Strategies for Reducing Transportation Emissions
CSSH/CEE Associate Professor Serena Alexander’s research, “What Tackles Vehicle GHG Emissions in California: Regional Plan Adoption or Local Leadership?” published in the journal Sustainability finds climate planning strategies are more successful with local and regional action, and with all different levels of government.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cyrus Moulton. Main photo: California has local and regional strategies to address transportation greenhouse gas emissions. Northeastern University research evaluates how they do. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
How cities can cut transportation emissions. New Northeastern research reveals key strategies
It’s an environmentalist’s adage: think globally, act locally.
But does this strategy work for reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by vehicles?
New research from Northeastern University finds that it’s a mixed bag.
“Overall, climate planning strategies help us reduce driving or help us increase non-auto commutes,” says Serena Alexander, associate professor of public policy and environmental engineering at Northeastern. “But certain strategies work a lot better at the local level and, for other strategies, regional alignment is important.”
Transportation accounts for the largest portion of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, with 28% of greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the sector. 57% of those emissions are from passenger or light-duty vehicles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
But vehicle miles traveled—a measure of how much Americans drive—continues to rise, even despite the growth of remote work during and after the pandemic.
“We have struggled tremendously in reducing emissions from transportation,” Alexander says. “The main reason being that we have struggled in reducing driving even in places where we have done a lot of climate planning.”
Serena Alexander, associate professor at Northeastern, led research that found simply having climate planning strategies resulted in a nearly 20% increase, on average, in non-auto commutes in California communities. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Act set regional targets for reductions
The state of California exemplifies one of those places.
In 2008, the state passed the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through coordinated transportation, housing and land use planning.
The act set regional targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles, and regional metropolitan planning organizations worked with municipalities to devise strategies to meet these reductions.
For example, to reduce emissions by a certain amount, the region may adopt strategies like improving public transit, creating more bike path networks or streets that can be dedicated to multiple uses rather than just cars, or building more housing near transit stops, etc.
At the end of the day, however, Alexander notes that it is the local municipality that actually implements most of the strategies—planting the street trees or maintaining the bike path, for instance, or rezoning neighborhoods.
“To combat climate change and to reduce emissions and reduce driving, you have to take action at all different levels of government,” Alexander explains. “So, how do we make sure that these different levels of government work together in an effective, efficient way?”
Read full story at Northeastern Global News