Universal name for TDM

What are your favorite "consumer names" for TDM? Many agencies have adopted their own name for TDM but there is no name that is universally used, so our profession effectively does not have a name of what we do! :-0 A group of TDM professionals in the Seattle area plan to select one name for TDM and agree to all use it.

Here are examples of TDM names used by specific groups. I welcome your suggestions.

Travel Options
Transportation Options
Transportation Choices
Healthy Transport
Active Transportation
SmartTravel
Trip Reduction

We hope the one name would catch on in our region and beyond resulting in a word which is universally recognized and understood by the public. Please note that selecting one name for TDM will not replace the names of any individual TDM modes and programs such as Home Free Guarantee, carsharing, Flexcar, Rideshareonline, In Motion, Wheel Options, etc. In fact, if all these modes and programs can describe themselves with the same TDM term, they will all benefit from the promotion of all the other TDM programs.

When you think about it, it's amazing that we don't have a universally accepted name for what we do. What do you say when people ask you what you do? You don't have simple word like banker, engineer, finance analyst, etc. Imagine if the word "recycling" were not universally used, and every city and company called it something different. This nameless concept would seem marginal, and when someone heard about a program to sort garbage and reduce waste they would not immediately identify it as part of the countless recycling programs which collectively have a major impact.

Please let me know if you'd like to be more closely involved in this effort. thanks!

David Allen, MCP
Senior Planner, Seattle Dept. of Transportation (SDOT)

Take the One Less Car Challenge www.seattle.gov/waytogo/
Save money. Reduce stress. Be part of the solution!