University of California Institute of Transportation Studies

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), including both battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are crucial forreducing emissions and meeting sustainability targets, yet their adoption has been limited primarily to higher-income and new car buyers, leaving most low-income households without access. To help inform policies that will accelerate access to used BEVs in particular, this study explored car buying behavior, costs, and usage within and between groups defined by vehicle condition (new vs. used), fuel type(battery-electric vehicles [BEVs] vs. internal combustion engine vehicles [ICEVs], and income level. BEV owning, new-car buying, andhaving higher incomewere each associated with one another. On average the proportion of total income spent on vehicle-relatedexpenses is at least six times higher for householdswith incomes less than $75,000 than householdswith incomes of $250,000 or more. While BEVs offer savings in maintenance and fuel cost compared to ICEVs, the initial price for both new and used BEVs may need to be subsidized to alleviate cost burden for lower-income households. Used car buyers, ICEV owners, and lower-income householdspredominantly do not purchase or maintain their vehicles at automaker dealerships and tend to buy older vehicles withmore mileagethan would be covered by BEV warranties. These findings have implications for the current structure of financial incentives being limited to automaker dealerships. Other possible barriers to BEV uptake for lower-income households and used car buyers, include reliability concerns and limited home charging access. BEV adoption across all income groups could be increased by broadening eligibility for incentives, enhancing battery warranties, offering battery replacement rebates, and expanding home charging infrastructure.

This study assesses the impact of high-speed rail on accessibility to employment and educational opportunities for the census tracts in the California Central Valley. The accessibility is assessed for driving only mode and transit only mode for the baseline scenario and driving plus HSR mode and transit plus HSR mode for the scenario after HSR start operation. We plot the accessibility distribution for census tracts and calculate the spatial equality index of accessibility distribution to compare the accessibility before and after HSR starts operation, as well as the accessibility for communities of concern (CoCs). Our findings include multiple aspects. Most importantly, we find that HSR yields the greatest accessibility gains to the most vulnerable communities, which we term CoC Level 2 and Level 3 communities. This improvement is attained for both employment and education accessibility, and whether HSR access/egress is by driving or transit. Second, it is also the case that vulnerable communities have higher baseline accessibilities as a result of being located in urban areas. Third, HSR accessibility gains are restricted to higher travel time thresholds, generally 60 min or greater. Fourth, driving mode has consistently higher accessibility as well as accessibility improvement due to HSR than transit mode. Fifth, while the accessibility improvement brought by HSR is highly spatially uneven, HSR slightly equalizes the distribution of accessibility across census tracts under the driving + HSR scenario.

Public transit ridership has declined in major US cities over the past decade. Integrating traditional fixed-route transit with flexible microtransit has been proposed to enhance ridership, mobility, accessibility, and sustainability. This project surveyed California transit agencies on their microtransit services to identify challenges to integrating them with fixed-route services. An agent-based model combining the two modes of transit was developed to evaluate different operational designs. FleetPy, an open-source simulation tool, modeled microtransit dynamics. The study examined design impacts, such as fixed route headways and microtransit fleet size, in downtown San Diego and Lemon Grove, California. Results showed that while microtransit reduces fixed-route ridership and requires higher subsidies, it significantly boosts job accessibility.

This project showcased how advanced infrastructure data supports connected automated driving systems in perceivingtheir surroundings cooperatively. The UCLA Mobility Lab established a smart intersection on the UCLA main campus, collecting infrastructure LiDAR data and combining it with sensor and global navigation satellite system data for research on cooperative perception. We also examined the system's resilience to data spoofing attacks via the V2X channel from a compromised onboard unit (OBU), evaluating different attack scenarios to understand emerging security risks in V2X-based cooperative perception technologies.

The processes in the pavement life cycle can be defined as: material extraction and production; construction; transport of materials and demolition; the use stage, where the pavement interacts with other systems; the materials, construction, and transport associated with maintenance and rehabilitation; and end-of-life. Local governments are increasingly being asked to quantify greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and identify changes to reduce emissions. There are many possible strategies that local governments can choose to reduce their emissions, however, prioritization and selection of which to implement can be difficult if emissions cannot be quantified. Pavement life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used by local governments to achieve the same goals as state government. The web-based software environmental Life Cycle Assessment for Pavements, also known as eLCAP has been developed a project-level LCA tool. The goal of eLCAP is to permit local governments to perform project-level pavement LCA using California specific data, including consideration of their own designs, materials, and traffic. eLCAP allows modeling of materials, transport, construction, maintenance, rehabilitation, and end-of-life recycling for all impacts; and in the use stage it considers the effects of combustion of fuel in vehicles as well as the additional fuel consumed due to pavement-vehicle interaction (global warming potential only). This report documents eLCAP and a project that created an interface for eLCAP that is usable by local governments.

