Travel Demand Management at Australian Universities: Recognition, Contemplation or Action?

Abstract

Travel Demand Management (TDM) Plans have been employed internationally as tools for large trip generators to encourage sustainable commuter travel. In Australia, there is an absence of legislation or regulation addressing travel demand management and little action is undertaken in this field. Recent development of a TDM good practice kit for universities promoted research to ascertain how Australian universities are managing the transport demands of staff and students. This paper reports on a survey of Australian universities which found that few universities are proactively managing travel demand of staff and students and many cater to high levels of car use.The paper describes some of the actions that universities can employ to reduce car trips and increase the proportion of travel on more sustainable modes. It concludes that the likely competitive advantage for universities is high with capital savings and a more amenable environment amongst the range of benefits.