A national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

Innovation for Our Energy Future 

Burbank Transportation 

Management Organization: 

Impact Analysis 

E. Brown and J. Aabakken

Technical Report 

NREL/TP-640-40507 

November 2006 

NREL is operated by Midwest Research Institute ● Battelle Contract No. DE-AC36-99-GO10337 
Burbank Transportation 

Management Organization: 

Impact Analysis 

E. Brown and J. Aabakken

Prepared under Task No. WW98.1000 

Technical Report 

NREL/TP-640-40507 

November 2006 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 

303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov 

Operated for the U.S. Department of Energy 

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

by Midwest Research Institute • Battelle 

Contract No. DE-AC36-99-GO10337
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Introduction by the BTMO 

Dear Reader, 

Thank you for your interest in the Burbank Transportation Management Organization (BTMO). The 

following report, prepared by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a national 

laboratory of the United States Department of Energy, is based on data provided to the BTMO by its 

members for years 1992 through 2005, and presents findings that show the impact of BTMO 

programming. 

 

Founded in 1989, and located in Burbank, California, the BTMO is a private-sector, dues-based 

nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing traffic and improving air quality. The BTMO integrates 

land use, transportation, air quality, and energy planning and programming to implement cooperative 

and creative solutions that address issues directly affecting its members and possibly impacting the 

citizens of Burbank. One key BTMO function is to develop, implement, manage, monitor, and 

measure transportation demand-management programs. The provisions of these BTMO programs 

allow its members to better meet company, employee, customer, and regulatory needs. 

While the BTMO’s members are primarily in the following two commercial planning areas, its 

membership is not limited to those areas: 

1) The Media District (commercial use prescribed by the Media District Specific Plan 

[MDSP]); and 

 

2) The Downtown Redevelopment Area (prescribed by the Burbank Center Plan [BCP]). 

Both the MDSP and the BCP traffic-reduction elements reinforce BTMO programs and substantiate 

the work of BTMO members who were actively reducing traffic and implementing clean air 

programming several years prior to the passage of either the MDSP or BCP ordinances. 

Currently, the BTMO membership includes more than 100 employers. Over the years, the BTMO 

has created and implemented the following transportation demand-management strategies: 

• employee flex time and modified work schedules; 

• vanpool and carpool programs; 

• rail, bus, and shuttle programs; 

• satellite parking; 

• non-vehicular commuting; 

• parking management; 

• merchant incentives for commuters; and 

• telecommuting programs.

Specifically, the BTMO created: 

• Burbank’s first Flat Rate Taxi Program; 

• Burbank’s first On-Demand Commuter Rail Shuttle Service; 

• Burbank’s first Fixed Route Metrolink Shuttle Service; 

1 
2 

• Burbank’s first Clean Fuel Shuttle Service;

• Burbank’s first Home-to-Work Shared Taxi Program; 

• Burbank’s first Noon-Time Work-to-Lunch Taxi Program; 

• Burbank’s first Senior Citizen Holiday Taxi Program; 

• Direct-route shuttle services for individual member companies; 

• Emergency transportation services, following the Northridge Earthquake; 

• Middle School Traffic Reduction and Clean Air Curriculum; 

• Middle School Student Art and Writing Contests; 

• Lower Metrolink fares for Burbank riders through negotiations; 

• Alternative Fuels and Electric Bike Demonstration Projects; 

• Electric Vehicle Charging Station funding acquisition and siting; 

• Air quality compliance programming; 

• Emergency preparedness workshops and member network; 

• New transit technology integration into member-company fleets; 

• May “Clean Air Month” celebrations and benefit programs; 

• Member information and education sessions; and 

• Individual member company consultation and data collection services. 