Transportation access is a significant issue in low-income, rural, and otherwise underserved communities in the US, with few affordable and reliable alternatives to car ownership. Carsharing is one promising alternative to improve access among marginalized communities. Grant programs in California have funded pilot electric carshare services. But little is known about the long-term financial sustainability of these services and how their costs and revenues compare those of transit. In this study, a financial model was used to estimate the net operating income (fare revenue minus costs) for Míocar, an electric carsharing service in marginalized suburban and rural communities. The estimated net operating income per month was −$1561, under current operating conditions, and ranged from −$1255 to −$1623 depending on simulated changes to fleet size, pricing, and usage rates. These negative net operating incomes correspond to a shortfall (or need for subsidies) of 68% to 92% of operational costs. Míocar could achieve a higher ratio of fare revenues to operational costs (13%) than existing transit (3 to 8%). To minimize required subsidies, electric carshare operators and prospective carshare communities should carefully consider hub locations (which can affect usage rates), the number of vehicles per hub, and the expected demand over time.

Post-collision travel behavior and effects on road safety perception are not well-understood. To quantify the ways thatcrash-related experiences shape the way individuals think about travel, we conducted four focus group discussions with people who had been involved in a crash or near miss or whose relatives or friends experienced one. Several themes emerged from the discussions. Participants changed their travel behavior after experiencing a collision by modifying their travel mode, travel frequency, trip purposes, or vehicle types. Participants developed an enhanced awareness about potentially unsafe behaviors of other road users and road environments and adopted more cautious attitudes toward their own travel. Many participants experienced long-term stress as a result of the incidents, including fear, behavior modification, or travel avoidance. Participants offered several recommendations, including the need for safer infrastructure, improved road user visibility, a shift in media narratives, educational programs, and policy changes focused on land use and transportation synergies.

Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS) is an innovative electric vehicle (EV) charging station model that allows customers access to EV chargers through a contract with a provider responsible for design, deployment, operations, and maintenance. Little is known about the motivations and experiences of stakeholders involved in CaaS operations, including providers, electric utilities, and customers. A grey literature review identified CaaS services, provider-described benefits, and utility-provided CaaS and charging services. Then, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 stakeholders to identify critical themes on interactions between stakeholders and the perceptions, challenges, and opportunities of the CaaS business model in addressing charging station needs in California. CaaS may have structural benefits to customer-owned chargers and could improve charger reliability, provide scalable solutions, and reduce customer fatigue with EV charging deployment. However, CaaS faces the same challenges present in the broader charging industry. The findings in this study can guide policymakers in supporting maintenance-related workforce development and streamlining and crafting EV charging infrastructure-informed subsidy programs. Additionally, stakeholders recommend municipal-led EV infrastructure planning and funding for chargers in disadvantaged communities. These interviews clarify the role of CaaS within the EV charging industry and confirm the need for engaged policymaker support to clear roadblocks, support investment, and educate customers about decision-making, which benefits all EV charging stakeholders.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced transit agencies to quickly adapt to new challenges, with service reductions as part of the response to reduced ridership, rising fiscal pressures, and staffing shortages. However, approaches to service adjustment varied significantly across agencies. While pandemic research often focuses on ridership impacts, less attention has been given to how transit service changes affected accessibility and equity. This study examines the impacts of pandemic service adjustments made by three major San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies on accessibility and equity, which is important to address given the absence of formal requirements for equity evaluation of temporary service changes. Using publicly available transit schedule and census data, metrics for transit service levels, job accessibility, and accessibility inequality were developed and used to trace changes from 2020 to 2023. The findings reveal distinct approaches to service reduction and restoration, with agencies prioritizing service differently based on travel needs and racial/ethnic minority populations. While equity briefly improved for some agencies during thepandemic, these changes were temporary, with all agencies returning to their pre-pandemic states of inequity. These insights can guide transit agencies in developing equitable service adjustment strategies and highlight the need for decision-making tools to help transit operators balance competing needs and respond flexibly to disruptions.

Bicycle level of service (BLOS) is an essential performance measure for transportation agencies to monitor and prioritize improvements to infrastructure, but existing measures do not capture the nuance of facility differences on the state highway system. However, with the advancements in virtual reality (VR) technology, a VR bicycle simulator is an ideal tool to safely gather user feedback on a variety of bicycling environments and conditions. This research explored the benefits and limitations of using a VR environment to assess individuals’ bike infrastructure preferences. We conducted a bicyclist user experience survey in person on SafeTREC’s VR bicycle simulator and online and compared the results. The online survey consisted of showing participants pairs of VR videos of biking scenarios and asking them to choose the one that they preferred. To validate the online survey responses, we conducted in-person experiments with a VR bike simulator using the same pairs of videos. Our analysis indicates that 63 percent of the responses were consistent while a smaller percentage of responses (37 percent) changed after the simulator ride due to better perception provided by the simulator virtual environment. The outcome of this study helped to validate the online survey responses of the study.