Founder(s) | Michael Replogle |
---|---|
Established | 1985 |
CEO | Heather Thompson |
Address | 9 E. 19th St. New York, NY |
Location | New York, New York, United States (Headquarters) |
Website | www |
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is a non-governmental non-profit organization that focuses on developing bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, promoting biking, walking, and non-motorized transport, and improving private bus operators margins. [1] Other programs include parking reform, traffic demand management, and global climate and transport policy. According to its mission statement, ITDP is committed to "promoting sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide." [2]
In addition to its role supporting and consulting local governmental efforts to develop more sustainable transportation, ITDP publishes the magazine Sustainable Transport annually, produces the BRT Standard and other research, and sits on the committee for the annual Sustainable Transport Award.
ITDP was founded in 1985 by Michael Replogle and other sustainable transport advocates in the United States to counteract the spread of costly and environmentally damaging car-centric urban development models, and to promote biking, walking, and public transit in transportation planning. [3] [4] [5]
In its first ten years, ITDP worked to support and grow local bicycle industries in Haiti, Nicaragua, Mozambique, South Africa, and West Africa. By 1989, ITDP's Bikes Not Bombs campaign had shipped 10,000 second-hand bicycles to support health and education efforts in Nicaragua and used these to establish a bicycle assembly industry in that country. ITDP advocated for the redirection of lending activity by the World Bank and other multi-lateral institutions. Where these global institutions had an exclusive focus on road projects, ITDP worked to open up funding for multi-modal transport solutions. [5] ITDP advocated for sustainable transport initiatives in U.S. transportation policy, influencing the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). Responding to ITDP pressure, the Peace Corps put its volunteers on bicycles rather than motorcycles.
In the early 1990s, ITDP helped establish the Transport Sector Task Force, an advisory panel to the US Treasury Department's Multi-lateral Development Bank liaison office, to comment on specific transport projects. In its 1994 study "Counting on Cars, Counting Out People" ITDP published a preliminary set of guidelines for reforming the World Bank Transport Sector economic appraisal to make it less biased in favor of motorways. The report's key recommendation that economic impacts on non-motorized road users be included in the appraisal has been incorporated into World Bank practice. [6]
ITDP has offices in seven countries, with projects and relationships in over 100 cities worldwide. [7]
In 2009, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia Enrique Peñalosa, who was instrumental in the establishment of that city's TransMilenio BRT system, was elected as President of the Board of Directors of ITDP. [8] [9] Walter B. Hook served as the organizations executive director from 1993 to 2014. Heather Thompson is ITDP's interim CEO.
ITDP works to encourage safe, modern, and efficient public transportation systems in cities worldwide. ITDP is currently active in a design and/or consulting capacity in the BRT programs of Ahmedabad, India; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Johannesburg, South Africa (Rea Vaya); Jakarta, Indonesia (TransJakarta); Guangzhou, Lanzhou, and Yichang, China; Mexico City, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and more. [10]
In June 2007, ITDP published the Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide along with the United Nations Environment Programme, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Hewlett Foundation, and Viva. The guide draws from the extensive BRT design experience of Latin American transit planners, and aims to disseminate this information in the US and other countries around the world. [11] The guide is currently available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese, and is free for download in .pdf format from the ITDP website. [11]
In addition, ITDP developed the BRT Standard, a design guide and rating system for Bus Rapid Transit systems around the world. The Standard establishes a common definition for BRT and identifies BRT best practices, as well as functioning as a scoring system to allow BRT corridors to be evaluated and recognized for their superior design and management aspects. It uses a systematic method of evaluating BRT systems, rating their quality as "gold, silver, or bronze". Some systems that had been branded as BRT failed to meet even minimal standards distinguishing BRT from regular urban bus service. A related report on BRT in the US [12] noted that "Some American systems reviewed had so few essential characteristics that calling them a BRT system at all does a disservice to efforts to gain broader adoption of BRT in the United States...These systems, with relatively few BRT characteristics, have helped confuse the American public about what exactly constitutes BRT." [12]
ITDP encourages urban design that prioritizes human-powered forms of transportation, such as walking, cycling, and the use of rickshaws. Specifically, ITDP often works with cities to encourage car-free days and bike share programs, create safe streets for pedestrians and cyclists, and provide high-quality bicycles. [13]
