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Photo courtesy of Dan Avila for The Clinton Foundation

Helping decision-makers make better decisions.

Rapid global economic development and urbanization are fueling massive growth in the demand for transportation. Current practices of meeting increased transport demand mostly by growing automobile fleets and road network capacity are unsustainable. The cost of traffic-related air and noise pollution, accidents, congestion, and inequality of access take a growing toll,

Transportation currently causes 23% of energy-related CO2 emissions that contribute to climate change. Without changes in policy, transport CO2 is projected to grow 80% by 2050. In the absence of a global agreement to limit green house gases (GHGs), many countries are setting their own goals and taking action to mitigate emissions and adapt to climate change. While the sustainable transportation plans, policies, and technologies needed to avoid the climate change have been demonstrated at scale, only concerted international action, expert guidance, and financial support will disseminate them globally to thousands of cities worldwide. 

ITDP works on three tracks to ensure that global institutions enable and favor socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable transportation:

  • Developing better tools to evaluate the impacts of transportation investments, policies, and choices on the environment.
  • Shifting funding and priorities of global organizations and development banks to support sustainable transport and urban development.
  • Influencing national transport and urban development policies and funding to support timely development of institutions to scale-up sustainable transport.

ITDP helped draft four transportation policy papers that played a key role in the creation of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA).

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