Seattle I-5 Northbound Active Traffic Management.

Ask any transportation professional or decision maker from an urban area what the number one challenge is, and the answer you’ll likely get is congestion. Though the problem is nothing new, the approaches to solving it are evolving.

One approach that is gaining in popularity throughout the country is active transportation and demand management (ATDM).

“ATDM is a dynamic approach to managing transportation facilities,” says Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Beverly Kuhn. “It’s an all-inclusive approach to managing the demand, traffic and flow on a facility to optimize performance.”

Recently TTI partnered with Batelle and Eric Scheffler (ESTC) to develop a set of five informational briefs in support of the Federal Highway Administration’s new ATDM program. The concise briefs explain the main ATDM approaches that include active demand management, active traffic management and active parking management. Each brief webpage includes a link to a printable PDF with uniform banners that help to create an identity for the ATDM program.

Screenshot of ATDM Program Brief: An Introduction to Active Transportation and Demand Management PDF.

“The briefs are intended for transportation professionals,” says Kuhn. “Another audience includes decision makers in agencies that are grappling with congestion issues in their community and are looking for new ways to manage their built infrastructure in an active, dynamic manner.”

The information briefs are available on the FHWA website. To access the briefs, click on the following links:

ATDM Program Brief: An Introduction to Active Transportation and Demand Management

ATDM Program Brief: Active Parking Management

ATDM Program Brief: The International Influence on ATDM in the United States

ATDM Program Brief: Active Demand Management

ATDM Program Brief: Active Traffic Management