California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigator/Author: Susan Shaheen

Contractor: University of California, Berkeley

Contract Number: 19RD009

Project Status: Completed Nov 2023

Relevant CARB Programs: Emissions Monitoring & Control

Topic Areas: Behavioral Change, Monitoring, Transport

Research Summary:

California needs to reduce criteria pollutants and GHG emissions from motor vehicles in order to meet its air quality and climate goals. This will require increasing high-occupancy, zero emission new mobility options and multi-modal transportation choices. This project will examine new mobility strategies in California, and how they interact with land use to influence travel behavior. The project has two objectives: 1) to identify barriers to adoption of new shared mobility and multi-modal transportation choices, as well as strategies to overcome those barriers; and 2) to construct scenarios that illustrate pathways to deep reduction of transportation emissions through wider adoption of new shared and multi-modal transportation options. A critical part of this project is to understand barriers to adoption of new mobility options in vulnerable populations, including low-income, disadvantaged community residents, rural communities and travelers with physical impairments. The contractor will identify implementation barriers by conducting: 1) focus groups targeting demographically representative travelers; 2) expert interviews with stakeholders; and 3) a general population survey across five major regions in California. The contractors will utilize these results to construct three or four policy scenarios to model impacts of alternative policies and incentives on travel demand. Scenarios will be modeled out to 2050 to better understand the possible impacts of potential policy options and strategies on vehicle travel miles and emissions. The results will guide future programs affecting land use and transportation in the hopes of lowering emissions and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to meet air quality and climate goals.

Keywords: zero-emission; transportation; new mobility options; multi-modal transportation; travel behavior

Research Seminar

Final Report: Please email research@arb.ca.gov to request the final report generated by this research contract.