Recent its items

California Can Improve Access to Electric Vehicle Charging By Incorporating Equity, Price, and Grid Readiness Data

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As California transitions to electric vehicles (EVs), ensuring equitable access to public charging remains a challenge. While the state and utilities have invested heavily in new charging infrastructure, simply counting stations does not show whether the network is reliable, affordable, and accessible, particularly for vulnerable populations and renters without home charging options. As of March 2025, California had installed about 178,549 public and shared- private chargers, including roughly 17,000 DC fast chargers. The California Energy Commission projects a need for about 1.01 million chargers by 2030 to support 7.5 million zero-emission vehicles.

Jaywalking in California: History, Pedestrian Safety Trends, Law Enforcement Patterns, and Decriminalization Legislation

Fri, 5 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report investigates jaywalking laws in connection with traffic safety, racial equity, and street design, focusing on California. It traces the concept of "jaywalking" to an early 20th-century auto industry campaign to shift safety responsibility from drivers to pedestrians. By analyzing national and California pedestrian injury and fatality data (2009–2022) alongside California Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) police stop data (2018–2022), the study describes demographic disparities in both pedestrian crashes and law enforcement of jaywalking. It also documents recent legislative efforts in California and other states and cities to decriminalize or reform jaywalking enforcement. Findings show that pedestrian fatalities reached a 40 year high in 2022, with California’s rates consistently exceeding the national average. Significant racial and economic disparities exist: Black pedestrians experience fatality rates multiple times those of White pedestrians, and lower-income...

Tools for Demand-Supply Assessment of EV Charging Infrastructure and Strategy Evaluation of Smart Charging

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

California’s transition to electric vehicles (EVs) requires more than additional charger counts. Public charging must be accessible, affordable, and reliable where people actually live and travel. This report presents a geospatial dashboard and time-series toolkit for the nine Bay Area counties that maps public charging stations, tracks price and charging-port status at 10-minute intervals, and identifies disadvantaged community (DAC) census tracts using the joint U.S. Department of Energy/U.S. Department of Transportation/National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (DOE/DOT/NEVI) framework. The tool reports charger availability, utilization, pricing, reliability, and average session cost, and supports equity metrics such as ports per 1,000 residents or renters, travel time to a direct-current fast charger, and tract-levelcomparisons between DAC and non-DAC areas. It also supports early screening of sites for Level-3 fast chargers by identifying locations that appear feasible from...

Accelerating Transportation Innovation in California

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Mobility 10x Summit convened more than 200 leaders from state agencies, regional governments, academia, and industry to accelerate California’s transition toward a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable transportation system. As the capstone event of the Resilient and Innovative Mobility Initiative (RIMI)—a four‐year UC ITS research effort launched in 2021—the summit synthesized extensive research and practitioner insights across ten priority transportation topics, ranging from public transit to automation and carbon-neutraltransportation to equity, safety, and resilience.Across the opening and closing plenary discussions and nine breakout sessions, participants examined the structural challenges facing California’s transportation system: declining gas tax revenues, climate‐driven infrastructure damage, uneven public transit ridership recovery, inequitable access to mobility options, and rapid technological change. These challenges are converging at a moment when California...

Policies to Improve Transportation Sustainability, Accessibility, and Housing Affordability in the State of California

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents analytical review of empirical research on the interactions between housing availability and production, and travel behavior, accessibility, land use policies, and transportation policies. It identifies lessons from this review for California state legislative efforts to improve housing and transportation linkages, and to increase both transportation sustainability and housing affordability. Relevant California state efforts include legislation to influence parking standards; to require up-zoning near transit stations; to influence regional housing and transportation planning goals; and to change environmental review to focus on reducing vehicle miles traveled instead of accommodating road traffic.

Child Restraint Use: Workbook and Guide for Evaluating Community-based Programs

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The leading cause of injury and death for children in California is motor vehicle crashes. To prevent these needless tragedies, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, funds child passenger safety programs throughout the state. This workbook is designed to be used by these local programs to 1) evaluate the impact of their activities on child restraint use, 2) evaluate results to improve or modify the programs as needed, and 3) meet contractual evaluation requirements. Program evaluations can be difficult for local programs due to high service demands and limited resources. We hope this guide supports local programs and agencies by providing the evaluation method and tools. A before-and-after study design is described that measures restraint use before the intervention occurs (to provide a baseline rate) and then after the intervention (to document any change). The UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center will offer direct...

