Using VMT to Promote Sustainability
Using VMT to Promote Sustainability
As planning strategies evolve from vehicle-centric to a multimodal, accessibility-focused approach, the focus is on moving people efficiently over vehicles. The new paradigm emphasizes sustainable transportation modes and underscores the significance of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as a crucial metric. VMT reduction benefits traffic flow, infrastructure costs, community well-being, pollution reduction, non-driver accessibility, and public health.
We’re excited to introduce ITE’s new technical brief, Vehicle-Miles Traveled (VMT) as a Metric for Sustainability. This resource, which includes contributions from our nationwide VMT expert Ron Milam, covers the shift from vehicle-based planning to accessibility-based planning, providing insights and case studies for transportation agencies and practitioners striving to enhance equity, safety, environmental sustainability, and community livability.
share this article
Explore More
Intern Perspectives: A Summer in Transportation
What does a transportation internship actually look like? This summer, 25 interns across 14 of our offices gained hands-on experience with fieldwork, street design, GIS, data analysis, visual communication, client work, and community engagement. See what they learned, what surprised them, and how the experience shaped the way they think about careers in transportation.
Looking at Street Safety Through the Lens of Kinetic Energy
This ITE Technical brief explores how kinetic energy can add another dimension to roadway safety analysis, helping practitioners consider where conditions for serious harm may exist even before severe crash patterns emerge.
Understanding AI’s Role in Transportation Safety
AI is giving transportation safety practitioners new ways to analyze data, detect near misses, and respond to risk before crashes happen. Real-world examples from Bellevue, WA and San Bernardino, CA show where AI-supported technology is delivering value—and where human judgment remains essential for turning data into responsible safety decisions.