To better evaluate its work over the years, the BTMO commissioned NREL to evaluate the direct and 

indirect impacts of BTMO programs and their overall effectiveness. While the BTMO has not 

collected member services data for all of its programs, it has been collecting member company 

employee commute data since 1992. Because this was the only formal survey information available 

to NREL, additional analysis by NREL was performed to determine the indirect impacts of the 

BTMO programs. The indirect impacts include the effects on the environment, gasoline 

consumption, and the amount of time and money spent commuting. 

The NREL report, which follows, uses data submitted to the BTMO by its members during the 

BTMO “Clean Air Week” (the first full week of May each year) for years 1992 through 2005. 

BTMO member employers are requested to survey each full- and part-time employee during “Clean 

Air Week” to determine commute behavior. Employer information is then given to the BTMO, 

which enables the BTMO to release an annual collective BTMO membership public report. Other 

employer data provided to the BTMO (especially during years 1989 through 1991) is related to the 

Air Quality Management District (“AQMD”) and only applies to large employers. After careful 

consideration, NREL determined the BTMO “Clean Air Week” employee data to be the most 

consistently collected and most appropriate for use as the baseline in its analysis of BTMO 

programming. 

The NREL analysis follows. The BTMO thanks NREL for its thoroughness but especially thanks and 

congratulates the entire BTMO membership, which has proven with its hard work and dedication that 

creative, collective, cost-effective programs are possible and can significantly improve traffic and our 

environment. 

Signed, 

BTMO Management 
Purpose of Analysis 

The Burbank Transportation Management Organization (BTMO), a private, membership-based, 

nonprofit organization dedicated to traffic reduction and air quality improvement, contracted 

with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a U.S. Department of Energy-owned, 

contractor-operated national laboratory, to analyze its member programs and their benefits and 

effects. This report uses trip data collected by the BTMO, and defines and implements a 

methodology for quantifying the following non-traffic benefits: 

• Gasoline savings (gallons avoided). Avoided gasoline use is the result of reduced trip 

frequency and length. The BTMO programs focus on single-driver commuter reductions 

and the avoidance of trips. As a result, there is a decreased demand for gasoline.1 

• Pollution-reduction impacts (CO, VOC, NOx, and CO2 equivalents avoided). Pollution 

reductions are the direct result of vehicles not running on the roads. Reductions 

contribute to the improvement of local air quality and decreased greenhouse gas 

emissions in the immediate and surrounding areas. 

• Productivity benefits (commute time savings). Time spent sitting in traffic is time one 

cannot spend elsewhere. The time gained by not sitting in traffic is a benefit. This benefit, 

depending on the use of the time saved by choosing an alternative to driving alone, is 

considered a quality-of-life benefit to either the commuter or the member company. This 

report does not quantify the distribution of the benefits. 

• Limited economic benefits (costs avoided). Reduced gasoline purchases and increased 

productivity have measurable economic benefits illustrating the impact of the program. 

Results Summary 

The benefits of the BTMO traffic-reduction programs are evaluated using data collected for 

years 1992 through 2005 and reported to the BTMO by its members. Table 1 illustrates the 

results of the analysis. For years 1992 through 2005, BTMO members reported a reduction of 68 

million trips, equating to an annual average reduction of 4.9 million trips. That trip reduction 

translates into an estimated cumulative 1 billion avoided vehicle miles traveled. The reduced 

number of trips results in avoided emissions of pollutants; which, when combined with vehicle 

technology improvements, include reductions of 1,400 tons of nitrogen oxides, 21,000 tons of 

carbon monoxide, and 2,100 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Emissions impacts can 

also be measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq), a useful metric in terms of climate 

change. Based on the number of gallons of gasoline not used as a result of member company 

participation, the cumulative CO2eq emissions avoided are approximately 425,000 tons. 

Benefits of member-company participation in the BTMO trip-reduction programs can also be 

quantified by estimating increased employee productivity and gasoline cost savings for the same 

time period. Employee productivity increased directly (in terms of hours) and indirectly (in terms 

of implied cost savings). Direct benefits are measured in terms of time saved for commuters not 

making solo vehicular trips, but rather choosing to travel by public transportation, carpooling, 

 

1

 Analysis assumes all vehicles are gasoline powered. 

