Electrifying Transportation Network Company (TNC) vehicles is a high-impact strategy for reducing emissions. This issue paper synthesizes research related to electrification of TNC vehicles and considers policy pathways for addressing barriers to electric-vehicle (EV) use among TNC drivers.
Dynamic and responsive transportation systems are a core pillar of equitable and sustainable communities. Achieving such systems requires comprehensive mobility data, or data that reports the movement of individuals and vehicles. Such data enable planners and policymakers to make informed decisions and enable researchers to model the effects of various transportation solutions. However, collecting mobility data also raises concerns about privacy and proprietary interests. This issue paper provides an overview of the top needs and challenges surrounding mobility data sharing and presents four relevant policy strategies: (1) Foster voluntary agreement among mobility providers for a set of standardized data specifications; (2) Develop clear data-sharing requirements designed for transportation network companies and other mobility providers; (3) Establish publicly held big-data repositories, managed by third parties, to securely hold mobility data and provide structured access by states, cities, and researchers; (4) Leverage innovative land-use and transportation-planning tools.
The purpose of this whitepaper is to summarize research regarding how much freight might be diverted from California ports if port costs increase due to policy, especially environmental regulations. Although no publicly available study that examines the precise research question was identified, there is scientific literature examining freight diversion in response to generalized increases in costs. Findings suggest that freight diversion is unlikely to be a major consequence if California imposes port requirements designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from maritime shipping, if such requirements result in modest cost increases (around $30/TEU1 or below) for shipping companies. However, this statement is based on studies of port demand elasticity that have not been recently updated.The potential diversion effect of proposed environmental policies should be examined on the basis of costs (in terms of dollars per TEU ) and elasticities of demand for specific ports. Future research could update elasticities (which have been observed to change over time) and address the specific question more directly.
