[sustran] TRB session on Optimal Level of Automobile Use

[Todd Litman]

                P R E S S   R E L E A S E
                -------------------------
                    12 November 1998
                 For Immediate Release


        AUTOMOBILE DEPENDENCY: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?
          Debating the Optimal Level of Automobile Use


Double Session on the Economic and Social Impacts of Automobile Dependency
Transportation Research Board 1999 Annual Meeting
Monday, January 11, 8 a.m. to 12 noon
International East Room, Hilton, Washington DC


DESCRIPTION:
In this century, surface transport systems have become increasingly
automobile dependent (defined as "High levels of per capita automobile
travel, automobile oriented land use patterns, and reduced transport
alternatives"). Recent research challenges the assumption that increased
automobile travel is necessarily good for an economy or society. Beyond a
certain level, automobile dependency appears to impose more costs than
benefits.

This session will explore the socially optimal level of automobile use and
what this implies for transport policy and facility investment. Each
presenter will discuss the following questions:

1. How can we know the optimal level of automobile dependency?

2. What do data indicate about whether particular regions are below, at, or
above this optimum?

3. What does this imply for public policy?

After all presentations, during the Part 2 Session, the panel will discuss
areas of agreement and disagreement, and the audience will also have an
opportunity to raise questions and share comments.


PRESENTORS:

*  Don Chen
Director of Research, Surface Transportation Policy Project.
Title: Social Impacts of Automobile Dependency

*  Dr. Kenneth Green
Director of Environmental Program, Reason Public Policy Institute
Title: Optimality, Externality, and Things that go Bump in the Night

*  Frank Haight
Editor, Transportation Research A & B
Title: "Pollution, congestion and cost - anything else wrong with cars?"

*  Walter Hook
Director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.
Title: Road Investments, Economic Growth, and Debt: Lessons from Asia and
Africa

*  Todd Litman
Director, Victoria Transport Policy Institute.
Title: Automobile Dependency and Economic Development

*  Frank Moretti
Director of Research, The Road Information Program (TRIP).
Title: Meeting the Diverse Transportation Needs of the Information Age

*  Professor Peter Newman
Director, Institute for Science and Technology Policy
Title: The Costs of Automobile Dependency: A Global Survey of Cities


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The Transportation Research Board is a unit of the National Research
Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Engineering. The TRB Annual Meeting, held each January in
Washington DC, attracts 6,000-8,000 participants representing a wide range
of transportation professionals. For registration information visit:
www.nas.edu/trb/meeting or call 301-694-5243.


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For more information on this session contact:

Todd Litman, Director
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
1250 Rudlin Street
Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560
E-mail:      litman at islandnet.com
Website:     www.islandnet.com/~litman