Transportation Resources
Contact
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Transportation planning decisions can significantly impact people’s exposure to air pollution. Sustainable transportation strategies reduce community exposure by promoting zero emission technologies, facilitating active transportation (bicycling and walking), and improving access to public transit.
The below resources are designed to support development of sustainable transportation strategies through transportation policy and planning resources, strategy resources, tools and data, and research. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but a helpful starting point for those interested in air quality and transportation issues. This list will be refined and updated as new resources become available.
Some of the links below lead to non-CARB resources, but provide information that may be helpful to individuals interested in air quality and transportation. CARB cannot attest to the accuracy of these sites, and linking to a non-CARB site does not constitute an endorsement by CARB or any of its staff.
Examples in Practice
Example | Source | Description |
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Barrio Logan Clean Air Safe Streets Ordinance (R-312806) | City of San Diego, CA | City of San Diego ordinance that establishes commercial vehicle prohibitions on various streets in the community of Barrio Logan. |
Port of Los Angeles/Port of Long Beach Clean Trucks Program | Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach | Programs to reduce pollution from drayage trucks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. |
Policy and Planning Resources
Resource | Source | Description |
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Active Transportation | California Air Resources Board | Informative resources on active transportation. |
Low-Income Barriers Study: Overcoming Barriers to Zero-Emission and Near Zero-Emission Transportation and Mobility Options | California Air Resources Board | CARB’s Guidance Document on identifying the main barriers low income residents, including those in disadvantaged communities, face in accessing clean transportation and mobility options. |
Concept Paper for the Freight Handbook | California Air Resources Board | The Concept Paper for the Freight Handbook is intended to support public review, discussion, and feedback on the identified practices for the siting, design, construction, and operation of freight facilities to minimize community exposure to air pollution from freight. |
Sustainable Communities | California Air Resources Board | Sustainable community development allows residents to rely less on individual cars and provides greater opportunities for walking, biking and access to clean transit options. Coordinating land use and transportation planning can reduce air pollution, crating healthier communities. |
Leading the Way: Policies and Practices for Sustainable Community Strategies | ClimatePlan | White paper on policies and practices for sustainable communities strategies. |
Health, Transportation and Mobility Resources | Institute for Local Government | Ideas, case studies, and resources to support development of healthy neighborhoods that offer bikeable, walkable or transit-oriented transportation systems that are safe, provide appropriate travel options, are easily accessed, and are feasible for all populations and all trips. |
Efficient Transportation | Institute for Local Government | Case studies, best practices, and resources to develop efficient transportation systems that encourage alternatives to single occupancy vehicles and reduce vehicle miles traveled. |
Urban land Institute Resource Library | Urban Land Institute | Searchable database containing all of the Urban Land Institute's published work on best practices for land use and transportation policy. |
Moving California: Clean Transportation Education | California Air Resources Board | Highlights of the various clean vehicle technology options and clean transportation financial incentives. |
Strategy Resources
Resource | Source | Description |
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Technical Advisory: Strategies to Reduce Air Pollution Exposure Near High-Volume Roadways | California Air Resources Board | Technical supplement to CARB’s Air Quality and Land Use Handbook. This Technical Advisory provides planners and other stakeholders with information on scientifically based strategies to reduce exposure to traffic emissions near high-volume roadways in order to protect public health and promote equity and environmental justice. |
Best Practices for Reducing Near-Road Air Pollution Exposure at Schools | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | U.S. EPA document outlining strategies that are being used by communities and schools across the country to reduce traffic-related pollution exposure. |
Living Close to Roadways: Health Concerns and Mitigation Strategies | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | Summary of near-roadway exposure mitigation strategies with links to more information. |
Roadside Vegetative Barriers | (Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District | Landscaping Guidance for Improving Air Quality near Roadways provides local guidance and best practices for the use of vegetation to mitigate pollution exposure. |
Recommendations for Constructing Roadside Vegetation Barriers to Improve Near-Road Air Quality | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | Report that provides recommendations on the physical characteristics of roadside vegetation that can provide a local air quality benefit. |
Clean Cargo: A Guide to Reducing Diesel Air Pollution from the Freight Industry in Your Community | Natural Resources Defense Council | Summarizes the health effects of air pollution created by the freight transportation system and outlines available measures for cleanup. |
Minimizing Community Health Impacts from Freight | California Air Resources Board | Resources outlining concepts for minimizing community health impacts from large freight facilities including seaports, railyards, warehouses, and distribution centers. |
Mitigating Diesel Truck Impacts in Environmental Justice Communities: Transportation Planning and Air Quality in Barrio Logan, San Diego, California | Transportation Research Board | Describes policies to mitigate local diesel truck impacts resulting from goods movement activity at two port facilities and to improve traffic operations in the communities of Barrio Logan in San Diego, California, and Old Town in National City, California, both low-income communities of color. |
Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program | Bay Area Air Quality Management District | Summary of the Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program. |
Tools and Data
Resource | Source | Description |
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Transportation Demand Management Tool and Smart Growth | Bay Area Air Quality Management District | An excel-based tool that calculates the impacts of project-level transportation demand measures on vehicle miles traveled and describes the Air District’s smart growth planning efforts to reduce vehicle dependence, enhance local communities, and support regional smart growth initiatives. |
Land Use/Transportation Data & Tools | Caltrans | Caltrans' Office of Smart Mobility and Climate Change's studies and related efforts regarding housing, land use and transportation coordination, smart growth (including transit-oriented development and urban/suburban infill land uses), and the development of models and tools for assessing such strategies. |
Housing plus Transportation Index | Center for Neighborhood Technology | The Housing and Transportation Affordability Index provides a comprehensive view of affordability that includes both the cost of housing and the cost of transportation at the neighborhood level. |
Research
Resource | Source | Description |
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Research on Land Use and Transportation Planning | California Air Resources Board | California passed Senate Bill 375 requiring metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) to develop Sustainable Communities Strategies to illustrate how integrated land use, transportation, and housing planning will achieve regional greenhouse gas targets. The research projects listed offer insight and solutions for MPOs, local governments, and consumers. |
Research on Transportation Choices | California Air Resources Board | CARB's transportation choices research program seeks to: 1) improve understanding of household transportation and vehicle choices, 2) understand market forces, consumer acceptance, and real-world emission benefits of plug-in electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles, and 3) increase the adoption of clean vehicles across households of all income levels. |
Transportation Research Board | Transportation Research Board | The Transportation Research Board (TRB) provides innovative, research-based solutions to improve transportation. TRB is a program unit of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, a non-profit organization that provides independent, objective, and interdisciplinary solutions. |
University of California (UC) Institute of Transportation Studies | University of California | A multicampus research unit with branches on four UC campuses (UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis) to address critical state goals in high priority areas such as climate change, urban sustainability and air quality, infrastructure and energy, transportation system performance/optimization, and taxation and finance. |
Urban Land Use and Transportation Center | The UC Davis Urban Land Use and Transportation Center | The UC Davis Urban Land Use and Transportation Center (ULTRANS) aims to support the design and implementation of new land use and vehicle demand policies through research, education, and public outreach. |