Transportation supply could use less demand

It took a sputtering economy and budget shortfalls, but Georgia and metro Atlanta’s transportation agencies are all in agreement. They need funding, and they need it now. Ten days ago, MARTA, Georgia DOT, GRTA and ARC —- a true who’s who of agency acronyms —- had one message for us all. Unless additional funding comes through, the quality of life we all want will slip further out of reach. Thousands of jobs will be lost as transit service is cut and road construction projects are further delayed or scrapped.

As policymakers, employers and commuters come to grips with this reality, we must work together to identify sustainable sources of transportation funding. Recognizing that even with new funding it will take years for new projects to come out of the ground, we need to move forward with near-term solutions that will help us make the most of what we already have. Now more than ever, we need to squeeze every drop of efficiency out of our existing infrastructure, helping to bring immediate, cost-effective congestion relief.

The plan of action is based on supply and demand. While we wait for new funding for transportation supply, we also focus on reducing the current demand on our roads by encouraging fewer cars driving at peak times. Currently, there are approximately 350,000 people —- 14 percent of all commuters in metro Atlanta —- who use alternatives to driving alone three or more days a week. While commute options don’t work for everyone, there is plenty of room to continue to grow this number, and managing demand can buy the region some breathing space while the supply-side catches up.

The good news is that the Atlanta region is uniquely positioned to handle a switch to commute options such as teleworking, carpooling, transit, vanpooling, compressed work weeks, flexible work hours and even walking and bicycling.

The Clean Air Campaign and its partner organizations —- known as transportation management associations —- currently work with more than 1,500 metro Atlanta employers, and 2008 was a record-setting year for participation. In some cases, program participation increased by more than 300 percent, effectively eliminating hundreds of millions of vehicle miles of travel from our maxed-out roads.

So in an economy that has all of us looking to stretch the dollar, why not apply that same logic to transportation? Georgia recently commissioned a study concluding that a package of aggressive “demand management strategies” could yield 100 times more value in congestion reduction and GDP growth than a similar investment in new transportation infrastructure. But supply and demand must work together, and the region cannot succeed unless we address both.

For commuters and businesses, in the end it comes down to one question: When will traffic improve? Unless we act now, the answer may not be one that anyone wants to hear.

> Kevin Green is the executive director of The Clean Air Campaign.