Recent its_pb items

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.

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...

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Mobiliti—A New Tool to Guide Safer, More Equitable Traffic Management Strategies

Thu, 4 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This policy brief presents a network analysis method that is accessible to local and regional transportation agencies using Mobiliti, a high-performance traffic simulator currently available for research purposes. However, we demonstrate Mobiliti’s practical applications for transportation agencies. Developed by research scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Mobiliti offers traffic assignment solutions and regional simulation capabilities, allowing for high-resolution, iterative exploration of road treatments and routing strategies. Analysts can manipulate network characteristics and vehicle behavior by adjusting parameters such as lane count, speed limit, and the percentage of vehicles, to dynamically optimize travel times. These capabilities can support transportation equity evaluations by giving network managers deeper insights into the mutual relationships between local and regional traffic dynamics and the resulting social impacts.

Are our Transit Systems Ready for Earthquakes?

Wed, 3 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Located on the tectonic boundary with multiple active faults, the San Francisco Bay Area is highly vulnerable to earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has estimated a 72% probability of an earthquakewith a magnitude of 6.7 or greater striking the region within the next 30 years. Historical seismic events have demonstrated the profound impact earthquakes can have on transportation systems. During the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, a critical transit route for San Francisco commuters, left nearly 400,000 commuters and approximately 245,000 vehicles daily with limitedalternative routes. In response to this and other disasters, governments and transportation agencies have actively initiated measures to reinforce critical transportation infrastructure. However, there is a lack of detailed plans for responding to, and recovering from, major earthquakes. To bridge this gap, our team carried out interviews with relevant...

Charging Ahead: How Incomeand Home Access Shape Electric Vehicle Adoption among Ridehailing Drivers

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Transportation network companies (TNCs), also known as ridehailing, such as Uber and Lyft, have contributed to increased vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and associated emissions in California’s urban areas over the past decade. In response, Senate Bill (SB) 1014 – the Clean Miles Standard – requires TNCs to achieve 90% electric vehicle (EV) miles traveled and zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per passenger mile by 2030. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) oversee implementation and enforcement of these targets.

Uncovering Traffic Emissions: Converging Direct Measurements and Mobility Science

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Despite the years of climate change mitigation effort, per capita transportation emissions are on the rise. Reducing vehicle miles traveled, congestion mitigation and increasing vehicle efficiency are three strategies to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles. Outcomes of these strategies may contradict each other considering their impacts on the road network and possible behavior changes within the transportation system. Though, models used in policy evaluations do not capture the interplay between vehicle characteristics, travel demand, and urban form. Understanding the spatial and temporal variations in vehicular emissions and the impact of each subsector requires collaboration between two seemingly separate fields: emissions modeling and urban science.

Shifting a Portion of Plug-In Electric Vehicle Travel Patterns Could Significantly Cut Peak Power Demand

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are among the most promising strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions and mitigating their impacts on both the environment and public health. Historically, PEV adoption has been slowed by three key barriers: range anxiety, limited charger availability, and high purchase costs. Recent advances — including improvements in battery technology, tax incentives, and subsidized charging programs — have begun to ease these challenges, leading to steadily increasing adoption rates.

Shared Automated Vehicles Could Greatly Benefit Visually Impaired Travelers if Designed and Operated with Their Needs in Mind

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Automated vehicles (AVs) are one of the most significant technological advances in transportation. The benefits of AV technologies could be maximized by increasing vehicle occupancy through pooling and ridesharing, integrating AV use with high-capacity transit systems (e.g., using AVs to complement existing transit), and promoting multimodality (e.g., connecting travelers to public transit). Additionally, shared automated vehicles (SAVs), in which ridesharing companies (similar as today’s Uber or Lyft) offer driverless on-demand mobility services to customers, could enhance transportation access for visually impaired travelers who face unique challenges navigating current transportation systems including public transit and rideshare services. To this point, we interviewed 15 visually impaired individuals to understand their current transportation experience (e.g., what challenges they face and how they cope with these challenges); how SAVs might address their transportation needs...

What Would it Take for Driversto Adopt Eco-Driving Behaviors?

