Policy instruments designed to reduce traffic levels, or doing so as a side effect of other objectives, are now firmly established as an important strand of transport planning. There are five main developments: town centre pedestrianisation; residential area traffic calming; strategies to reduce traffic in tourist areas and national parks; transport, road user charging; and improving public transport, facilities for cyclists and pedestrians whilst decreasing the attractiveness of car use. The degree of success is limited by the strength of trends leading to increased traffic, and by the fairly early days in developing tools and experience. Success is very dependent on the specific context, being most advanced in developed countries with long-established historic cities, but also of relevance in many developing countries, especially those with rapid economic growth and very swiftly expanding cities - and even discussed from time to time in areas where plentiful supply of space and low-density development create the possibility of larger-scale car use. At the present stage, the most successful examples are the best town centre schemes, where all except a small, manageable minimum of service and residents' traffic can be removed with great benefits to the commercial and social success of the centre. Most planners involved in this activity emphasise that one measure on its own is very unlikely to be successful, no matter how stringent: best practice invariably talks of a combination or "package" of traffic bans, public transport improvements, supporting land use policies, and consistent price signals.
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