ABSTRACT
Voluntary travel demand management efforts work well in dealing with short term problems, but promise few long term gains. Market mechanisms often promise the exact opposite effect. Short run price elasticities are low in transportation. Three-quarters of the average lifecycle cost of new and expanded roads may be covered by user fees of one form or another. This varies as a function of the actual costs and benefits of specific road projects. Commercial vehicles are used more intensively, of course, but these make up only a small fraction of the entire motor vehicle fleet. It goes almost without saying that much more space is required to operate a vehicle safely than to store it securely. Large commercial trucks may impose from ten to several thousand times as much wear and tear on surface pavements as do cars, pickups, vans, and other light vehicles on a per mile basis.
