Transportation's Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions ...

Transportation’s Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Volume 2
� 5.1 Summary
Strategies to reduce carbon-intensive travel activity seek to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by influencing travelers’ activity patterns in order to shift travel to more
efficient modes, reduce the need for travel, or otherwise take actions that reduce energy
use and GHG emissions associated with personal travel. 1
• Pricing strategies that increase the cost per mile of driving. Pricing strategies will
result in a variety of effects including fewer trips, shorter trips, greater use of
alternative modes, and a shift in travel to periods of lower congestion (Section 5.2);
5-4
These strategies may include
changes to transportation infrastructure, services, and land use patterns that facilitate or
encourage less carbon-intensive activity patterns, as well as policy and programmatic
actions such as financial incentives and disincentives, information, and education. Travel
activity strategies discussed in this report include:
• Improvements to transit, nonmotorized, and intermodal travel, including urban
transit, intercity bus and rail, nonmotorized infrastructure, and intermodal facilities
and information, to encourage mode-shifting and increase the energy efficiency of
travel per person-mile traveled (Section 5.3);
• Land use and parking management strategies to create more compact development
patterns that reduce trip lengths and support the use of alternative travel modes
through walkable and transit-oriented communities (Section 5.4);
• Commuter/worksite trip reduction programs, to encourage alternatives to singleoccupancy
vehicle work trips through ridesharing, vanpooling, transit, nonmotorized
travel, alternative work schedules, and telework (Section 5.5); and
• Other public information programs to educate people about the choices available to
them regarding travel options, vehicle purchase, driving habits, and other issues, and
the effects of these choices on costs, environmental impacts, and other factors
(Section 5.6).
These strategies are described in greater detail in the sidebar on page 5-2.
1 Strategies to shift freight to more efficient modes are discussed in Section 4.0, System Efficiency.