranteed Ride Home, and other supportive services to connect travelers with other transportation options, and ultimately, reduce the number of vehicles on the road. To achieve climate action goals, the City of Sacramento is updating its TDM Ordinance to encourage a shift towards more efficient travel modes, thereby reducing GHG emissions, and helping the city create a more equitable, healthy, and vibrant community.

What is TDM?

TDM policies and programs encourage behaviors that make more efficient use of the current transportation network. Ultimately, this means people have more choices about how, where, when, and if they travel: giving them more freedom and flexibility in their work hours and location, for instance, or making it more convenient, feasible, and attractive to take transit, ride a bike, or share their trip with other travelers. The application of TDM policies and programs helps provide more transportation options than driving alone, reduce vehicle trips, and reduce traffic congestion. Employers, universities, hospitals, and property managers often provide TDM programs such as monetary incentives, facilities, education, and encouragement events to connect employees, residents, and visitors with transportation choices. TDM programs help decrease reliance on single occupancy vehicles (SOV) by supporting transit, ridesharing, active transportation, and alternative work schedules.

Sacramento’s TDM ordinance history

The City of Sacramento currently has a TDM ordinance, also referred to as the Transportation Systems Management Plan, that was established in 1989 and the goals, applicability, mitigation strategies, and implementation procedures are out of date. The list of strategies outlined in the existing TDM program has not been significantly updated in more than 30 years. The ordinance is no longer effective in today’s dynamic transportation landscape.

The TDM ordinance will be updated to align with the City of Sacramento’s goals on climate, transportation, and equity, all in furtherance of the City’s 2040 General Plan goal for 17 percent of all trips in Sacramento to be made by transit, active transportation, and pooled shared modes by 2030 and 23 percent of all trips by 20451.

The process of updating the ordinance will include an analysis of current TDM services and travel patterns in Sacramento, engagement with the community, and a recommendation of a new strategy to encourage and support businesses to provide TDM programs, services, and amenities at their sites.

 

Recommendations will consider:

  • Responding to the changing transportation landscape and emerging transportation technologies
  • More efficient use of the existing transportation network
  • Improving public health
  • Advancing equity
  • Supporting transit and transit-oriented development

Community benefits of TDM

Transportation system benefits

  • Enhanced mobility to destinations
  • Reduced traffic congestion

Health and safety benefits

  • Improved public health through active transportation
  • Improved air quality

Environmental benefits

  • Reduced dependence on fossil fuels
  • Reduced GHG gas emissions

Economic benefits

  • Activated streets as more people walk and roll to their destinations
  • Attraction and retention of talent and tenants due to the availability of multi-modal amenities and benefits

Social benefits

  • Increased access to affordable travel options
  • Improved quality of life due to the increased access and flexibility of transportation choices

Climate & transportation in sacramento:

The City’s draft Climate Action and Adaption Plan (CAAP) includes a goal to reduce Sacramento’s per capita GHG emissions to 63 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 100 percent by 2045 and TDM programming will be a key strategy to reach these ambitious goals. The updated TDM Ordinance will encourage a shift toward more efficient travel modes, reduce GHG emissions, and help the city reach its climate, transportation, and equity goals. Read more about climate and transportation in Sacramento here.

How can I participate and give feedback on the ordinance update?

Your participation is integral in this process as it helps to understand what types of TDM strategies and programs will be most impactful in the city. Your input will inform decisions on how best to update the TDM Ordinance.

Sign up here for updates on the Transportation Demand Management ordinance update.

Schedule and Next Steps:

Schedule and Next Steps timeline. Understanding existing conditions (Sept.-Nov. 2023), Define goals, (Nov.-Dec. 2023), Identify TDM (Jan.-Feb. 2024), Develop Plan (May-Jun. 2024) Update TDM (Dec. 2024.) open_in_full

Contact us

Casandra Cortez, Transportation Planner
City of Sacramento, Department of Public Works
cncortez@cityofsacramento.org
(916) 808-6725

TDM resource library

  • Video: Using Behavioral Science to Encourage People to Commute Sustainably
  • Video: What is TDM? Shaping a New Era of Transportation Options
  • Podcast: Using nudges to get better results when trying to bring about behavior change (skip to 14:04 for commute info)
  • Article 1 and Article 2: Research concludes that an active commute may be as important to increase well-being as marriage or a pay raise
  • Article: Charging for parking by the day—The not-so-secret trick to cutting solo car commute
  • Online TDM encyclopedia

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