Bicycle Helmet Use: Workbook and Guide for Evaluating Community-Based Programs

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Two thirds of bicycle deaths occur as a result of traumatic brain injury; 88% of these injuries can be prevented by a helmet. In 1994, the State of California passed a law requiring all bicyclists under the age of 18 to wear helmets. Despite these legal obligations, many bicyclists still do not wear helmets. The estimates of bicycle helmet use is disparate throughout the state, with some communities reporting up to 80% use and others, especially inner-city areas, reporting less than 10% use.

The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) provides grants for bicycle helmet education programs led by local community organizations. The Traffic Safety Center (TSC) at the University of California, Berkeley, contracted with OTS to develop a set of instructions specifically for these community organizations to measure the impact of their safety intervention program. The instructions presented in this guide are designed to be used by these local programs to 1) evaluate the impact...

Using Time-Based Metrics to Compare Crash Risk Across Modes and Locations

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this work is to identify better metrics of exposure when comparing traffic crash risk across modes or across locations. We propose that total time travelled should be used for road user exposure to crash risk. The idea behind this is that travel time reflects the differences in speeds across different modes and hence should be used as the basic exposure metric from which crash risk based on other metrics, such as travel distance, can easily be derived. We also propose that when comparing crash risk of different modes across different locations the time-based mode share should be used as an explanatory variable. By using mode share we are generalizing the safety in numbers concept which focuses on absolute numbers. This work presents a discussion on why these two metrics were chosen and how they are different from the commonly used metrics. Quantitative evidence for the choice of time-based metrics is also presented using travel survey data to compare crash risk...

Motor vehicle speed as a risk factor in pedestrian safety

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Speed is a significant risk factor in road safety. Several recent reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) highlight the need for a greater focus on speed management at the national, state and local level. As part of our Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program (CPBSP), UC Berkeley SafeTREC has prepared a new research brief, "Motor vehicle speed as a risk factor in pedestrian safety" summarizing some of the findings from these reports, as they relate to pedestrian safety

Transportation and Health: Policy Interventions for Safer, Healthier People and Communities

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The public road system in the U.S. is the world’s busiest, sustaining more than 3 trillion vehiclemiles of travel each year on a network of more than 4 million miles of roads and highways. It has had enormous positive impacts on U.S. society, driving economic growth and innovation, providing mobility and opportunity to its users, and helping the U.S. maintain its global economic competitiveness. This system was built with a focus on motor vehicles; only recently has substantial funding and attention been given to transit, walking, and bicycling. There is still a huge disparity in how we travel: between 1990 and 2009 the yearly vehicle-miles traveled for passenger cars and light-duty trucks increased by 39 percent; yearly motor fuel consumption rose 27 percent, to 168 billion gallons. And for those unable or unwilling to purchase and use a private automobile for transportation, there can be disparate access to economic opportunity, services, and social interaction. Enhancing multimodal...

Distributional Equity of Replacing Fuel Taxes with Vehicle Miles Traveled Fees: Evidence from Five San Francisco Bay Area Cities

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In a world where people are increasingly shifting from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles, revenue from state fuel taxes has continued to decline. This has prompted policymakers to consider alternative mechanisms to fund transportation infrastructure, including the introduction of a Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) fee. However, these changes may have distributional consequences. This study examines the geographical equity impacts of a VMT fee on residents of five cities in the San Francisco Bay Area and compares the financial burdens of a VMT fee and the existing fuel tax for households living in urban and rural settings. Household-level travel, income, and residential location data were obtained from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey. Four scenarios were evaluated: the current fuel tax, a static VMT fee, a dynamic VMT fee with modified elasticities, and a dynamic VMT fee using raw elasticities. Equity was assessed using the Gini Index. Results...

Safety Assessment of Uncontrolled Intersections Using Both Conflict Probability and Severity

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper presents a method to assess the safety of uncontrolled intersections considering both conflict probability and severity, which are two major properties of traffic conflicts. This method provides not only the safety level of the entire intersection but also the distribution of safety within intersections. Intersections are modelled by a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system and the internal space of intersections is divided into cells. Firstly, vehicle movement characteristics of at uncontrolled intersections are modelled. Secondly, conflict probability of each cell within the intersection is estimated considering approaching probability and lateral migration probability of vehicles. The quantification of conflict severity is based on kinetic energy loss of potential crashes. Grey cluster analysis is used to combine conflict probability and severity to model the safety assessment of each cell. Thirdly, the application of this method discussed, and an overall safety...