3 
vanpooling, walking, biking, working a flex-time schedule, or telecommuting – thus, spending 

less time in traffic and increasing productivity by using the saved time as productive time. From 

1992 through 2005, the estimated direct productivity savings are 42 million hours. The 

equivalent estimated indirect cost savings for the same time period are $584 million, and the 

gasoline cost savings to commuters are estimated to be $74 million. Thus, there is a cumulative 

estimated cost savings of more than $658 million. Note that these estimates are not specific to 

any member company or the commuter, but assume that the full amount of time and money 

saved by not commuting alone is not spent commuting at different times or through different 

modes of travel. 

Table 1. Summary Benefits of BTMO Trip-Reduction Programs (1992-2005) 

Metric Average Annual Cumulative Total 

Trips Reduced (one way) 4,900,000 68,000,000

Vehicle Miles Traveled2 Reduction 

(miles) 

78,000,000 1,090,000,000

CO 660 9,300

NOx 60 840

VOC 79 1,100

Pollutants 

Avoided (tons)* 

CO2eq 30,400 425,000

Gasoline Savings (gal.) 3,000,000 44,000,000

Employee Productivity (hours) 3,000,000 42,000,000

Economic Benefits** ($) 47,000,000 658,000,000

*Emissions from CO, NOx, and VOC are not additive with CO2eq emissions, 

because the methodology for determining CO2eq incorporates all emissions avoided 

from avoided gasoline combustion. Global climate change is conventionally 

measured by combining pollutants into their carbon dioxide equivalence (CO2eq) 

using a weighting system for different pollutants based on their atmospheric impact. 

Emissions reported result only from the BTMO program, not technology 

developments (identified in the text). Methodologies and overall emissions from 

combined BTMO program and technology improvements are listed in detail in the 

body of the report. 

**Includes both gasoline savings and productivity savings (estimated time saved). 

While the data used as the basis for this study is the most consistently collected data available, it 

is limited in its direct use. For example, the data collected was targeted at measuring traffic 

congestion reductions during the 4-6 p.m. peak traffic hours. Because the BTMO data collection 

survey was not designed to measure ancillary impacts such as gasoline savings or emissions 

reductions, the results presented here are preliminary and based on extrapolations from the 4-6 

p.m. time period data collected each year during “Clean Air Week” (the first full week of May). 

While this analysis does not address the benefits to the general Southern California population 

resulting from the BTMO trip-reduction programs, traffic reductions do have ancillary benefits 

such as increased productive time and less automobile idling time (leading to gasoline savings 

 

2

 Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is a measurement of the average number of miles traveled by vehicles in a given 

area (Burbank and the surrounding areas, in this case). 

4 
and pollution reductions). The benefits of the BTMO activities to nonmembers, Burbank 

residents, and others in the Los Angeles area are not measured in this report. The 

recommendations listed at the end of this report identify strategies for maximizing and accurately 

documenting the ancillary benefits of the BTMO programs. 

BTMO Program Benefits 

Reductions in BTMO member-company average daily trips are shown in Figure 1. Fluctuations 

in the data result from a number of external and internal factors. Externally, data fluctuations 

result from changing gas prices and employee population changes within each member company. 

Internal factors affecting the analysis include changes in BTMO programs and data collection. 

For example, trip reductions increased in 1998, when the BTMO began requesting member 

companies in the Downtown Redevelopment Area [Burbank Center Plan (BCP)] to survey 

employees and be included in the BTMO data collection. Another example is from 2003, when 

data collection methods were expanded and updated to include more descriptive land-use types 

(i.e., retail categories were no longer generalized), which may have had an impact on the raw 

data. While not specifically measured in this report, the change in data collection and reporting 

categories may have an impact on the evaluation of benefits. Recommendations regarding future 

data collection to account for these issues are listed at the end of this report. Results based on this 

data should be qualified with the base-data uncertainties.