Mon, 4 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Climate change in California could greatly impact the state’s economy, nature, and public health. One strategy to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector is eco-driving. Eco-driving is a set of behaviors or driving styles that encourage fuel-efficient driving that could help minimize energy consumption anywhere from five to 30 percent. With the advance of connected-vehicle technologies, the dynamic eco-driving concept uses real-time vehicle-specific information to optimize vehicle speed and reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

New Data Platforms Can Help Fill Gaps in Understanding Truck Travel in California

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Determining where trucks are traveling is crucial for planning and maintaining transportation networks. In California, information about truck movements is primarily derived from a network of fixed monitoring stations. These include weigh-in-motion stations (truck scales) and traffic count stations. Information from these locations can be used to classify passing trucks (light, medium, or heavy-duty), determine their travel direction, and estimate their proportion of the general traffic; however, the data provides limited information about trip origins and destinations and the routes taken in between stations. Estimating truck movements within a region thus largely depends on extrapolating data between known collection points. While this can be done with relative ease in simple networks containing few alternate routes, it can be a difficult task in complex networks without significantly increasing the number of fixed monitoring stations.

California’s High-Speed Rail Yields the Greatest Accessibility Gains to the Most Vulnerable Communities

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A major criticism of California’s high-speed rail project is that it will mainly serve urban elites and that low-income people and people of color likely won’t be able to afford the fares.²Also, the project may benefit the middle-income group the least since the proposed station locations, usually in or near city centers, will probably serve high- and low-income populations better than middle-income families.²Besides these arguments, however, there are very few studies that have analyzed the equity impacts of California’s high-speed rail project. Current studies have either focused on benefits to California residents as a whole with little consideration to the specific opportunities for how high- speed rail will improve the lives of marginalized groups; or only studied the disproportionate adverse impacts received by marginalized groups.

Student Access to Community College Relies Heavily on Private Vehicle Use

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

California’s 116 community colleges, attended by 1.9 million students, serves the largest and most diverse student body in California higher education. Transportation plays an important role in student community college access and retention, but the cost and accessibility can create a barrier to success. Community college students spend more on transportation than their counterparts at both public and private four-year institutions, largely due to the lack of on-campus or nearby affordable housing. The absence of high-quality public transit forces students to commute by private vehicle and manage the associated costs of gas, maintenance, and parking. However, these transportation challenges for community college students are frequently overlooked. To better understand the mobility challenges students face accessing community colleges and provide potential policy strategies to overcome these challenges, we interviewed local transportation agencies, community college administrators,...

Local Government Strategies to Improve Shared Micromobility Infrastructure

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Shared micromobility (bikesharing and scooter sharing) experienced market growth since 2021, rebounding from the pandemic across markets in the US, Mexico, and Canada. In partnership with the North American Bikeshare and Scootershare Association (NABSA) and Toole Design, researchers at the Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) at UC Berkeley have collaborated on the data collection and analysis of the shared micromobility industry metrics through a series of annual reports beginning in 2019. This includes a series of operator and agency surveys.1 Most recently, TSRC researchers collaborated on an Operator Survey (n=29) and an Agency Survey (n=52), distributed between January 2023 and June 2023, of all known shared micromobility operators and agencies as part of the 2022 state-of-the-industry report. Similar surveys were deployed in January 2022 and May 2022. These surveys include questions about shared micromobility systems2 operating within those agency jurisdictions...

How Did Transit Service Adjustments During the Pandemic Impact Job Accessibility in the San Francisco Bay Area?

Wed, 5 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Our study examined geographic and temporal patterns in service adjustments and evaluated their job accessibility impacts for three major San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies between 2020 and 2023: the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MUNI). This retrospective analysis can help transit agencies develop equitable service strategies in the event of future disruptions.

Who Benefits the Most from California’s High-Speed Rail Project?

Thu, 9 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The California High-Speed Rail (HSR) project stands to significantly change transportation across the state, but questions remain about who will benefit most from this massive infrastructure investment. While previous analyses have focused on the aggregate economic benefits of HSR in California, we provide a more nuanced understanding of these benefits for communities across California using a spatial economic model previously developed by members of our team. This model captures the direct potential travel benefits of the HSR project (such as quicker and sometimes cheaper transportation) for commuters, business travelers, and leisure travelers. It also captures wider economic benefits such as higher wages and land values stemming from greater concentration of employment in more productive areas. We examine how these benefits would be distributed across California regions and socioeconomic and income groups. By understanding the potential disparities in the impact of the HSR project,...