Using Variable Speed Limits To Reduce Rear-End Collision Risks Near Recurrent Bottlenecks

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Rear-end collisions would occur if vehicle speeds decrease abruptly when encountering kinematic waves (KWs) emanating from active bottlenecks. This study aims to develop a control strategy in variable speed limits (VSL) to reduce rear-end collision risks near recurrent bottlenecks. Using the crash prediction model developed for rear-end collisions related to risky KWs, the effectiveness of VSL control strategies were evaluated in the cell transmission model (CTM). Several strategies were tested in sequence to determine the best case for risk reduction. Results of this study show that the collision risk can be effectively reduced if the speed limit is lowered in an opportune occasion. The VSL needs to response quickly to the fast changing traffic condition while should simultaneously avoid the potential disturbance to the traffic. According to the simulation results, the following recommendations are made when implementing the VSL to improve safety situation near recurrent bottlenecks:...

Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Transportation Modes with Electricity, Biofuels, and Hydrogen

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Heavy-duty transportation modes including trucks, buses, and seaport and airport equipment are relatively hard to decarbonize because of their demanding performance requirements and other factors. The California Scoping Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality calls for carbon-neutral transportation across all modes by 2045, with different sectors reaching 100% zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales by earlier dates, depending on the type of vehicle (see EO N-79-20). For public transit buses, the state’s Innovative Clean Transit rule requires both large and small transit agencies to cease purchasing combustion engine buses in 2029 in favor of zero-emission (ZE) technologies, with a phased approach that has already commenced. However, for trucks, achieving the transition to ZEVs is more problematic as the state’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule is only applicable to government fleets at present, and the Clean Truck Partnership memorandum of understanding with truck manufacturers is effectively...

Customer-Oriented Open Data Can Help Make Transit More Accessible to Seniors and People with Disabilities

Mon, 6 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Ensuring equitable access to transportation services is critical for supporting the mobility needs of seniors and people with disabilities. In Contra Costa County, California, these populations face significant challenges in finding and using reliable and accessible transit—on demand microtransit services such as paratransit, and other multi-passenger/pooled shuttles or vans—due to the lack of a centralized up-to-date, customer-oriented informational system. These problems are compounded by the difficulties of arranging travel to multiple locations or scheduling trips with different mobility service providers (including paratransit agencies, community-based transit programs, and volunteer drivers programs).

Transportation Network Companies Could Be a Cost Effective Alternative to Microtransit in Low-Density Communities

Mon, 6 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Many suburban and rural communities struggle to provide affordable, efficient public transit. Some have replaced underused fixed-route, fixed-schedule public transit with on-demand, door-to-door microtransit services. In some cases, microtransit has provided better service, though it’s only economical when most trips serve multiple riders. In low-demand areas, limited ride consolidation drives costs sharply upward– often exceeding $50 per rider trip. Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), like Uber and Lyft, could help fill this gap. They already provide door-to-door service with extensive driver networks and low overhead. Yet most public-private pilot programs using TNCs to supplement or replace traditional transit have failed to last beyond their initial funding periods.

Customer-Oriented Open Data for Accessible Transit: A Case Study in Contra Costa County

Wed, 1 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report presents a set of proposed open data specifications for the development of an Operational Data Portal (ODP) to support customer-oriented “smart” apps for travelers with special needs, particularly seniors and people with disabilities, in Contra Costa County. The ODP would aggregate and organize data from various mobility service providers, individual riders, and community organizations to be accessed by software developers of digital trip planners, trip booking and scheduling services, passenger feedback mechanisms, and service performance evaluation tools. The report concludes that the establishment of an open data platform along with supporting applications will improve the riderexperience and facilitate operating efficiency and coordination among accessible transit providers. It recommends further research to align the proposed data specifications with emerging transportation data standards, enhance the integration of unstructured data, and develop inclusive systems...

Will California Lose Thousands of Affordable Homes Near Transit?

