TSM: Tinkering Superficially at the Margin—

This paper summarizes the findings of a 2 yr. evaluation of the Transportation System Management (TSM) program of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The study assessed both the technical options commonly associated with TSM—such as car pool matching, flexible work hours, exclusive lanes for buses and car pools, and discriminating pricing? and the planning philosophy implicit in the federal regulations. The analysis suggests that a package of TSM measures combining preferential freeway entry, car pool matching, paratransit, and flexible working hours, which emphasize exploiting underutilized capacity, are technically and politically superior to the more drastic penalty-centered alternatives, such as dedicating freeway and arterial lanes to high-occupancy vehicles, removing parking in congested areas, and heavy auto-disincentive surcharges (in excess of marginal cost pricing). The research concludes that time-management strategies, such as variable work hours, are the least exploited of the promising measures available, and thus deserve increased attention.