United States Department of Transportation
i
Measuring land use performance: policy, plan, and outcome : a white paper from the National Center for Sustainable Transportation.
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2015-10-01
[PDF-864.23 KB]
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Abstract:The impact of land use patterns on travel behavior is well established in the scholarly literature.
In particular, much research in the transportation-land use domain has measured the impact of
land use on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) or on travel behavior indicators like mode choice that
suggest VMT, where it cannot be measured directly (Ewing & Cervero, 2001, 2010; National
Research Council, 2009; Salon et al., 2012). Indeed, Ewing and Cervero reviewed 200 studies
published between 2001 and 2010 alone, summarizing evidence from this abundant literature
that increases in such land use attributes as residential density, land use mix, accessibility,
network connectivity, and jobs-housing balance generally correlate with modest reductions in
VMT (2010).
Such evidence has fostered consensus in California and elsewhere supporting public policy that
promotes higher density development, greater mixture of land uses, and improved access to
employment and housing. By passing the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act
of 2008, known as SB 375, California lawmakers acknowledged that land use planning could
attenuate automobile use and, consequently, help to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Further, the law raises expectations for California communities to grow more equitably, with
attention to affordable housing. It syncs local housing planning with regional transportation
planning, requires local governments to specify actions to meet low-income housing needs, and
can compel rezoning to speed affordable housing production where local inertia would delay it.
The research terrain of the land use-VMT relationship may be well trodden, but important
upstream linkages bearing on that relationship have been less closely studied. What are the
intermediate cause-and-effect relationships between broad land use policy crafted by states or
regions and specific land use plans and polices adopted by local governments? How are specific
local plans and policies reflected in implementation? Finally, what ultimate impacts can be
observed in urban form and travel behavior after local plans are implemented?
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