In December 2013 the ITDP published the Bike-Share Planning Guide with the aim "to bridge the divide between developing and developed countries' experiences with bike-share." The guide is expected to be useful for planning and implementing a bike sharing system regardless of the location, size, or density of the city. The guide is currently available only in English and is free for download in .pdf format from the ITDP website. [14]
ITDP works with local governments on the expansion and design of bike lanes, and pedestrian networks throughout the city. In São Paulo, Brazil, ITDP assisted in the design of a pilot bicycle path in the neighborhood of Butantã. For the project, ITDP commissioned a report for a 58 kilometer feeder network, which will lead cyclists from adjacent streets and sidewalks to the bicycle path. The path will pass through a high-visibility corridor of the city, and if successfully implemented could be expanded to surrounding neighborhoods and throughout the city. [15]
Past projects have included a redesign of India's traditional cycle rickshaw in collaboration with local experts, reducing the weight of the vehicles by 30% and adding a multi-gear system to increase efficiency; increasing Africa's cycling capacity while bolstering local industry through the establishment of the California Bike Coalition (CBC); and traffic impact and mitigation analysis along with outreach to local interest groups in the pedestrianization of Malioboro Road in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. [16] [17] [18] [19]
ITDP works to integrate transport and smart urban design to help remake cities and suburbs into livable spaces that foster economic opportunities, encourage low carbon lifestyles, and attract residents. This is done through designing environments for cycling and walking, fostering the development of pedestrian and transit based real estate development, and creating policies that help turn cultural and physical spaces into economic assets. [20]
In November 2013 ITDP published "The TOD Standard" which elaborates in eight key principles for guiding the implementation of transit-oriented development (TOD). The guide is available for download in .pdf format from the ITDP website. [21]
ITDP has initiated advised on a number of projects in cities around the world. ITDP worked with the Mexico City government to provide technical support for the revitalization of Mexico City's Historic Center. ITDP managed the planning and implementation efforts of the revitalization, in addition to promoting street maintenance and cleanliness, supplementation of public security, and the management and controlling of parking and street vending activity in the area. ITDP claims that this reorientation of the Historic Center towards pedestrian and transit oriented development will reverse decades of deterioration, attract tourism and investment, and improve air quality in the notoriously polluted city. Additionally, ITDP participated as part of the team developing Mexico City's Bicycle Master Plan to design routes that connect to the Historic Center, further integrating multi-modal development of the area. [22]
ITDP co-founded the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) in 2009 and through that helped secure in 2012 a $175 billion 10-year commitment from the world's largest multilateral development banks to support sustainable transport, with annual reporting and monitoring. Working with SLoCaT, ITDP helped mainstream sustainable transport strategies in the United Nations' post-2015 development agenda and in discussions of climate change mitigation strategies in the run-up to the 2015 global climate summit in Paris (COP-15). With the University of California Davis, ITDP in 2014 published, A Global High Shift Scenario: Impacts and Potential for More Public Transport, Walking, and Cycling With Lower Car Use, showing how a shift in transport funding to support alternatives to more driving could save over $100 trillion cumulatively for consumers and governments by 2050 while cutting cumulative climate change pollution from urban transport by 25% and improving equity of access to opportunities for the poor. This is available on the ITDP website. [23]
Bicycle-friendly policies and practices help some people feel more comfortable about traveling by bicycle with other traffic. The level of bicycle-friendliness of an environment can be influenced by many factors including town planning and cycling infrastructure decisions. A stigma towards people who ride bicycles and fear of cycling is a social construct that needs to be fully understood when promoting a bicycle friendly culture.
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also referred to as a busway or transitway, is a trolleybus, electric bus and public transport bus service system designed to have much more capacity, reliability, and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes roadways that are dedicated to buses, and gives priority to buses at intersections where buses may interact with other traffic; alongside design features to reduce delays caused by passengers boarding or leaving buses, or paying fares. BRT aims to combine the capacity and speed of a light rail transit (LRT) or mass rapid transit (MRT) system with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system.
TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and Soacha, a neighbouring city. The system opened to the public in December 2000. As of 2024, 12 lines totalling 114.4 km (71 mi) run throughout the city. It is part of the city's Integrated Public Transport System, along with the urban, complementary and special bus services operating on neighbourhood and main streets.
