Title

Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions, An overview of Transportation Research Board Special Report 298, presented by Patricia L. Mokhtarian (member of the study committee)

Abstract

Requested by Congress and funded by the US Department of Energy, TRB Special Report 298 examines the relationship between land development patterns and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States to assess whether petroleum use, and by extension greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, could be reduced by changes in the design of development patterns. Applying findings from the most rigorous empirical studies to several future scenarios, the report estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make in reducing VMT by 2030 and 2050, and the impact this could have in meeting future transportation-related GHG reduction goals.