California Air Resources Board

Cumulative Outcomes as of November 30, 2023

• 4,921 MTCO₂e GHG reductions*
• 0.802 tons of NO_x reductions*
• 0.1835 tons of ROG/HC reductions*
• 0.1935 tons of PM reductions*

*Only quantified for implemented grants.

Project Statistics

CARB funds awarded: $44.5 million

Number of projects awarded: 13

Funded project types as of FY 2021-22: Sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure improvements, bicycle lanes and supportive infrastructure, quick-build active transportation infrastructure, street trees and urban greening, zero-emission shuttle services, zero-emission buses, transit stop improvements, mobility wallets and public transit subsidies, e-bike share services, zero-emission car share services, zero-emission delivery services, bicycle giveaways, electric vehicle charging infrastructure for shared mobility or transit services, transportation education and planning resources, truck traffic calming activities, transit-oriented development and displacement avoidance planning, workforce development, outreach and education activities, and community decision-making processes.

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 three 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: In January 2024, UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute published an evaluation of both STEP Planning and Capacity Building Grants and Clean Mobility Options Community Transportation Needs Assessments. The report, titled Advancing Equitable Community-Based Transportation Planning, includes recommendations to address programmatic issues, equity concerns, and questions raised throughout the project research activities to support improved institutional and community capacities for equitable transportation.
• 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.