What if there was a magic wand solution to reduce congestion on Jackson’s roads? What if it had a high benefit/cost ratio, was optional for participation, and even improved public health? Sound too good to be true? Please join Friends of Pathways to learn how it’s being done in the US and around the globe.

Randy Salzman, a transportation demand management advocate from Oxford University in the United Kingdom and Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, will be speaking in Jackson on June 16^th about the innovative Travel Smart program. Mr. Salzman’s presentation will illustrate how Jackson could decrease congestion, reduce vehicle miles traveled and the need for more 5-lane roads, help address our oil dependency, save on health care costs – all while improving our way of life.

Although our love affair with the automobile is under siege, most of us can’t imagine voluntarily backing away from the steering wheel. But lessons from Australia’s Car Culture Down Under – a nation with greater per-capita automobile ownership and even more wide open spaces that Wyoming – indicates that we can decrease vehicle miles traveled up to 13 percent annually and enjoy life more in the process. 

Most policy makers recognize the Catch 22 of American driving: build more roads and people drive more. But Travel Smart models how to help Americans re-learn the benefits and joys of alternative transportation. Besides decreasing vehicle miles traveled by an average of 13 percent annually, Travel Smart proponents receive countless compliments from citizens for the program, which generates a 67 to 1 benefit-cost ratio.

Friends of Pathways is a local nonprofit that works closely with the Town of Jackson and Teton County governments, the Wyoming Department of Transportation, businesses, and other nonprofits to promote a complete pathways system, safer streets and great trails for Jackson Hole.

For more information please contact the Friends of Pathways office:  info@friendsofpathways.org, 307-733-4534.