The car-free movement is a social movement centering the belief that large and/or high-speed motorized vehicles are too dominant in modern life, particularly in urban areas such as cities and suburbs. It is a broad, informal, emergent network of individuals and organizations, including social activists, urban planners, transportation engineers, environmentalists and others. The goal of the movement is to establish places where motorized vehicle use is greatly reduced or eliminated, by converting road and parking space to other public uses and rebuilding compact urban environments where most destinations are within easy reach by other means, including walking, cycling, public transport, personal transporters, and mobility as a service.
Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the source of energy; and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport. Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation. Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental and climate impacts of the system. Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting for between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The majority of the emissions, almost 97%, came from direct burning of fossil fuels. In 2019, about 95% of the fuel came from fossil sources. The main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union is transportation. In 2019 it contributes to about 31% of global emissions and 24% of emissions in the EU. In addition, up to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions have only increased in this one sector. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector. Road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog.
In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between dense, compact urban form and public transport use. In doing so, TOD aims to increase public transport ridership by reducing the use of private cars and by promoting sustainable urban growth.
Rede Integrada de Transporte is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Curitiba, Brazil, implemented in 1974. It was one of the first BRT systems in the world and a component of one of the first and most successful examples of transit-oriented development.
Complete streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated and maintained to enable safe, convenient and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of their mode of transportation. Complete Streets allow for safe travel by those walking, cycling, driving automobiles, riding public transportation, or delivering goods.
Established alternatives to car use include cycling, walking, kick scooters, rollerblading, skateboarding, twikes and motorcycles. Other alternatives are public transport vehicles.
Walter B. Hook is an urban planner and expert in the field of sustainable transportation policy and practice. Since 2015, Dr. Hook has been a Principal at BRT Planning International, LLC, a boutique BRT planning firm. From 1993 until 2014, Hook worked as the Chief Executive Officer for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), a nonprofit agency that promotes environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation policies and projects in the developing world. Under the auspices of ITDP, Hook worked on the design and implementation of numerous bus rapid transit (BRT) systems in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and is considered a leading expert on BRT design and policy. He collaborated extensively with Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, and creator of the TransMilenio, one of the world's premier BRT systems. Additionally, Hook has campaigned for sustainable transport and urban planning practices in the U.S.
Michael Replogle is an internationally recognized expert and advisor in the field of sustainable transport. He co-founded the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in 1985, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation projects and policies worldwide, as well as Bikes Not Bombs in 1984. He was the president of ITDP from 1985–1992 and 1998-2009, and managing director of ITDP from 2009-2015. His seminal 1987 paper on sustainable transport was the first to define the term. In 2024, his expert testimony led to a pathbreaking settlement of a lawsuit between Hawai'i Department of Transportation and 13 youth plaintiffs, represented by Our Children's Trust and Earthjustice, for a statewide plan to decarbonize transportation by 2045, achieving a 50% reduction by 2030, with 5-year targets and annual reporting.
The Sustainable Transport Award (STA) is presented annually to a city that has shown leadership and vision in the field of sustainable transportation and urban livability in the preceding year. Nominations are accepted from anyone, and winners and honorable mentions are chosen by the Sustainable Transport Award Steering Committee.
The BRT Standard is an evaluation tool for bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors around the world, based on international best practices. The Standard establishes a common definition for BRT and identifies BRT best practices, as well as functioning as a scoring system to allow BRT corridors to be evaluated and recognized for their superior design and management aspects.
Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited is a transport consultancy and infrastructure development company. It is a joint venture company of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).
Tiruchirappalli BRTS is a proposed bus rapid transit system for the city of Tiruchirappalli.
Tiruchirappalli Bicycle Share is a new proposed bicycle sharing system for the city of Tiruchirappalli.
MAX Bus Rapid Transit is a bus rapid transit system serving Fort Collins, Colorado. The service, operated by Transfort, consists of one route serving 12 stations on the 5-mile-long (8.0 km) Mason Corridor Transitway between South Transit Center and Downtown Fort Collins, with stops near the Colorado State University campus. The MAX route includes sections of new dedicated bus guideway, as well as shared city streets; in some cases, the bus has priority signal access.
Urban Mass Transit Company Limited (UMTC) is an urban transport consultancy company to develop sustainable urban mobility methods and solutions. It focuses on planning, designing, project management and implementation supervision of urban transportation projects. It was founded on 13 April 1993 as a partnership between Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS).
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to transportation planning.