University of California Transportation Center

It is a truism repeated countless times in the course of a transportation professional's career - "Travel is a derived demand" - that is, derived from the demand for spatially separated activities. Belief in this truism underlies a number of transportation policies designed to reduce motorized travel (whether to reduce congestion, improve air quality, or reduce the consumption of non-renewable energy). For example, much attention has been given to land use policies designed to bring origins (residences) closer to destinations (work, shopping, entertainment). "Neo-traditional" developments, which mix diverse land uses and maintain higher densities than the typical suburban sprawl, are often suggested as a potential scheme to reduce motorized travel.