The purpose of transportation systems is to connect people with their desired destinations--but what is the best way to measure DOT success in this goal? Here we share how DOTs can use the measurements of Access to Destinations resulting from an ongoing national pooled fund study, to understand how well their residents can meet travel needs. In addition, access to destinations metrics can help explain transit ridership and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in analyses of travel behavior.

(Eric Lind, University of Minnesota)