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

California faces the loss of thousands of affordable rental units in the coming decade as affordability restrictions—known as covenants—expire. These agreements, signed between housing developers and government agencies, typically last 15 to 30 years and require that units be rented at below-market rates. When covenants expire, owners can convert units to market-rate housing, often displacing lower-income families.In Southern California alone, over 17,000 affordable units are at risk of conversion, and nearly 70% of these units are located near high-quality transit. If the owners of these properties do not enter into new covenants, these units will be placed on the open market, likely leading to the displacement of lower-income residents to the urban outskirts, resulting in longer commutes and reduced access to reliable transit. To better understand the risk of losing affordable units, we analyzed historic data on affordable housing conversion and identified key factors that influence...

Driving Grid Readiness: Integrating Electric Vehicles into California’s Energy System

Fri, 6 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

California utilities and policymakers must ensure that the distribution grid is prepared for this new load, while maintaining reliable electricity service and keeping costs low for ratepayers. As the EV market evolves, the distribution grid must rapidly grow into a smarter, more flexible, and more agile system. With well-designed charging programs and new technologies, additional EV charging capacity holds the promise of creating downward pressure on electricity rates. Advances in technology can support this promise through greater vehicle-to-grid integration (VGI) (i.e., strategies for altering EV charging time, power level, or location of charging (or discharging) to benefit the grid), managed charging programs, and other tools to further merge EVs into California’s grid. VGI turns EVs into interactive grid resources, enabling not only new methods to manage consumer demand but also bi-directional charging (known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G)) that can enhance grid flexibility and...

Mapping the Potential of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles Across Transportation Sectors in California

Tue, 3 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report develops a transportation hydrogen roadmap for California projected to 2045, building on previous UC ITS work, in part for the ARCHES hydrogen hub for trucks and ports. This study adds modes such as airports, aircraft, rail systems, and fuel-cell light-duty vehicles. Based on a scenario of high adoption of hydrogen-fueled transport, these modes and sectors would use 1000 tonnes/day of hydrogen by 2035 and 5000 tonnes/day by 2045. To 2035, about 40% of the expected growth occurs in heavy-duty trucking. Another 20% is used by other truck types, about 20% by light-duty vehicles, and 20% by other modes, notably shipping and aviation. These shares remain similar to 2045. Trucking remains the dominant driver of demand. Shipping, aviation, and rail are not anticipated to account for an increasing share of demand in the scenarios in this study. This hydrogen fuel system would support around 6,000 jobs per year. Hydrogen vehicle adoption will depend on strong policy support,...

Vehicle Weight Safety Study Academic Report

Mon, 2 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Vehicle Weight Safety Study provides supporting analysis for the California Transportation Commission’s study on therelationship between vehicle weight and road user injury and roadway degradation required by Assembly Bill (AB) 251, which was signed by the Governor in October 2023. To inform the work of the CTC, this report summarizes trends of road user injuries and fatalities in California and potential factors contributing to these trends (Chapter 2); summarizes trends in vehicle weight, size, and height for registered vehicles in California (Chapter 3); documents the landscape of policy solutions focused on vehicle size that might address California’s road user injuries and fatality challenge (Chapter 4); analyzes the impact of potential weight-based fees on consumer vehicle purchasing behavior (Chapter 5); and, analyzes the relationship between shifts in passenger vehicle weight and degradation of road infrastructure (Chapter 6).

Life-Cycle Emissions and Economic Analysis Tool for Hydrogen Production and Distribution Pathways for Road Transportation in California (CA-LCA-H2)

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The CA-LCA-H2 tool performs a cost and greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant emissions assessment for a hydrogen project in California by selecting the operating region and mode of production and distribution of the hydrogen through to a fuel cell trucking use case. The cost of clean hydrogen production can change significantly from the choice of production method due to the respective energy and capital costs, and in the case of electrolysis, the electricity source. The regional variations in the electricity mix can significantly affect the carbon intensity of the hydrogen produced. These components then contribute to the potential effectiveness of hydrogen as a low-carbon fuel for the use case assessment.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Drayage Trucks Can Advance California’s Climate Goals and Provide Health Benefits for Front Line Communities

Tue, 3 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

California has ambitious goals to introduce zero-emission technologies across various transportation sectors. Significant progress has been made over the past decades in deploying battery electric light-duty trucks, but heavy-duty diesel trucks are harder to “decarbonize” due to their operational demands and duty cycles, even though the benefits of replacing heavily polluting diesel trucks are significant. Front line communities where diesel vehicles operate the most, especially those near seaports and warehouses, bear the brunt of the pollution from these vehicles and stand to benefit the most from their electrification. Hydrogen fuel cell technology represents a promising approach for transitioning these trucks to zero-emission but the costs and benefits over time must be carefully considered.

