Our Highway Spending and Congestion Webcast is Now Available

In late January 2016, we ran our first #NoNewRoads campaign which included a member-exclusive webcast on highway spending and congestion with Todd Litman. That webcast is now available for all Strong Towns readers:

The #NoNewRoads campaign put a spotlight on excessive highway spending with featured articles and podcasts by urban planners, nonprofit professionals, professors and other leaders in the field.

Mr. Litman's presentation touched on many of the issues covered during #NoNewRoads week including induced demand, the market distortions inherent in our current transportation funding model, and a comprehensive analysis of congestion costs and solutions.

“Cars don’t have wallets, people have wallets. Merchants are interested in wallets. So we have to do a better job of showing the overall economic benefits of creating a more efficient transportation system.”

— Todd Litman

The Q&A session during this webinar was wide-ranging. One topic discussed was the reluctance amongst local shopowners to give up parking for bike lanes or bus lanes. Mr. Litman reminded the audience that, "Cars don't have wallets, people have wallets. Merchants are interested in wallets. So we have to do a better job of showing the overall economic benefits of creating a more efficient transportation system." 

Presenter's Bio

Todd Litman is founder and executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transport problems. His work helps expand the range of impacts and options considered in transportation decision-making, improve evaluation methods, and make specialized technical concepts accessible to a larger audience. His research is used worldwide in transport planning and policy analysis. 

Webcast Info

Thank you to those who were able to attend the webcast with Todd Litman. If you weren't able to make it, the recording is now available below. 

You can also review slides from the presentation and find more resources from Mr. Litman.