California Air Resources Board

Project Statistics

CARB funds awarded: $44.5 million

Number of projects awarded: 13

Link to Projects in Action pages: Funded STEP projects

Funded project types as of FY 2021-22: Zero-emission buses, zero-emission carshare services, zero-emission shuttle services, zero-emission delivery services, charging infrastructure, bikeshare services, mobility-as-a-service improvements, mobility wallets and public transit subsidies, transit stop improvements, bike lanes, bike-supportive infrastructure, sidewalks and pedestrian improvements, street trees, quick-build active transportation projects, transit-oriented development and displacement avoidance planning, truck management plan implementation, workforce development, outreach and education activities, and forums for community decision-making

Cumulative Outcomes

• 4,715 MTCO₂e GHG reductions
• 1512 pounds of NOₓ reductions
• 343 pounds of ROG/HC reductions
• 371 pounds of PM reductions
• 100 percent of funds benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities
• $8.2 million in travel cost savings
• 394,851 in net fossil fuel use reductions
• 7.8 million passenger vehicle miles traveled reductions
• 314 directly supported jobs
• 92 indirectly supported jobs
• 147 induced jobs
• 144 zero-emission vehicles
• 600 bikes and e-bikes
• 148 electric vehicle chargers
• $2.4 million in mobility subsidies
• 1900 trees
• 10.6 miles of bike lanes and sidewalks
• About 212 community events

Evaluation Approach

Grantees are required to track data on the impact of funded projects during project implementation in the following areas:

• Vehicle telematics data: Grantees collect quantifiable data on project operations, such as number of users, number of trips, VMT per user and per trip, average utilization rate, and average fare cost, via vehicle telematics. 
• User surveys: Grantees deploy multiple user surveys over the course of project implementation to collect data that cannot be collected via telematics. This includes, but is not limited to, data such as the demographics of users, user experience, trip purpose, alternative transportation mode if project service had not been available, pre-project travel behavior, changes in travel behavior post‑project, pre-project transportation challenges, changes in transportation access post-project, and changes in perception of ZEVs and equipment post-project.
• Community engagement and outreach: Grantees track data on outreach and engagement activities, including quantitative data, such as the number of events/activities and participants reached, and qualitative data on the nature and impact of the events/activities.
• Lessons learned: Grantees also share lessons learned during project implementation that help CARB track and respond to overarching challenges and best practices.

CARB also has three current or upcoming research contracts intended to evaluate implementation of a portion of CARB’s clean mobility and planning investments:

• Clean mobility project evaluations: CARB has a contract with UC Berkeley’s Transportation and Sustainability Research Center that includes evaluation of 3 STEP Implementation Grants. Researchers are using these STEP grants and other CARB-funded clean mobility projects to assess the effectiveness, sustainability, and outcomes of funded shared mobility projects.
• Community-based transportation planning evaluations: CARB has a contract with UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute that includes evaluation of current STEP Planning and Capacity Building Grants. Researchers are using these STEP grants and other CARB-funded community transportation needs assessments to evaluate and develop recommendations for equitable, community-based transportation planning and engagement.
• Place-based equity evaluation framework: CARB is developing a contract that includes evaluation of current STEP Implementation Grants via a recent Sustainable Communities & Climate Protection Program research solicitation. Researchers are using these STEP grants to develop an evaluation framework and identify performance metrics to assess the synergistic equity impacts of place-based, community-scale mobility investments during and after project implementation.

Participant Demographics

(coming soon)

Socioeconomic Benefits

CARB is continuing to collect data on and develop a process for understanding the socioeconomic benefits to clean mobility users from clean mobility projects. This will incorporate the value of reliable, clean transportation and the cost savings of funded clean mobility services relative to other options. The analysis will continue to be updated and estimates refined based on stakeholder feedback obtained through a public work group process and additional grantee surveys and vehicle telematics data. In the meantime, the table belows describes some key socioeconomic benefits, metrics, and reportable outcomes for STEP.