Since its start in the Netherlands Traffic Demand Management (TDM) has worked with car miles (kilometres) to measure success or failure in projects. Difficult research, lack of standardisation, and lack of appeal with the primary interest group (businesses), were reasons for considering car miles no longer appropriate for TDM. This has moved the Ministry of Transport to introduce a new tool: the `car ratio'. `Car ratio' stands for the number of commuting cars related to the number of employees. The result is a figure between 0 and 100 that offers a clear indication of the number of cars a business has to deal with daily. The introduction has taken the form of a ready made research package that gives every business simple means to measure its own `car ratio'. In addition, a booklet with documentation was produced to offer information to consultants and interested organisations. Introduction of the `car ratio' will enable TDM to set an important step forward to a more mature approach to reducing car use in commuting traffic.
Abstract