Because state highways are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, some state DOTs are looking for ways to decarbonize within their existing highway systems. Expanding renewable energy and decarbonizing requires increased transmission to meet the new capacity. Although DOTs have space to carry power and other utilities along their highways (in what is called the right-of-way, or ROW), these opportunities remain underutilized due to the technical coordination and expertise needed to implement them. By electrifying state-owned highways, state DOTs and the energy sector can work together to reduce carbon emissions.
Environment
States must step up efforts to reduce harmful carbon emissions
As of last September, 16 states and Puerto Rico approved legislation requiring reductions in greenhouse emissions. The White House also set ambitious goals of cutting emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels in 2030. They aim to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050. Contributing to 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., the transportation sector is now the top producer and accounts for a growing portion each year. More than half of these emissions (57%) come from personal vehicles such as cars, SUVs, and light-duty trucks. Progress in cutting those emissions has been slow, let alone efforts to measure and track them.
State DOTs are key players in cutting transportation emissions
Through a combination of carrots and sticks—but mostly carrots—the federal government has encouraged state DOTs to take ambitious steps to lower the environmental impacts of transportation and to invest in more sustainable travel options. Two years into the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), notes Adie Tomer at Brookings, it is still hard to know the impacts. Many states are still operating under the status quo. Others, however, including many SSTI partners, are seizing the opportunity to bolster ongoing local sustainability initiatives.
Transportation is feeling the heat
Our infrastructure isn’t prepared for climate change. This summer’s record heat wave has illustrated the immediate impacts of extreme weather and temperature events on our safety and ability to travel. As climate change accelerates these extremes, we need to be prepared to enhance our infrastructure’s resilience and adaptability.
Electric vehicle adoption could be headed for a peak
While electric vehicles continue to become more mainstream, we might be headed toward a peak. Electric vehicles remain a key focus for reducing emissions, despite barriers such as grid capacity, consumer preferences, and mining for materials. But as the push for large-scale electric vehicles accelerates, new barriers and opportunities emerge.
Reworking the “greatest public works project in history”
The interstate highway system is arguably the largest and most impactful project in American history—not just in terms of its cost and the way it connected businesses and cities across the country, but also because of the devastating impact it had on people of color and low-income communities in central cities. All levels of government played a role in pushing interstates through cities. Now it is everyone’s responsibility to confront the long-term consequences. The federal Reconnecting Communities program marks an important turning point in addressing these impacts, but also represents the beginning of a decades-long process to address and correct past damages.
Community-based solutions could bridge the mobility gap for the carless
Many areas of the country are not well served by public transportation, resulting in households without access to a personal vehicle being significantly disadvantaged. In such areas, travelers may rely on a combination of ride-hailing services, informal car-sharing and ride-sharing, and even medical transport, or they forgo trips altogether. A lack of transportation options can keep people from getting to work, accessing essential services, and make gathering necessities difficult.
Many are optimistic about the decarbonization blueprint
The Biden administration’s newly released National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization represents an historic mission alignment among federal agencies to meet an economy-wide goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2050. The U.S. Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, have developed this joint strategy to guide the decarbonization of the transportation sector—the largest GHG contributor, currently generating roughly one-third of U.S. emissions.
Remote work could increase driving and transportation emissions
The impacts of telecommuting often come up in SSTI’s work around travel demand management and climate action plans, so our team makes a point of staying on top of the latest relevant research. Although the pandemic showed us that remote work helped cut traffic considerably, especially in major job centers, the verdict is still out on whether widespread telecommuting could really help lower travel demand. A growing number of studies suggest it could have the opposite effect.
Particulates from transportation cause cancer says new research
More and more people are recognizing the costs associated with driving, and that driving less opens space for alternatives and makes us healthier. Now new research adds one more tick to the human health costs column: particulates from transportation cause cancer.