Join CARB for this research seminar which explores changes to land use and transportation in the downtown areas of Fresno, Sacramento, and Santa Monica. The project aimed to measure the effect of these changes on vehicle miles traveled.

Date: Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Location: Webinar

Register here.

Background

Senate Bill 375 (2008) directed the California Air Resources Board to collaborate with the state’s Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to set regional targets for reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger vehicles. Under this legislation California’s MPOs are required to adopt Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCSs) that lay out the strategies by which the region will achieve its GHG reduction targets, including strategies to reduce vehicle miles travel (VMT). Some strategies to reduce VMT include changes to the built environment, to both land development patterns and the transportation system, which reduce the need for driving. As one way to evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies, this project used available data to examine changes in travel patterns associated with changes in land-use patterns and the transportation system in three case study downtown areas: Fresno, Sacramento, and Santa Monica. For more information and detailed findings, visit the project webpage or contact the Research Division. The project webpage will host the final report and seminar recording once they become available.

Biography

The Principal Investigator, Susan Handy, is a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California at Davis, where she teaches in the Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning major and in the Transportation Technology and Policy Program. She is the director of the National Center for Sustainable Transportation, part of the federal university transportation centers program. Her research focuses on the relationships between transportation and land use, particularly the impact of land use on travel behavior, and on strategies for reducing automobile dependence. Her recent work includes projects for CARB and Caltrans on methods for evaluating the impacts on vehicle travel of proposed land development and transportation projects. Her new book, Shifting Gears: Toward a New Way of Thinking About Transportation, is published by MIT Press.