Full Title: Expanding Access to Sustainable Transportation in California
Author(s): F. Noel Perry, Colleen Kredell, Marcia E. Perry, Stephanie Leonard
Publisher(s): Next 10
Publication Date: September 29, 2021
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Next 10’s latest brief ranks urban and rural counties and regions throughout California on clean transportation progress—and finds surprising good news stories from certain rural counties despite a continual upitck in vehicle miles traveled across the state.
While solutions may differ across urban, suburban, and rural counties, local and state leaders must increase access to clean transportation alternatives across the state if California is to address the climate crisis and protect public health in areas with historically high air pollution levels. Transportation remains the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, accounting for 41 percent of all statewide emissions in 2017, with on-road passenger vehicles alone representing 28 percent of statewide emissions.
The report, Expanding Access to Sustainable Transportation in California, was prepared by Beacon Economics and looks at 12 sustainable transportation indicators across four main categories—vehicle miles traveled reductions, clean vehicle adoption, and active transportation and public transit use—to compare how California counties and some of the largest regions are performing when it comes to providing equitable access to clean transportation choices, while recognizing that solutions will look different in rural vs. urban counties.
The brief also examines performance through a regional lens, as large-scale transportation planning, management, and funding streams are typically conducted at the regional level through a transportation authority or metropolitan planning organization (MPO). Home to some of the nation’s largest MPOs, California provides a number of examples for how best to incorporate equitable access to clean transportation choices into regional planning. The Bay Area ranks the highest in the state in sustainable transportation performance, while the Sacramento region is home to leading rural counties.