Partnering with Transportation Network Companies to Serve Low-Density Communities

Mon, 2 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study addresses the persistent challenge of delivering cost-effective, high-quality on-demand transit in low-density communities. Traditional microtransit services often struggle in such areas due to high fixed costs and limited opportunities to consolidate trips, while community partnerships with transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft are typically avoided due to concerns over data transparency and limited community control. To bridge this gap, we propose a new business plan for cooperative TNC partnerships, in which a community-appointed service manager coordinates trip requests, distributes financial incentives to attract drivers to the community from nearby high-demand areas, and leverages the TNC’s existing digital infrastructure for driver dispatch and routing. We evaluate this business plan through case studies of three Northern California communities presently served by microtransit, comparing microtransit’s measured performance against the predicted...

What Should Agencies Measure to Decide If Microtransit Is Working?

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

California state agencies, public transit agencies, and cities have invested in dozens of microtransit pilot programs, often with the stated goals of improving access, filling gaps in fixed-route public transit service, and serving communities that are difficult to reach by traditional bus or rail. As microtransit services mature, agencies increasingly face decisions about whether to expand, modify, or discontinue microtransit services—and how to allocate scarce operating funds across competing transit priorities.Despite growing investment, there is no consistent approach to measuring whether microtransit services are delivering meaningful benefits relative to their costs, or whether those benefits are equitably distributed. Without clear and well-balanced performance metrics, agencies risk drawing the wrong conclusions about success or failure.

Traffic Calming & Spillover Effects: An Analysis of Oakland’s Built Environment Approach to Traffic Safety

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Traffic calming is increasingly used by cities as a strategy to reduce speeding, improve safety, and support walking and biking on neighborhood streets. While many studies and evaluations focus on whether traffic calming is effective on the street where it is implemented, far less attention has been paid to what happens beyond the treated street. In practice, traffic calming interventions can influence driver behavior, traffic volumes, and perceptions of safety on nearby streets, producing spillover effects that can be positive, negative, or unevenly distributed. Understanding these spillover effects is especially important as cities like Oakland scale up neighborhood traffic calming programs as part of broader Vision Zero and Safe System strategies.

Balancing Safety and Equity in Traffic Enforcement: An Analysis of Automated Speed Enforcement in Oakland

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This report evaluates Oakland’s speed camera pilot through a safety and equity lens, using a thorough academic literature review, descriptive analysis of Oakland Police Department stop data, spatial analysis of speeding-related crashes, regression models, and comparative case studies from San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon. Findings show that officer-based traffic enforcement has deeply declined since 2020, leaving a large gap in traffic enforcement that automated cameras appear to be positioned to fill. Spatial analysis shows that speeding-related crashes are highly concentrated along major corridors in East Oakland and Hispanic/Latino communities experience higher exposure to the effects of speeding. Additionally, road width and speeding appear to have a very strong relationship, especially on Hegenberger Road. Our regression analyses indicate that camera placement is strongly associated with crashes, rather than race, income, or age alone—suggesting that...

Transit Improvements for the Oakland Department of Transportation

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We find that UBM has the potential to increase equity and accessibility for those who face barriers to accessing transit due to many factors including the cost. Additionally, we find that these kinds of programs can be impactful for those classified as “unbanked” or “underbanked”, who are low income at much higher rates than traditional banked folks. Though there are many benefits to these programs, they often have unreliable funding sources that can make it difficult to make these programs long-term. In the case of OakDOT’s UBM program, we find that it is mostly funded through grants. Within this report, we seek to look into ways that OakDOT can better fund its UBM program in the hopes of making it a permanent program. Additionally, we find that there are other ways that Oakland may be able to expand their UBM program that would greatly benefit the region. Through our case studies of the cities of Los Angeles, California and Portland, Oregon, we find the ways in which they...