6,346

7,180

9,298

5,518

8,075

9,718

12,562

11,378 11,172

8,254

11,672

13,391

14,196

12,863

-

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Year

Average Daily Trips Reduced

MDSP

BCP

Total

Figure 1. Average Daily Trips Reduced by BTMO Member-Company Employees

5 
A reduction in solo-driver commuter trips is a benefit not only to BTMO member companies and 

their employees, but also a benefit to the community and the region. This report uses the trip data 

collected by the BTMO, and defines and implements a methodology for quantify the following 

non-traffic benefits: 

• Gasoline savings (gallons avoided). Avoided gasoline use is the result of reduced trip 

frequency and length. The BTMO programs focus on single-driver commuter reductions 

and the avoidance of trips. As a result, demand for gasoline is avoided through the 

BTMO programs.3

 

• Pollution-reduction impacts (CO, VOC, NOx, and CO2 equivalents avoided). Pollution 

reductions are the direct result of vehicles not running on the roads. Reductions 

contribute to the improvement of local air quality and decreased greenhouse gas 

emissions in the immediate and surrounding areas. 

• Productivity benefits (commute time savings). Time spent sitting in traffic is time one 

cannot spend elsewhere. The time not sitting in traffic is a benefit. This benefit, 

depending on the use of the time saved by choosing an alternative to driving alone, is 

considered a quality-of-life benefit to either the commuter or the member company. This 

report does not quantify the distribution of the benefits, but the total time savings. 

• Limited economic benefits (costs avoided). Avoided gasoline purchases and increased 

productivity have measurable economic benefits illustrating the impact of the program. 

To determine the program benefits for the BTMO trip-reduction programs, the number of travel 

miles avoided must be calculated to quantify multiple benefits. To do so, it is assumed that a trip 

avoided between 4 and 6 p.m. mirrors a morning trip avoided, and the five-day employee data 

submitted by each member company to the BTMO is reflective of employee-commute activity 

for an annual work year consisting of 240 days. A trip, then, is defined as a one-way, solo-driver 

vehicle commute. The resulting cumulative number of trips avoided is 68 million (1992 through 

2005), an average of 4.9 million trips reduced annually (Figure 2). 

 

3

 Analysis assumes all vehicles are gasoline powered. 

6 
3.0

6.5

11.0

13.6

17.5

22.1

28.2

34.3

39.8

53.1

58.4

62.4

68.0

46.2

-

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Year

Cumulative Trips Reduced (millions)

MDSP

BCP

Total

Figure 2. Cumulative Trip Reductions Attributed to BTMO Member-Company Employees 

The number of trips avoided, coupled with average trip length, provides the measurement for the 

total number of avoided vehicle miles traveled (VMT). VMT is useful in measuring program 

impact, because the average number of miles traveled per vehicle correlates to a reduction in 

emissions, congestion, and gasoline consumption (see following sections). VMT reduction 

estimates are developed by multiplying the number of trips avoided by the average distance per 

trip. 

To determine the average distance per trip, population-weighted ZIP code data was used in 

conjunction with a geographic information system (GIS) to calculate estimates of straight-line 

distances from employees’ home areas to central Burbank. By excluding locations farther than 

50 miles as outliers, the estimated average straight-line commuting distance is 12 miles. This 

report assumes an estimated real-world driving distance of 1.26 times the straight-line distance,4

or an average one-way commuting distance of 16 miles for BTMO-member employees.5

 

The total-trip (a trip is defined as a one-way, or one-half of a daily commute) employee travel 

distance is estimated to be 16 VMT. To determine the number of miles avoided, the total trips

were multiplied by this 16-mile average, with results shown in Figure 3. The total VMT avoided 

 

4

 To convert from straight-line distance to “real-world” driving distances, a random sample of ZIP codes was 

selected and run through a driving-directions program. 