The First Phase of California’s High-Speed Rail Project Provides the Greatest Economic Benefits Compared to Full Build Out

Thu, 9 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The California High-Speed Rail (HSR) project aims to transform transportation in the state. To understand the impact of this project as it “rolls out” across the state, we analyzed its economic benefits across each of its plannedphases, complementing official projections from the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). Our analysis is based on a spatial economic model of the rail system model previously developed by members of our team. This model captures the direct potential travel benefits of the HSR project, such as quicker and sometimes cheaper transportation, for commuters, business travelers, and leisure travelers. It also captures wider economic benefits such as higher wages and land values stemming from greater concentration of employment in more productive areas.

How Might Adjustments to Public Transit Operations Affect COVID-19 Transmission?

Sat, 4 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public transportation systems worldwide faced many challenges, including significant loss of ridership. Public agencies implemented various COVID-19-related policies to reduce transmission, such as reducing service frequency and network coverage of public transportation. Recent studies have examined the effectiveness of these policies but reach different conclusions due to varying assumptions about how passengers may react to service changes. Some studies proposed optimizing public transit operation timetables, service frequency, and network coverage to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission while also maintaining and/or increasing the level of ridership. However, there is currently no method available to perform such optimization. In response to this informational gap, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley developed a framework to assist public transportation agencies to determine a near-optimal system timetable design, and develop...

Low-Income Suburban Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area Face Significant Housing and Transportation Issues

Sat, 4 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Growing poverty in America’s suburbs challenges their image as single-family residential communities for middle class, predominantly white families. Research shows that suburban areas now have the largest share of households under the poverty line. Since these areas have lower density development and lower levels of public transit service compared to urban areas, living in the suburbs may pose accessibility challenges for low-income households, particularly those without a personal vehicle. To explore housing and transportation issues associated with the suburbanization of poverty, we combined U.S. Census data from Contra Costa County, which has the highest rates of suburban poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area, and online and in-person surveys with individuals who earn less than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), around $75,000. This research identifies demographic and external factors that lead low- and moderate-income households to move to suburban areas, accessibility barriers...

Justice-Centered Mapping Tools for Selecting Electric Vehicle Charger Locations

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Reducing air pollution from automobiles is a climate and public health imperative. Transportation is the “single largest source of CO2 emissions” in California and the second largest source nationwide. State leaders recognize the need for zero-emission vehicles to achieve statewide carbon neutrality. Millions of electric vehicles (EVs) are expected on American roads in the coming decade. California alone will require over two million publicly accessible EV chargers to support over 15 million EVs by 2035, and nationwide over 28 million total chargers will be needed by 2030. To date, public charging infrastructure investment has not prioritized lower-income and black and brown communities, and electrification has mostly benefitted higher-income, whiter communities. Federal and state funding programs for charging infrastructure have begun directing vehicle and charging investment to lower-income communities, rural communities, and areas at greatest risk of environmental harm, but...

Intelligent Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: A Series of Briefs for Smart Investments

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Intelligent transportation systems and technology provide a high return on investment, especially when incorporated as part of ongoing construction activities. Efficient operation and maintenance of our transportation infrastructure requires real time data exchange provided by ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) technology. The cost to acquire and install this technology is roughly 5% of the overall construction budget if installed during construction. The ROI (measured in safety, travel time reliability, throughput and quality of life) takes less than 6 months in highly congested corridors. In addition, these transportation networks are now ready to support advances in automated and connected vehicles and in shared demand management approaches. All construction projects should be required to install ITS elements.

Preserving Privacy in Road User Charge (RUC) Architectures

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

One of the major concerns for the technical implementation of a RUC is the ability to collect the mileage of motorists in a way that preserves and protects individual privacy. With the widespread use of connected devices/smartphones and the growth of connected vehicles and the existence of toll tag readers, it is possible to build and deploy architectures capable of computing advanced fee structures (based upon on mileage, road type, time of day, and speed, among other features) that respect motorist privacy. A possible architecture can rely on the use of virtual trip lines (VTLs) –a technology that dates back to 2007, when the first privacy aware traffic collection apps for smartphones emerged [1]. VTLs are virtual landmarks deployed at specific locations of the transportation network at which charges need to be applied. They can be imagined as virtual screen lines capable of counting cars or motorists (via smartphones, connected devices, or connected vehicles) as they pass,...