Challenges and Opportunities Facing App-Based Gig Drivers Extend Beyond Driver Pay

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Throughout the U.S., app-based gig drivers provide valuable services for courier network services (CNS) like Instacart, Uber Eats and DoorDash, and transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft. In California, gig labor classification is governed among other things by Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), which passed in 2019, and Proposition 22 (Prop 22) adopted in 2020. AB 5 established the ABC Test for worker classification in California labor law. The ABC Test results in most app-based drivers being classified as employees, who are due full labor rights and benefits in California. However, gig drivers were exempted from the ABC Test when California voters approved Prop 22. As a result, under Prop 22, most CNS and TNC drivers in California are classified as independent contractors. Understanding the nuances of California labor law as it applies to app-based gig drivers is critical to addressing areas such as: worker flexibility, the need for high-quality jobs, and driver...

Pedal Power: Operational Models, Opportunities, and Obstacles of Bike Lending in North America

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bike lending offers a service that enables individuals to borrow bicycles for short-term use (i.e., ranging from 2 hours to 36 months), typically from designated locations within cities, campuses, or communities. Unlike bikesharing systems that typically rely on automated kiosks and/or undocked and free-floating devices for public access, bike lending involves a managed program with staff, similar to a library model. These programs can be administered by community organizations, bike shops, public libraries, and other local entities. They are typically community- or membership-based, with many programs associated with non-profit organizations or publicly owned and operated. In this paper, we investigate bike lending in the United States and Canada as of Spring 2024, including a literature review, the identification and characterization of bike lending programs (n = 55), expert interviews (n = 24), a survey of bike lending operators (n = 31), and 2 focus groups with...

Advanced air mobility

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Advanced air mobility, also known as AAM, is a broad concept focusing on emerging aviation markets and use cases for on-demand aviation in urban, suburban, and rural communities (Cohen et al., 2024). AAM includes local use cases of about an 80 km radius in rural or urban areas and intraregional use cases of up to approximately 500 km.

Electric vehicles and social equity

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The transition toward electric vehicles (EVs) represents a pivotal shift in transportation technology, promising significant environmental benefits through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and decreased dependence on fossil fuels. However, the integration of EVs presents unique challenges and opportunities within the context of social equity. EVs have emerged as a key technology in the evolution of transportation, with their history tracing back to the late ninteenth century.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Macroscopic Patterns of Urbanization and Traffic Safety

Tue, 2 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study provides a preliminary investigation into the relationship between urbanization and traffic collisions by analyzing the spatial patterns in Sacramento County, California from 1998 to 2008 using urban land classifications and traffic collision data. The ArcGIS directional distribution tool was used to create standard deviational ellipses to investigate the distributional trend of urban land and traffic collisions over time. Statistical outputs representing changes of geographical centroids, elliptical areas, and standard distances (long and short axes) were then compared. Collisions were also subset by severity level to account for inherent differences in the spatial distribution of different types of collisions. The results provided insight into the macroscopic spatial patterns of urban land and traffic safety and their relationships. The limitations of the method and the need for further research were discussed. The approach...

Transformative Community Planning as a Tool for Advancing Mobility Justice: Two Case Studies Using Community-Based Participatory Action Research and Racial Equity Impact Assessment

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Top-down transportation planning practices have historically ignored the needs and concerns of low-income communities of color, which can lead to residential and commercial displacement as public investments increase land values and rents. The concept of mobility justice centers the needs of communities that have historically been excluded from transportation planning decisions. We partnered with community groups to examine two transportation planning projects in the Bay Area using collaborative research methods. The first was a retrospective analysis of the East Bay Bus Rapid Transit project in East Oakland that reflects the harms of top-down planning. The second study examined the City of Richmond’s Transformative Climate Communities projects, a more collaborative approach to planning with low-income communities involved at every stage. We find that the top-down planning model employed in the East Oakland case study resulted in significant health, safety, and displacement impacts...

Transformative Community Planning Can Advance Mobility Justice

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Top-down transportation planning practices have historically ignored the needs and concerns of low-income communities of color. Federal funding guidelines, agency objectives, regional and local planning processes, and community priorities often conflict with each other at the expense of the health, safety, and livelihood of vulnerable populations. Decades of discriminatory government policies and disinvestment have enabled gentrification, particularly in underserved neighborhoods where new transportation investments make these areas more accessible and attractive to wealthier, often white, residents, which can lead to residential and commercial displacement as public investments increase land values and rents. Mobility justice, which treats mobility as a fundamental human right and promotes a version of transportation planning that incorporates distributive, procedural, and recognition justice, offers an alternative framework.

Assessing the Quantification Methodology for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program

Fri, 7 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Do affordable housing projects in high-quality transit-oriented development areas reduce auto use? By how much? Under what conditions? These questions are complex but highly relevant for the state of California. Its Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program estimates reductions in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) associated with project applications, and scores applications partly on this basis. Building on a large set of existing empirical literature, we carried out a new analysis of how the built environment affects travel in California. We relied on several data sources including movement data from cell phones purchased from a private firm; travel diary data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (the most recent household travel survey for the state); data on housing characteristics and commuting from the 2017 American Housing Survey; and neighborhood, community, and regional built environment and public transportation data from Federal and local sources....

Advancing Youth Helmet Adoption Through Community-Based Programming

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bicycling provides youth with mobility, independence, and opportunities for physical activity, but head injuries remain a leading risk of biking-related crashes. Helmets are among the most effective tools for preventing serious injury, yet rates of consistent use among children and adolescents remain low and unevenly distributed across demographic groups. This paper reviews evidence on the social, cultural, and structural factors shaping helmet use and examines the role of school-based programs in promoting safer biking practices. Findings indicate that free and subsidized helmet distribution reduces access barriers but requires reinforcement through education and community engagement to sustain long-term use. Safe Routes to School initiatives improve safety and normalize active transportation, while educational campaigns influence knowledge, attitudes, and peer norms, particularly when combined with parental involvement. Equity concerns, including affordability, enforcement,...

Pairing Speed Limit Reductions and Infrastructure to Lower Fatal and Serious (FSI) Crashes

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

While recent California legislative reforms grant jurisdictions greater flexibility to lower speed limits, evidence suggests that reductions in posted speed limits alone are insufficient to meaningfully reduce crash severity. This research brief examines how speed limit reductions, when paired with infrastructure design, enforcement strategies, and contextual land-use planning, can more effectively lower FSI outcomes. Aligned with the Safe System Approach, the countermeasure layers of roadway geometry, lighting, bicycle-specific infrastructure, and enforcement shape driver behavior and protect vulnerable road users. This approach provides a pathway for communities to advance vulnerable road user safety by reducing speeds through a holistic approach.

Shifting Air Travel to High-Speed Rail Could Save $300 Million in Reduced Airport Delays

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

California High-Speed Rail (HSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system currently under construction in the state. According to the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), service on the initial 119-mile segment from Madera to Bakersfield is projected to begin in 2029. The full Phase 1 will later connect Anaheim and Los Angeles with San Francisco via the Central Valley in 2033. The ride between Los Angeles and San Francisco will cover a total distance of 380 miles and take 2 hours and 40 minutes. Caltrans’ 2021 Interregional Transportation Strategic Plan, makes HSR the state’s highest transportation priority for the San Francisco Bay Area — Los Angeles corridor. Quantifying its public benefits are difficult but include reducing traffic demands on California’s roads and airports.

Quantifying Major Travel Delay Reduction Benefits from Shifting Air Passenger Traffic to Rail

Wed, 8 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study provides a method to quantify the benefits of reducing the costs from flight delays by shifting air passenger traffic to high-speed rail (HSR). We first estimate the number of flight reductions by each quarter hour for airport origin and destination pairs based on HSR ridership forecasts in the California High-Speed Rail 2020 Business Plan. Lasso models are then applied to estimate the impact of the reduced queuing delay at SFO, LAX and SAN airports on arrival delays at national Core 29 airports. Finally, these delay reductions are monetized using aircraft operating costs per hour and the value of passenger time per hour. We apply several different variations of this approach, for example, considering delay at all 29 Core airports or just major California airports, different scenarios for future airport capacity and flight schedules, and different forecasts for future HSR ridership. We estimate mid-range delay cost savings of $51-88 million (2018 dollars) in 2029 and...

Promoting Research Results and New Technologies: Making the Case for Accelerated Deployment

Wed, 1 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Deploying innovations in transportation products and services to stage 5 of the product development process represents a growing challenge for the Caltrans division ofresearch and innovation.

Mobile Century Final Reportfor TO 1021 and TO 1029: A Traffic Sensing Field Experiment Using GPS Mobile Phones