Policy

A Low-Carbon Fuel Standard for California Part 1: Technical Analysis

Farrell, Alexander E.
Sperling, Daniel
Arons, S.M.
Brandt, A.R.
Delucchi, M.A.
Eggert, A.
Farrell, A.E.
Haya, B.K.
Hughes, J.
Jenkins, B.M.
Jones, A.D.
Kammen, D.M.
Kaffka, S.R.
Knittel, C.R.
Lemoine, D.M.
Martin, E.W.
Melaina, M.W.
Ogden, J.M.
Plevin, R.J.
Sperling, D.
Turner, B.T.
Williams, R.B.
Yang, C.
2007

Executive Order S-1-07, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) (January 18, 2007), calls for a reduction of at least 10 percent in the carbon intensity of California’s transportation fuels by 2020. It instructed the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate activities between the University of California, the California Energy Commission (CEC) and other state agencies to develop and propose a draft compliance schedule to meet the 2020 Target. This report is the first of two by the University of California in response. This first study assesses the low-carbon...

Zero-Emission Bus Implementation Guidebook for California Transit Fleets

Lipman, Timothy, PhD
Rogers, Emily, MS
2023

Transit bus operations in California are experiencing new challenges due to economic conditions and the ongoing global pandemic. A confluence of factors has created a focus on this critical public-needs serving industry, due to state and local efforts to reduce emissions of pollutants and climate-changing gases. Transit bus operations in California provide essential and additional useful services that offer critical mobility to needy populations (elderly and handicapped) as well as many other groups for whom transit buses provide the most economical, convenient, and low-emission options....

California Transportation Plan 2050: Northern and Southern California Visioning Sessions Findings

Shaheen, Susan, PhD
Totte, Hannah
Cohen, Adam
2018

Improving California’s transportation system requires cross-sector collaboration, particularly as technologies, policies, and regulations develop simultaneously. The California Transportation Plan (CTP) 2050 aims to integrate perspectives from a diverse array of stakeholder that may not typically participate in the statewide planning process. The Visioning Sessions were conducted in two day-long visioning workshops in October 2018 in Southern and Northern California. Overall, these visioning sessions initiated a much-needed dialogue among experts and practitioners from diverse backgrounds...

Smartphone Applications to Influence Travel Choices: Practices and Policies

Shaheen, Susan
Cohen, Adam
Zohdy, Ismail
Kock, Beaudry
2016

This primer provides an overview of current practices in this emerging field and looks toward the future in the evolution and development of smartphone applications for the transportation sector. The primer provides an introduction and overview smartphone applications (known as “apps”); discusses the background, evolution, and development of smartphone apps; reviews the types of smartphone applications promoting transportation efficiency and congestion reduction; discusses transportation apps and their impacts on traveler behavior; examines current challenges; and concludes with guiding...

One-Way Carsharing's Evolution and Operator Perspectives from the Americas

Shaheen, Susan, PhD
Chan, Nelson
Micheaux, Helen
2015

Classic roundtrip carsharing has been documented as a strategy to reduce car ownership and vehicle miles/kilometers traveled in urban areas. The expansion of carsharing and other forms of shared-use mobility have led to a growing interest in understanding the latest models. In recent years, one-way carsharing has gained momentum across the globe with 18 operators providing services in ten countries worldwide. One-way carsharing does not require its users to return the vehicle to the same location from which it was accessed (in contrast to roundtrip carsharing). Users typically pay by the...

Ammonia as an Alternative Energy Storage Medium for Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Scientific and Technical Review for Near-Term Stationary Power Demonstration Projects, Final Report

Lipman, Tim
Shah, Nihar
2007

This report documents the research efforts of a task order under a research technical agreement between the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). The focus of this research is to understand the scientific and technical aspects of the potential use of ammonia and other related carbon-free energy carriers for hydrogen fuel cell applications. Caltrans has a range of potential applications for fuel cell technology, including various field operations and for providing emergency backup power, power “demand response”...

Shared Mobility Resources: Helping to Understand Emerging Shifts in Transportation

Shaheen, Susan
Cohen, Adam
Zohdy, Ismail
2018

Shared mobility is a transportation strategy that is rising in prominence and has the potential to align with supportive land use, mobility, social, and environmental goals. As a concept, the term applies to any mode, whether bicycle, car, public transit, or other mode, in which shared use (concurrent or sequential) is often facilitated by smartphone apps and technology. Casual carpooling is one example in which sharing has been more organic and non-technological in nature. Given shared mobility’s notable growth and expansion in recent years, it merits a deeper understanding in light of...

California's Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate: Linking Clean-Fuel Cars, Carsharing, and Station Car Strategies

Shaheen, Susan
Wright, John
Sperling, Daniel
2002

To reduce transportation emissions and energy consumption, policymakers typically employ one of two approaches—changing technology or changing behavior. These strategies include demand management tools, such as ridesharing and vehicle control technologies—cleaner fuels and fueleconomy. Despite the benefits of a combined policy approach, these strategies are normally employed separately. Nevertheless, they have been linked occasionally, for instance in the electric station car programs of the 1990s. Station cars are vehicles used by transit riders at the start or end of a trip. In 1990, the...

Transportation Network Companies Might Be Pulling Riders from Public Transit, but This Could Change

Shaheen, Susan, PhD
Martin, Elliot, PhD
Stocker, Adam
2023

Transportation Network Companies (TNCs, also known as ridehailing and ridesourcing) have expanded across California over the past decade and changed the way people travel. Using a smartphone, travelers can quickly summon a vehicle from almost anywhere and know what the estimated wait time, travel time, and cost will be before stepping into the vehicle. While TNCs are clearly addressing an unmet need for travelers, their growing popularity has raised a number of policy questions, including if TNCs are shifting people away from public transit and other travel modes (e.g., carshare, walking,...

Synthesis of State-Level Planning and Strategic Actions on Automated Vehicles: Lessons and Policy Guidance for California

Wong, Stephen
Shaheen, Susan, PhD
2020

This synthesis provides a summary and comparative analysis of actions states across the United States are taking inresponse to automated vehicles (AVs). The research focuses on state-level stakeholder forums (e.g., task forces, committees) and state-level strategic actions (e.g., studies, initiatives, programs) initiated by a state legislature, agovernor, or a state agency. The analysis found that AV stakeholder forums and strategic actions address a diverse set offocus areas, but they pay minimal attention to the implications of AVs on the environment, public health, social equity, land...