Transportation Demand Management
Transportation demand management can help reduce the number of vehicle trips people take and how far they travel per trip. “Demand” means use of Oregon’s road system, and demand is represented by the growing number of people who want to use it, especially at peak times.
Demand management actions incentivize people to make travel choices that produce less greenhouse gas emissions than a trip using a car, truck or SUV. Together with other actions in this category, this can make it easier for an Oregonian to own fewer cars, trucks and SUVs, or none at all.
Another benefit of demand management is fewer single-occupant car, truck or SUV trips on major roads and highways. This means that as Oregon’s population grows, trips can increase at a slower rate, resulting in more reliable travel for people who are unable to use non-driving options. (Vehicle trips are also tied to Pricing and Land Use strategies.)
Ease and accessibility are an important factor in this strategy. The easier and more accessible different modes of transportation are, the more likely people are to make that choice.
Some examples of demand management actions:
Work from home or telework options.
Carpool, car share, and commuter vanpool programs.
Park-and-ride facilities.
Limiting free parking for commuters. (Employers may compensate employees for giving up their parking space.)
Bike and scooter share programs.
Providing alternate forms of transportation during large construction projects or sporting events.
See the Land Use and Pricing, Funding and Markets pages for other ways to manage roadway demand.
Demand management strategies: emissions reduction vision
By 2035, 66% of business travel will be replaced by remote virtual meetings and conferences, and flexible remote work schedules will be common in most industries.
By 2050, 50% of Oregon’s workers in large urban areas, and 25% in smaller urban areas, will participate in a demand management program like Get There Oregon.
By 2050 most urban areas will have on-demand bike, scooter, and car sharing services.
How Oregon is doing
The COVID-19 pandemic caused Oregon’s employers to reexamine their approach to remote work. As a result, many Oregonians are now able to work at least part time from home, or forego long trips in favor of virtual meetings. This means fewer work-related trips and less greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
The ODOT Transportation Options program provides support and resources for managing demand across the transportation system. The program educates students and the public on travel options and how to safely use them; connects veterans, low income populations, communities of color, and others with ways to get to and from work or school; supports vanpooling; and more.
The new Get There Oregon program saw a steady increase in users in 2021, and over 160,000 non-drive-alone trips that year. More is needed to reach future year goals.
How Oregon can improve
Current statewide and local demand management actions are working, and the Oregon needs to keep that momentum into the future to better connect people with low and no emission modes, provide alternatives to driving alone, and enabling telecommuting. Working with local partners in the private and public sectors will be key.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will soon require expanded demand management actions through the Employee Commute Options program. This program will require all Oregon employers with more than 100 employees to offer incentives to employees to limit drive alone commutes. The program is currently only operating in the Portland region, but DEQ plans to expand it statewide in the next few years. The Oregon Department of Transportation will enhance its statewide Transportation Options program to support businesses in complying with DEQ’s expanded program.
Shared bike and scooter programs are already available in many urban areas, but these programs are often privately operated, and must see continued investment to be successful. On-demand car sharing like Zipcar is slowly expanding to areas outside of major cities, as are Uber and Lyft ride sharing, and will be important for people who do not own their own car, or want to own fewer cars.
ODOT is studying car and ride sharing as part of a system to reduce reliance on a privately-owned vehicles. The agency published a report on the subject in 2020.