Impacts of Shared Mobility: Pooling

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Shared-ride services—transportation modes that allow riders to share a ride to a common destination—include various forms of ridesharing (carpooling and vanpooling); ridesplitting and taxisplitting; and microtransit. With the proliferation of smartphones and mobile Internet, it has become more convenient to share rides. Shared-ride services are having a transformative impact on many global cities by increasing vehicle occupancy through smartphone apps. Empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that pooling provides numerous benefits, such as reductions in energy consumption and emissions, congestion mitigation, and reduced parking infrastructure demand; however, the precise magnitude of these impacts is not well understood. Individually, shared-ride users benefit from shared travel costs, travel-time savings from high occupancy vehicle lanes, reduced commute stress, and often preferential parking and other incentives.

Equity and Shared Mobility

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Ensuring equal access for protected classes impacted by shared mobility services is critical. In California, this can include provisions mandating access for individuals with disabilities, as well as prohibitions in discrimination against other protected classes. Many of these laws not only prohibit discrimination against the end user but also shared mobility employees. In addition to prohibiting discrimination, it is imperative to ensure shared mobility is accessible to all. Equitable treatment of shared mobility providers (e.g., data, insurance, licensing) is also a key consideration.

Equity Assessment of Transportation Should Incorporate Materials, Supply Chains, and Targeted Mitigation Policies

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

California must build, operate, and maintain transportation infrastructure while ensuring that the health of communities and the planet are not compromised. In addition to vehicleemissions, supply chain inputs and energy use from constructing and maintaining transportation projects (e.g., roads, airports, bridges) result in pollution that contributes to climate change and impacts the health of local communities. Project-specific air and noise pollution can further burden vulnerable populations. By assessing transportation projects using a life-cycle perspective, all relevant emission sources and activities from raw material production, supply chain logistics, construction, operation, maintenance, and end-of-life phases of a project can be analyzed and mitigated.

Policy Considerations for Advancing Bidirectional Electric Vehicle Charging in California

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Electric vehicles (EVs) are proliferating in California, with over 1.8 million operating in the state. Modern EVs have considerably larger battery packs than early models, in many cases 80-100 kWh for 250-300-mile driving ranges. Charging power for EVs is also increasing. With the appropriate wiring, residential charging at Level 2 has reached up to 19.2 kW though 7-10 kW is more typical, making EVs among the most demanding household power loads. These charging loads can stress local electricity distribution feeders, particularly in the early evening when power use typically peaks.

Multifamily Households Across California are Paying a Lot More to Charge Their Electric Vehicle

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

To better understand inequities in EV charging costs, we compared charging costs at public EV DCFC stations to the cost for single-family housing (SFH) residents charging at home for three California electric utility service areas, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and for three specific urban areas - Sacramento, San Diego, and San Jose. We used a combination of observed pricing data from PlugShare, a crowd-sourced database of public EV charging, and public DCFC pricing data from electric vehicle service provider (EVSP) websites, as well as electric utility tariff information from their respective websites.

Communities Are Experimenting with Microtransit to Fill Critical Gaps in Public Transit Service – What Have We Learned so Far?

Wed, 2 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Microtransit is a technology-enabled transit service that typically employs shuttles or vans (Figure 1) to provide on-demand transportation with dynamic routing. While many rides are dispatched and paid via a smartphone, many services also provide a telephone booking option. A few services accept cash payment and street hails (similar to taxis). Variations of microtransit can include fixed schedules and routes and larger or smaller vehicles. Typically, microtransit services are operated by or provided on behalfof a government entity or nonprofit organization, although privately operated microtransit programs also might exist.

Decline of Rail Transit Requires New Strategies

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

During the pandemic, California’s four major rail systems— Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT), and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro)—experienced an average ridership decline of 72 percent between 2019 and 2021. BART had the greatest decrease (87 percent) and MTS the lowest (47 percent). However, ridership changes varied significantly across individual stations, with stations located in the central business district or at the end of lines having the highest ridership losses. Land use, development density, and the pedestrian environment are strongly associated with station-level transit ridership. We examined how these characteristics affect transit ridership pre- and post-COVID and how they differ across station types based on longitudinal data collected between 2019 and 2021 for 242 rail stations belonging to BART, MTS, SacRT, and LA Metro.

Toll Pricing “Futures” Market Could Reduce Congestion and Increase Revenue

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Transportation agencies are increasingly relying on tolls to raise revenue and to mitigate congestion, but conventional fixed tolls do not necessarily encourage offpeak use of infrastructure, and high tolls can dampen economic productivity. Dynamically adjusting pricing based on demand can incentivize travelers to avoid peak traffic periods and shift it to other modes, but given the unpredictable nature of traffic, travelers lack the information necessary to accurately predict congestion, so dynamic pricing has minimal effect on demand. Dynamic toll pricing also poses equity concerns for those who lack other travel options, such as access to transit. A simple “futures market” pricing mechanism has the potential to address these concerns—travelers can lock in a price for expected trips by prepaying for future tolls, with the future price increasing as more travelers book an overlapping time slot. To evaluate the effectiveness of a futures market to impact travel demand, trip density,...