5

 This is comparable to other methodologies, including the 1999 State of the Commute (SCAG 2000), which 

reported a mean driving distance for employees of 16.2 miles. 

7 
is more than 1 billion miles for 1992 through 2005. This is an average of 78 million miles 

avoided annually. 

49

104

175

218

280

354

451

550

637

740

849

935

998

1088

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Year

Cumulative VMT Avoided (millions)

MDSP

BCP

Total

Figure 3. Cumulative VMT Reductions Attributed to BTMO-Member Companies 

This understanding of trips and VMT avoided allows for a more direct connection to non-traffic 

impacts of the BTMO programs. The following sections address the methodology for 

determining the following benefits: 

• Gasoline-consumption savings: gallons and cost avoided 

• Pollution-reduction impacts: equivalent CO2 emissions reductions 

• Productivity benefits: commuting time avoided 

• Limited economic benefits: costs avoided 

Gasoline Consumption Avoided 

Due to increasing concerns regarding the U.S. dependence on foreign oil and increasing gasoline 

prices, effective traffic-reduction programs are important to document. To measure the impact of 

BTMO programs on gasoline consumption, annual gasoline savings were estimated based on 

BTMO member-company annual traffic-reduction reports, along with an assumed average oneway trip commute of 16 miles. Using average fuel-economy estimates for cars and trucks (DOE 

2004) it is estimated that the average annual avoided gasoline consumption due to the BTMO 

activities is about 1 million barrels (44 million gallons). Table 2 shows the annual gasoline 

gallons avoided. 

8 
Table 2. Annual Gallons Gasoline Avoided 

Year Gallons Avoided 

1992 1,941,724 

1993 2,188,190 

1994 2,891,038 

1995 1,701,937 

1996 2,490,602 

1997 3,033,912 

1998 3,905,917 

1999 4,032,157 

2000 3,523,510 

2001 4,197,669 

2002 4,413,979 

2003 3,432,038 

2004 2,566,426 

2005 3,557,181 

Cumulative Total 43,876,281 

Pollution Reduction Impacts: VOC, CO, NOx, and CO2eq avoided 

The combustion of fossil fuel in vehicles results in the emission of multiple pollutants. The 

primary pollutant emissions are VOC, CO, and NOx. Another useful metric, CO2eq, measures 

the combined pollutant emissions produced by the carbon content in the fuel being burned (EPA 

2005). CO2eq is the conventional metric used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 

(IPCC) – the body of the World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Environment 

Program that studies climate change – to measure the suite of pollutants responsible for climate 

change. In this report, the emissions-avoidance benefits of the BTMO programs are measured 

two ways: through the primary individual pollutants and collectively through CO2eq. Because of 

the comprehensive nature of the CO2eq metric in terms of combustion of fossil fuels, the 

numbers are not additive. 

Avoided CO, VOC, and NOx emissions resulting from BTMO programs are calculated in a twostep process. First, annual emission factors from the South Coast Air Quality Management 

District (SCAQMD)6

 in pounds per mile are used to determine the total amount of pollution 

reduced, due to avoided vehicle miles traveled. Second, estimated pollution reductions are 

adjusted to reflect the increasing cleanliness of all California vehicles from1992 through 2005, 

due to technology improvements.7

 Average annual and cumulative BTMO-member company 

specific results are illustrated by pollutant type in Table 3. The annual CO, VOC, and NOx 

emissions reductions achieved by BTMO member-company employees and technology changes 

can be seen in the figures included with Table 3. 

 

6

 Burbank is located within SCAQMD. 

7

 Using 1992 as the base year, the difference between emission rates in vehicles increases over time as a result of 

improved vehicle technology (SCAQMD). The emission reductions resulting from technology improvements are 

calculated as the change in emissions between how much each vehicle would have emitted, if there were no 

technological improvement from 1992 forward. 

