Shall it be necessary to use centralised economic, technical and administrative control instruments in order to make traffic environmentally sound and sustainable in the long term? Or is it possible to use information and education as a means of control at the grassroots level to achieve changes in travel habits and travel patterns? These questions will be addressed in this paper. The point of departure is a project in progress concerning environmentally adapted traffic in a small town, which the Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) is conducting in association with the relevant municipal authorities. This paper is not an evaluation of the project. Rather, it is a description of the fundamental ideas in the project and an analysis of a process that is based partially on interim evaluations and reports already published, as well as the authors' own experience within the project in their respective capacities as SNRA project manager and expert methodology advisor.