Dashboard Cameras Combined with AI Provide an Affordable Method for Identifying Curb Usage

Mon, 6 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The increasing reliance on transportation network companies (TNCs) and delivery services has transformed the use of curb space. The curb space is also an important interface for bikeways, bus lanes, street vendors, and paratransit stops for passengers with disabilities. These various demands are contributing to a lack of parking, resulting in illegal and double-parking and excessive cruising for spaces and causing traffic disturbance, congestion, andhazardous situations. How cities manage this public asset to support safety and the local economy relies on first understanding the usage patterns over time and space. Various curb management models, such as dynamic parking pricing, and parking reservations have been developed to improve curb usage, but implementing an adequate control policy requires extensive parking analysis to identify area-specific curb characteristics, spatiotemporal demand distributions, common reasons for congestion, and other parameters. Currently, no systematic...

A Case Study: Testing Wildfire Evacuation Strategies for Communities in Marin County, California

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Many small, resource-strapped communities located in areas vulnerable to wildfire don’t have resources to conduct dedicated evacuation studies and many do not consider the impact of background traffic (i.e., normal traffic rather than evacuating traffic) on evacuation. In response, we explored the performance of several generalizable evacuation strategies with background traffic for representative communities in Marin County, including the Ross Valley, Woodacre Bowl, Tamalpais Valley, and an area near Highway 101 and Ignacio Boulevard in Novato (hereafter referred to as ‘Novato Neighborhood’). The strategies we explored include vehicle reduction (i.e., evacuees share a vehicle), phased evacuation (i.e., evacuees in different zones have different departure times), and off-street parking (i.e., street parking is prohibited on a high-fire Red Flag Day to increase overall road capacity in the event of an evacuation). We then tested each strategy using a wildfire-traffic simulation...

Could Transportation Network Companies help Improve Rail Commuting?

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Commuter rail is known to have a “first- and last-mile” problem (i.e., a lack of options for getting commuters to and from a rail station). The first- and last-mile dilemma creates inequalities in access. For example, high-income commuters drive to work (forgoing transit altogether), middle-income commuters drive to a rail station and pay to park, and low-income commuters rely on feeder buses or walking to reach a rail station. Transportation network companies (TNCs), like Uber and Lyft, are a viable option for connecting travelers to rail stations, especially for those who don’t own a car, however, their high fares make them attractive only to higher-income travelers. To close this equity gap, subsidies could be provided for TNC rides that connect travelers to commuter rail. To explore this concept further, we developed idealized (but physically realistic and rational) models to describe communities in the San Francisco Bay Area, and simulated the effects of various subsidization...

Connected and Automated Vehicle Technology is Not Enough; it Must also be Collaborative

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) willrevolutionize the way we travel; however, what impact this revolution will have on advancing broader societal goals is uncertain. To date, the private sector technology rollout has emphasized the automation side of CAVs and neglected the potentially transformative possibilities brought by a more collaborative notion of connectivity. This may have significant downsides from a broader societal perspective. For example, CAVs (including those on the road today) collect a vast amount of data gathered through onboard systems (e.g., radar, lidar, camera), however, this data is not typically shared with other vehicles, roadside infrastructure, or public transportation agencies. This lack of collaboration will likely make traffic worse and forfeit the opportunity to manage traffic at the systems-level, which is where significant gains can be made in terms of improving traffic flow and safety, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle energy...

Congestion Pricing Can Be Equitable If a Portion of the Revenue is Returned to Drivers

Thu, 7 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Economists have long argued in favor of congestion pricing, under which drivers pay a fee or toll to enter roadways during peak times. An increasing number of global cities have adopted or are considering pricing programs. Even so, these regimes remain relatively rare and controversial. One key concern with congestion pricing is fairness. Road pricing can pose a substantial burden for low-income drivers, many of whom have little option to avoid travel during peak times and limited opportunity to choose other modes of travel. Prior research has shown that congestion pricing regimes tend to be regressive in terms of their initial burden, that is, in terms of who ends up paying more to use the roads.1 But, the ultimate effect of a road pricing program depends also on how its revenue is used. Some or all of the revenue from a congestion pricing program can be returned to households, and this can fundamentally change the program’s fairness.

