Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2007, pp. 139--153 Travel Demand Management Targeting Reduced Private Car Use: Effectiveness, Public Acceptability and Political Feasibility Tommy G¨ arling ∗ G¨ oteborg University Geertje Schuitema University of Groningen The private car is fast, comfortable, and convenient. However, worldwide mas- sive car use causes serious environmental problems. Although breakthroughs in clean automobile technology may be under way, reducing car use seems neces- sary in order to achieve a sustainable transportation system. Several travel demand management (TDM) measures have therefore been proposed and some have been implemented with this aim. The article reviews research addressing the question of how effective, acceptable to the public, and politically feasible such measures are. The conclusion is that noncoercive TDM measures alone are unlikely to be effective in reducing car use. Therefore, coercive TDM measures such as increas- ing cost for or prohibiting car use may be necessary but are difficult to implement because of public opposition and political infeasibility. If combined with nonco- ercive TDM measures providing attractive travel alternatives and communicating the benefits of car-use reduction to the public, coercive TDM measures are likely to become more effective, acceptable, and politically feasible. Car traffic has increased rapidly during the last decades (OECD, 2001). In the OECD countries the number of cars increased from 411 million in 1980 to 688 millions in 1998, and the total number of kilometers traveled in private cars increased from 4,924 billion kilometers in 1990 to 8,472 billion kilometers in 1998. Worldwide 11,000 billion kilometers were annually traveled in motor vehicles in ∗ Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tommy G¨ arling, Depart- ment of Psychology, G¨ oteborg University, P.O. Box 500, SE-405 30 G¨ oteborg, Sweden [e-mail: Tommy.Garling@psy.gu.se]. 139 C  2007 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues