University of California Transportation Center

Direct video measurements of surface street truck traffic at eleven intersections and line segments in communities adjacent to southern California ports document that volumes of port-related trucks often reach 400-600 per hour for several hours, immediately upwind of ‘sensitive’ land uses such as schools, open-field parks and residences. The diurnal fluctuation of trucks on surface streets varies by intersection, local conditions, and passenger car commute patterns. Our data provide new insights into the geographic distribution and intensity of truck traffic associated with the increase in goods movement, and are essential for reliably modeling pollutant exposures in port-adjacent communities.