Creative Reallocation of Curbs, Streets, Sidewalks Accelerated by the Pandemic May be Here to Stay

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Curb space has been traditionally designed for private vehicle parking, public transit, and passenger and commercial loading. However, in recent years, a growing number of newservices and activities have increased the demand for limited curb space, including passenger pick-up and drop-off; last-mile delivery (e.g., courier network services, personal delivery devices); electric vehicle (EV) charging; micromobility parking and use (e.g., personally owned and shared bikes and scooters); and carsharing services. The curb serves a variety of functions such as vehicle and device storage (including personally owned and shared vehicles and devices), outdoor dining and retail, greenspace, and other uses. These changes are contributing to a notable shift in how people access and use the curb, and how public agencies plan, prioritize, and manage curbside interactions.

Transportation Network Companies Might Be Pulling Riders from Public Transit, but This Could Change

Tue, 30 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Transportation Network Companies (TNCs, also known as ridehailing and ridesourcing) have expanded across California over the past decade and changed the way people travel. Using a smartphone, travelers can quickly summon a vehicle from almost anywhere and know what the estimated wait time, travel time, and cost will be before stepping into the vehicle. While TNCs are clearly addressing an unmet need for travelers, their growing popularity has raised a number of policy questions, including if TNCs are shifting people away from public transit and other travel modes (e.g., carshare, walking, biking).

Hydrogen Can Have a Much Lower Carbon Intensity than Fossil Fuels But This Largely Depends on How It Is Produced and Distributed

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

As interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier has increased, the various ways that hydrogen is made are being categorized as “green,” “blue,” “gray,” and other colors in relation to their environmental impact. While these categorizations are somewhat useful to indicate the environmental and climate change impacts of different production pathways, they are not especially useful for policy making or industry decisionmaking purposes because they are subjective. For example, most definitions of green pathways for hydrogen production only include electrolysis from renewable electricity sources; however, Figure 1 indicates additional production pathways with some of these having near-zero or even negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as low or no other emissions of concern. To help clarify the role of hydrogen in decarbonizing California, this brief summarizes the latest scientific findings from recent and in-progress research across the University of California Institute of...

How Well Are Newly Sited K-12 Schools Incorporating Vehicle Miles Traveled Mitigation Measures?

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In response to California law (SB 743, Chapter No. 386, Statutes of 2013), school districts are encouraged to use vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as criteria when evaluating the transportation impacts of new school construction, and identify feasible mitigation measures that eliminate or substantially reduce VMT generated by the new construction. To better understand the implications of this new law on school siting decisions, researchers at UC Berkeley analyzed 301 new schools constructed between 2008 and 2018 with respect to four VMT mitigation measures identified by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) known to minimize VMT – proximity to high quality transit areas (HQTA), proximity to roads with bicycle facilities, proximity to electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, and walkability scores.

Climate Adaptation Strategies for California Airports will Require a Holistic Approach, Including New Governance Models

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Airports are complex social, technical, and environmental systems. Understanding their complexity is fundamental for advancing transformative climate adaptation policy. For airports to adapt, climate science must be incorporated not only into standards of specific equipment and facilities, but also into the air traffic network and its interconnected infrastructure systems (e.g., road access, ground-based communications, navigation, and surveillance systems). In addition, airport adaptation requires a shift in the way policy is designed, reinforced, and updated, which in turn relies on an understanding of airport governance models and organizational networks. UC Berkeley researchers recently explored how airport planners and policymakers can use climate science to transform standards and update organizational values to promote climate adaptation. After assessing California airports’ exposure to future coastal flooding and reviewing more than 300 policy documents, the UC Berkeley...

Automated Vehicle Technology Has the Potential to Smooth Traffic Flow and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Thu, 3 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In an ideal world, all cars along a congested roadway would travel at the same constant average speed; however, this is hardly the case. As soon as one driver brakes, trailing cars must also brake to compensate, leading to “stop and go” traffic waves. This unnecessary braking and accelerating increases fuel consumption (and greenhouse gas emissions) by as much as 67 percent.1 Fortunately, automated vehicles (AVs) — even Level 2 AVs2 which are commercially available today — have the potential to mitigate this problem. By accelerating less than a human would, an AV with flow smoothing technology is able to smooth out a traffic wave, eventually leading to free-flowing traffic (See Figure 1). To demonstrate the potential of flow smoothing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, researchers at UC Berkeley used a calibrated model of the I-210 freeway in Los Angeles to simulate and measure the effect of deploying different percentages (10%, 20%, 30%) of flow-smoothing AVs on the average...