9 
Table 3. Annual average and cumulative 

pollutant reductions attributed to BTMOmember company efforts (1992-2005) 

Pollutant Annual Average 

Reduction (tons) 

Cumulative 

reduction 

(tons) 

VOC 79 1,100 

CO 664 9,300 

NOx 60 843 -

50

100

150

200

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Year

Tons VOC Avoided

Technology Change

BTMO

-

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Year

Tons Nox Avoided

Technology Change

Trip Reductions

-

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Year

Tons CO Avoided

Technology Change

BTMO

Pollution-Reduction Impacts: Equivalent CO2 Emissions Avoided 

Gasoline combustion results in the production of multiple pollutants. Previously developed 

methodologies (see EPA 2005) allow for the expression of these pollutant impacts through a 

single metric – carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) – allowing for comparison between fuels, 

technologies, and outputs in terms of climate change impacts. There are an estimated 19.4 

pounds of CO2eq in every gallon of gasoline combusted in mobile sources (EPA 2005). Based on 

the volume of gasoline avoided as a result of the trip-reduction programs, the emissions avoided 

represent approximately 425,000 tons of CO2eq (Table 4 includes annual tonnage offset) or an 

average of more than 30,000 tons per year. Contextually, this cumulative amount of CO2eq is 

comparable to planting 119,000 acres of trees over the life of the BTMO program. 

Productivity Benefits 

Direct productivity time impacts are expressed in commuting hours avoided. Based on an 

average one-way commute time of 32.5 minutes,8

 the total direct productivity time as a result of 

the BTMO traffic-reduction programs from 1992 through 2005 is 32 million hours with an 

annual average savings of more than 3 million hours. 

 

8

 SCAG 2000 reports a round-trip travel time of 75 minutes, based on a 32-mile, round-trip commute. This translates 

to a 32.5 minute, 16-mile, one-way commute. 

10 
Table 4. Annual CO2 equivalents avoided 

Year CO2 eq reduced (tons) 

1992 18,800 

1993 21,200 

1994 28,000 

1995 16,500 

1996 24,200 

1997 29,400 

1998 37,900 

1999 39,100 

2000 34,200 

2001 40,700 

2002 42,800 

2003 33,300 

2004 24,900 

2005 34,500 

Cumulative Total 425,600 

Note: Total may differ from sum of annual numbers, 

as a result of rounding. 

Economic Benefits: Gasoline and Productivity Benefits 

Because each hour of an individual’s time has a market value, each hour spent in traffic 

congestion represents a cost. Average traveler’s time is estimated to be worth $13.75 per hour 

(Schrank and Lomax 2005).9 The average one-way commute time is assumed to be 32.5 minutes, 

based on estimates for southern California (SCAG 2000). Based on a total of 32 million hours 

avoided for member-company employees over the life of the programs, the program nets $584 

million in economic productivity benefits. 

Avoided gasoline consumption also results in cost savings for BTMO member-company 

employees. To quantify the benefit, the number of gallons not consumed annually is multiplied 

by southern California average annual gas prices from 1992 through 2005 (CEC 2005). This 

results in a cumulative savings of more than $74 million and an average annual savings of $5.3 

million.10

Other Potential Benefits 

There are other potential benefits that can be defined and quantified for BTMO members and 

stakeholders, including the economic benefits of infrastructure improvement and the impact of 

reduced congestion on nonmember companies. These further benefits, as well as the ones 

quantified in this report, could be greatly improved if data collection was geared more toward 

quantifying them as well as straight traffic reductions. Further, calculating actual reductions in 

trips from one year to the next, instead of resetting the baseline each year, would allow for a 

more rigorous assessment of pollution reduction – especially important in a market where carbon 

reductions have an economic value. 

