Leading Regional Organizations Recognized at GVF’s 10th Annual TDM Advocates Breakfast

2019 TDM Advocate Recipients

King of Prussia, PA – The Greater Philadelphia region has over six million people living and working throughout it which can lead to congestion and poor air quality if everyone drove alone.  Thankfully the region has many TDM advocates who are working with GVF, a non-profit regional transportation association, who partners with local private and public sectors to combat these challenges through Transportation Demand Management (TDM).

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) are strategies that aim to reduce congestion, improve the environment and quality of life. Examples of TDM include using different modes like a bus, biking or walking. It looks at the current design of our neighborhoods to provide people with alternatives to driving alone. GVF believes TDM needs to be a priority with employers, employees, townships and communities.

Through GVF's annual TDM Advocate's program, which is a year-round program, organizations are recognized for their commitment towards implementing programs that promote commuting alternatives that alleviate congestion for their employees and community.

GVF works with its partners to develop programs and incorporate TDM initiatives into their work environment. This could include installing and maintaining bike racks, implementing flextime or telework programs, or ensuring an office has access to a bus stop or train station.

On Monday, September 16, GVF held its 10th Annual TDM Advocates Breakfast. Katie Katro, reporter for 6abc Action News, served as the master of ceremonies, recognizing over 40 organizations (listed below) as TDM Advocates. Below are statistics from the event:

• Over 170,000 employees through recipients

• Close to 265,000 residents through municipality recipients

• Close to 1,3500,000 residents total represented between Chester and Montgomery Counties 

• Over 250 recognitions since the inception of the TDM Advocates program

• 6 recipients achieved a high level in 2019 

Keynote speaker, Justin Schor, Principal, Wells + Associates has over two decades of expertise in the TDM field and recently published a book “Building a Multimodal Future”. Justin presented on how planning land uses and transportation together with transportation demand management (TDM) policies create safer, more walkable environments.

Justin stated that TDM has long been thought of as a ‘band aid’ to fix traffic and congestion problems, an afterthought. A far more effective method of addressing congestion issues is integrating TDM into land use policies, before issues with congestion arise. 

Justin outlined nine (9) steps for establishing TDM policies within communities. He stated that the most successful outcomes happen when developers have the right financial incentives to implement TDM strategies. For example, they can implement higher densities, have greater flexibility with land use, while at the same time are not required to construct parking, pay for road capacity improvements or traffic signals as part of their development.

"This year marked our 10th anniversary of recognizing TDM Advocates and the highest number of recipients to date. It’s inspiring to see the number of advocates continue to rise and to see so many achieve the highest level. Congratulations again to our 2019 recipients and thank you to all our sponsors, and to our TDM advocates master of ceremonies, Katie Katro from 6abc. Thank you also to our keynote Justin Schor who shared with us the inspiring ways to implement TDM into design. If we continue to utilize and expand TDM tools in our region we will continue to improve our environment, economy and our collective futures." Rob Henry, Executive Director, GVF.

For photos from the event click here to visit our Facebook page. 

Congratulations to GVF's 2019 TDM Advocates:

Diamond Level

• Cheltenham Township

• Chester County

• DVRPC

• GlaxoSmithKline

• Jacobs

• Lower Merion Township

• Montgomery County 

• Montgomery County Community College

• Saint Joseph’s University

• SEPTA

• Traffic Planning & Design, Inc.

• Tredyffrin Township

• Upper Merion Township

• Urban Engineers    

• Vanguard

Platinum Level

• American Heritage Federal Credit Union

• Borough of Phoenixville 

• Commute with Enterprise

• Fitzgerald and Halliday Inc.

• Limerick Township

• McMahon Associates, Inc.

• Pennoni

• RK&K

• Suburban Transit Network, Inc.

• Whitpain Township

Gold Level

• Bikesport

• Borough of Pottstown

• Brandywine Realty Trust 

• Bryn Mawr Hospital, Main Line Health

• Crowne Plaza & Fairfield Inn - King of Prussia

• King of Prussia Mall

• Lankenau Medical Center Main Line Health

• Pottstown Area Rapid Transit

• Qlik

• Radial Inc. 

Silver Level

• Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, Main Line Health

• Paoli Hospital, Main Line Health

• Riddle Hospital, Main Line Health 

• Valley Forge National Historical Park 

• Wells+Assoiates

Bronze Level

• Valley Forge Park Alliance

Thank you to our 2019 Annual Event Sponsors:

Diamond Level: Kaplin Stewart, Urban Engineers

Platinum Level: Boles Smyth, Brandywine Realty Trust, McMahon Associates, Pennoni, RK&K, Vanguard

Gold Level: King of Prussia Mall, Michael Baker International, TimHaahs, Traffic Planning and Design, Inc., WSP

Silver Level: BartonPartners, Comcast, Commute with Enterprise, DVRPC, Gannett Fleming, HNTB, Santander Bank, SEPTA, STV, Suburban Transit Network, TranSystems, TY LIN International