Where are Private “Smart City” Transportation Technologies Concentrated in California?

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years, “smart city” information and communication technologies have proliferated. For local government agencies, procuring and introducing these technologies offers the possibility to manage infrastructure assets more effectively, plan for preventive maintenance, and disseminate schedules and information about transit and other services. Many of these technologies are deployed by private firms in the context of local regulations and government-sponsored incentives. In the transportation sector, examples of “smart city” technology services provided by private firms include: electric vehicle (EV) chargers, micro-mobility (e.g., scooter and bike rentals), and transportation network company (TNC) services, such as Uber and Lyft. To understand variation in how private sector smart city transportation technologies are deployed across California, researchers at UC Berkeley webscraped and cross verified data on EV chargers, Uber services, and micro-mobility. EV charger data...

Wildfire Evacuation Planning Can Be Greatly Enhanced by Considering Fire Progression, Communication Systems, and Other Dynamic Factors

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Wildfires have become a perpetual crisis for communities across California. For life-threatening wildfires, mass evacuation often becomes the only viable option to protect lives. Yet, looking back at recent events, including the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, there are significant challenges associated with the evacuation process, such as multi-agency coordination, agency-resident communication, and management of extraordinarily high amounts of traffic within a short period of time. Currently, emergency planners use evacuation models that are typically based on existing traffic simulation models; however, it is increasingly clear that other factors need to be considered, such as fire progression and communication systems. To address this gap, UC Berkeley researchers constructed a framework and set of models that include the combined impacts of three dynamic processes on evacuations – fire progression, communication systems, and traffic flow. The framework and...

Real-World Simulations of Life with an Autonomous Vehicle Suggest Increased Mobility and Vehicle Travel

Tue, 2 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Fully autonomous vehicles are expected to have a profound effect on travel behavior. The technology will provide convenience and better mobility for many, allowing owners to perform other tasks while traveling, summon their vehicles from a distance, and send vehicles off to complete tasks without them. These travel behaviors could lead to increases in vehicle miles traveled that will have major implications for traffic congestion and pollution. To estimate the extent to which travel behavior will change, researchers and planners have typically relied on adjustments to existing travel simulations or on surveys asking people how they would change their behavior in a hypothetical autonomous vehicle future. Researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Davis used a new approach to understand the potential influence of autonomous vehicles on travel behavior by conducting the first naturalistic experiment mimicking the effect of autonomous vehicle ownership. Private chauffeurs were provided to...

How is the COVID-19 Pandemic Shifting Retail Purchases and Related Travel in the Sacramento Region?

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A significant portion of the population stayed, and continue to stay, at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With more people staying home, online shopping increased along with trips related to pickups and deliveries. To gain a better understanding of the change in retail purchases and related travel, UC Berkeley researchers compared pre-pandemic shopping to pandemic-related shifts in consumer purchases in the greater Sacramento area for nine types of essential and non-essential commodities (e.g., groceries, meals, clothing, paper products, cleaning supplies). In May 2020, the research team resampled 327 respondents that participated in the 2018 Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) household travel survey. The 2018 SACOG survey collected responses over a rolling six-week period from April to May 2018 and asked residents about their motivations for, attitudes toward, and ease of use of online shopping. They were also were asked about the number of e-commerce purchases...

Public Transit and Shared Mobility COVID-19 Recovery: Policy Options and Research Needs

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

While the COVID-19 crisis has devastated many public transit and shared mobility services, it has also exposed underlying issues in how these services are provided to society. As ridership drops and revenues decline, many public and private providers may respond by cutting service or reducing vehicle maintenance to save costs. As a result, those who depend on public transit and shared mobility services, particularly those without access to private automobiles, will experience further loss of their mobility. These transportation shifts will be further influenced by changing work-from-home policies (e.g., telework). While uncertainty remains, work-from-home will likely alter public transit and shared mobility needs and patterns, necessitating different services, operation plans, and business structures.