 

9

 2003 estimate, the most recent year for data availability 

10 For consistency, annual savings is converted to 2005 equivalent dollars. 

11 
Recommendations 

The results of this evaluation show costs avoided, pollutant reduction, and congestion-reduction 

benefits resulting from the Burbank Transportation Management Organization’s programs, 

specifically its demand-management and congestion-reduction programs in Burbank, California, 

for which it provided annual member data. This report focuses on the outcomes of the programs. 

It is important to emphasize that the benefits reported here are a result of the current program 

structure and the data available for analysis. 

The following recommendations fall into two categories: program recommendations, and 

measurement and verification recommendations. Program recommendations target the 

continuation of the current cooperation between the parties involved to maintain current trafficreduction and cost-savings accomplishments and expand these into the future. The measurement 

and verification recommendations target the specifics of expanding and improving data 

identification and collection to more effectively measure program activity and benefits. By 

expanding the current data collection, it will be easier to collect and analyze information 

concerning emissions reductions, gas savings, and employee productivity improvements. If 

implemented, these recommendations could achieve continued savings as well as easier 

quantification and reporting of program benefits, increased credibility, and verification of 

savings. 

Programmatic Recommendations

• The Importance of Continued Efforts. The analysis here indicates measurable benefits; 

and given the magnitude of those, the BTMO should consider continuation of its efforts. It 

is clear from this report that the current BTMO traffic-reduction programs are successful in 

reducing traffic congestion, vehicle miles traveled, and emissions from mobile sources. 

Some BTMO-member companies have reported relatively high rates of employee turnover 

(especially in restaurant and retail environments), creating a need for continued education 

of new employees just to maintain the current employee traffic reductions and cost savings. 

Continued efforts by the BTMO will provide for maintenance of current reductions 

achieved and the opportunity for greater long-term savings. 

• Program Expansion. In addition to continuing the BTMO trip-reduction member 

programs, expanding the BTMO suite of programs provides an opportunity for greater and 

more targeted cost and fuel savings, based on the information to which the BTMO already 

has access. For example, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) study of employee 

travel patterns may reveal local opportunities to reduce trips, such as areas of high 

employee density that would be more conducive to vanpools or increased busing services. 

We recommend that BTMO explore and expand options to meet traffic/congestion 

reduction, continue to include air quality improvements (SCAQMD Rule 220211) data in its 

employer/employee surveys, and target members whose employee work schedules are 

conducive to implementing specific transportation demand-management and air quality 

programs such as telecommuting and compressed workweeks. 

 

11 For more information: http://ozone.aqmd.gov/trans/aqip.html 

12 
Evaluation Improvements 

• Increased Programmatic Feedback. We recommend the BTMO continue to keep open 

communication with its members to obtain information (which can be shared among its 

members only and, where appropriate, publicly) regarding the successes and failures of 

member-specific programs. Periodic surveys could be used to obtain this information. The 

information collected could be compiled into a “Best Practices” guide for employers and 

serve multiple purposes, to: 

• increase programmatic feedback to member companies,

• measure program success, 

• identify areas where addition

top management involvement in traffic-reduction activities.), and

promote the success of companies having a positive impact on the e

al activities would be most beneficial (e.g., increased 

• nvironment

• Data Collection

 a 

d 

ver, we recommend that the 

 to 

s 

O. 

mpanies will submit employee commute information through a 

n 

. One of the challenges in this analysis was extrapolating from a very 

small-scope survey over a long-term program. The current data collection formula uses

one-week, 4 to 6 p.m. survey. This method of data collection minimizes the burden on the

BTMO member, but it is important to the continued success of the BTMO programs to 

understand the larger traffic patterns in the area, especially for credible measurement an

verification of benefits, especially emissions reductions. 