COVID-19 has Significantly Impacted the Mobility and Activities of the Senior Population in Contra Costa County

Mon, 7 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Meeting the mobility needs of an aging population is one of the most substantial challenges facing California in the coming decades. The number of residents age 60 and above will grow to 13.9 million by 2050, representing over 25% of the state population. Meanwhile, the number of residents age 85 and above is expected to increase by over 70% between 2010 and 2030. In 2018, the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at UC Berkeley conducted a survey on transportation mobility issues among older adults in Contra Costa County in California. Results indicated, among other findings, that a majority of seniors are car dependent, that some older adults miss important activities due to mobility limitations, and that most older adults want to “age in place.” A follow-up survey of 302 Contra Costa County seniors ages 60 and above was conducted in June 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic changed life for all residents. The follow-up survey assessed the mobility needs...

The Benefits and Challenges of Incorporating Uber and Lyft in Subsidized Ride Programs that Serve Vulnerable Populations

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Cities, transit agencies, and social service providers across the U.S. have implemented programs that provide taxi subsidies for people who have difficulty driving a car or using the regular transit system. These programs usually serve older residents and people with disabilities, though a few also serve low income users. Taxi subsidy programs provide curb-to-curb or door-to-door transportation at a fraction of the cost of paratransit.1 However, as Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, have entered markets around the country, taxi availability has declined, resulting in lower levels of service. In response, many public agencies are considering the addition of TNCs to subsidized ride programs; however, the inclusion of TNCs in these programs is not straightforward. For example, agencies must evaluate the extent to which their clients need wheelchair accessible vehicles or other personal assistance. In addition, TNC platforms require users to request rides...

UC Berkeley Develops New User-Friendly Tool to Expedite the Evaluation of Connected Automated Vehicle Technologies

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) are similar to other automated vehicles with the distinguishing difference being that CAVs obtain information about road conditionsdirectly from other vehicles and infrastructure (e.g., traffic signals, road sensors) rather than relying solely on onboard sensors. Different CAV technologies are currently being tested and evaluated to assess the prospects for future implementation. These tests involve moving CAV-equipped vehicles on a physical test track and recording how the vehicles operate under different traffic conditions (Figure 1). Since it is difficult and expensive to recreate multiple real-world driving conditions on a single test track, virtual environments are typically used to simulate different traffic conditions, such as traffic signal operation, actions by other vehicles on the road, and other scenarios. These virtual hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests can expedite CAV performance evaluation and inform future system implementation;...

The General Transit Feed Specification Makes Trip-Planning Easier — Especially During a Pandemic — Yet its Use by California Agencies is Uneven

Thu, 9 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Developed in 2005, the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) is making transit trip planning easier by allowing public transportation agencies to share transit schedules in an electronic format that can be used by a variety of trip-planning applications, such as Google Maps. The GTFS can be used to share static transit schedules (GTFS-s) or provide real-time information on transit vehicle arrivals and departures (GTFS-r). Providing real-time updates has proven to be exceptionally valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, between January 13th and April 25th of this year Apple estimates that transit use in the United States decreased by 75%1 , which caused many public transit providers to modify their services. The California Integrated Travel Project (CITP) recently called for widespread adoption of GTFS-s and GTFS-r2 ; however, little is known about GTFS use across agencies and, in turn, the barriers to widespread adoption.

Defining Sensitive Communities Under SB 50

Mon, 8 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In this brief, we analyze the coverage of the definition of “sensitive communities” that was included in the March 2019 revisions to theSB 50 bill language – we call this the “SB 50 Sensitive Communities” definition. We also present analysis of two alternative metrics –California SB 535’s definition of “Disadvantaged Communities” and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Racially/Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty” (R/ECAPs) –as comparison points. We present these comparisons as a way to discuss how different definitions influence which places would bedesignated as sensitive communities, rather than to recommend one definition over another. Developing an empirical metric to identify sensitive communities is complicated, as there is no one factor that perfectly measures vulnerability to displacement and marginalization, especially when one considers the diversity of places in California. This brief is thus designed to provide stakeholders with information...

Upzoning Under SB 50: The Influence of Local Conditions on the Potential for New Supply

Mon, 8 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In this brief, we explore what might happen were SB 50 to pass by taking a detailed look at local market conditions in four case study neighborhoods. Local context shapes financial and physical feasibility. When SB 827, the predecessor to SB 50, was under consideration, estimates of its impact on new housing supply were optimistic. Yet, most of these estimates focused on aggregate development potential and did not consider the on-the-ground reality of other zoning provisions that may influence development, what types of projects might pencil out, or what the existing stock looks like.

Adult Bicycle Education Classes Increase Confidence, Feelings of Safety, and Knowledge of Bicycling Rules