To maintain a minimal burden on the BTMO member, howe

weeklong survey be maintained, but that the BTMO asks its members to report all data 

collected for employees rather than just the 4 to 6 p.m. commute information. As it is 

currently understood by NREL, BTMO-member companies already request employees

report their arrival and departure times by mode of travel for the week, but that only the 4 

to 6 p.m. activity is reported to the BTMO. If all commutes are collected by many member

companies, and reported to the BTMO, there will be a better and clearer understanding of 

the total commute activity occurring. While the BTMO may not need to publicly report thi

information, the new data will enable the BTMO and its members to know the actual traffic 

reduction, air quality, and other benefits occurring as a result of the BTMO programs. 

Thus, this recommendation specifically addresses the reporting mechanism to the BTM

The benefit of this formula is the larger coverage of commuters and the clearer picture of 

travel patterns in Burbank. 

Ideally, BTMO-member co

Web-based system that could collect and compile daily data. This type of data collection 

would allow BTMO members to identify changes in employee commute behavior based o

seasonal and economic factors as well as document, in real time, the specific impacts of 

BTMO programs. 

13 
References 

[BTMO] Burbank Transportation Management Organization, trip-reduction program results data.

[Burbank] City of Burbank, California. Department of Planning. Local Area Specific Plan 

Descriptions. http://www.burbankca.org/planning/specificplans.htm 

[CEC] California Energy Commission. 2005. Gasoline Prices per Gallon 1970 to 2005. URL: 

http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/gasoline_cpi_adjusted.html, accessed 

6/23/2006. 

[DOE] U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “Transportation Energy 

Data Book” (ORNL-6973), Edition 24, December 2004. 

[EPA] Environmental Protection Agency. 2005. Metrics for Expressing Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions: Carbon Equivalents and Carbon Dioxide Equivalents. EPA420-F-05-002. 

Washington, D.C.: EPA 

Schrank, D. and Tim Lomax. 2005. The 2005 Urban Mobility Report. Texas Transportation 

Institute, The Texas A&M University System: Texas. 

[SCAG] Southern California Association of Governments, Southern California Rideshare. 2000. 

1999 State of the Commute Report. SCAG: Los Angeles, Ca. 

14 
F1147-E(12/2004) 

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved 

OMB No. 0704-0188

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, 

gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 

collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Executive Services and Communications Directorate (0704-0188). Respondents 

should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ORGANIZATION.

1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY)

November 2006 

2. REPORT TYPE

Technical Report 

3. DATES COVERED (From - To)

 

5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

DE-AC36-99-GO10337 

5b. GRANT NUMBER

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Burbank Transportation Management Organization: 

Impact Analysis 

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER

5d. PROJECT NUMBER

NREL/TP-640-40507 

5e. TASK NUMBER

WW98.1000 

6. AUTHOR(S)

E. Brown and J. Aabakken 

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Blvd. 

Golden, CO 80401-3393 

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION 

REPORT NUMBER

NREL/TP-640-40507 

10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)

NREL 

9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

11. SPONSORING/MONITORING 

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

National Technical Information Service 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

14. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 Words)

The Burbank Transportation Management Organization (BTMO), a private, membership-based, nonprofit 

organization dedicated to traffic reduction and air quality improvement, contracted with the National Renewable 

Energy Laboratory (NREL), a U.S. Department of Energy-owned, contractor-operated national laboratory, to analyze 

its member programs and their benefits and effects. This report uses trip data collected by the BTMO, and defines 

and implements a methodology for quantifying non-traffic benefits such as gasoline savings, productivity, and 

pollution reduction. 

15. SUBJECT TERMS

Burbank Transportation Management Organization; BTMO; analysis; transportation; consumers; energy; oil; 

gasoline; fuel; fuel-efficient vehicles; gas prices; trip reduction; vehicle miles traveled; carpool; parking; 

telecommuting; traffic reduction; Jørn Aabakken; Elizabeth Brown. 

16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON 

a. REPORT 

Unclassified 

b. ABSTRACT 

Unclassified

c. THIS PAGE 

Unclassified

17. LIMITATION 

OF ABSTRACT

UL 

18. NUMBER 

OF PAGES 

19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code)

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) 

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18