Susan Shaheen, Kate Gosselin, Jacquelyn Broader, Adam Cohen
2022
Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) enable travelers to order and pay for rides on-demand using an online application that connects them with drivers using their personal vehicles. While these modes present opportunities to increase individual mobilityand access, they also can worsen congestion and increase vehicle emissions. Researchers explored factors impacting the willingness to use pooled TNCs and identifiedstrategies/policies that could be employed to reduce congestion from TNC use. Researchers conducted a literature review, interviews with TNC experts, semi-structured interviews...
Susan Shaheen, Adam Cohen, Kate Gosselin, Jacquelyn Broader
2022
Congestion management strategies can be improved through increased data sharing, particularly between public and private stakeholders. Additionally, improvements in public transit and pooling services (e.g., dedicated infrastructure) can help increase travelers' willingness to shift to higher-occupancy modes. However, safety concerns will also need to be addressed to encourage shifts toward higher-occupancy travel options. Unique considerations and strategies may need to be employed in order to ensure equitable outcomes for travelers with disabilities.
The transportation sector accounts for 38 percent of California’s greenhouse gas emissions, the largest source of pollution in the state. Four out of 10 Californians live close to a freeway or busy road. As a result, Californians face an increased risk of asthma, cancer and other pollution-related health hazards. There are now twice as many people dying from trafficrelated pollution as from traffic related accidents.
Californians spend $70 billion on gasoline and diesel annually — $40 billion of which leaves the state in payments to oil companies and foreign oil-producing countries...
By the year 2030, 57 million people will be over the age of 65 in the United States. Baby boomers drive approximately 17% more than other age groups and are active well past retirement. This article examines electric vehicle (EV) carsharing (short-term vehicle access) as a future alternative to vehicle ownership for older adults living on fixed incomes in a gated community to provide reduced-cost mobility and eliminate vehicle maintenance hassles. The authors conducted a study of the response to the EV carsharing concept in a senior community in northern California, between winter...
By the year 2030, 57 million people will be over the age of 65 in the United States. Baby Boomers drive approximately 17% more than other age groups and are active well past retirement. This paper examines electric vehicle (EV) carsharing (short-term vehicle access) as a future alternative to vehicle ownership for older adults living on fixed incomes in a gated community to provide reduced cost mobility and eliminate vehicle maintenance hassles. The authors conducted a study of the response to the EV carsharing concept in a senior community in Northern California, between Winter 2009 and...
Susan Shaheen, PhD, Corwin Bell, Adam Cohen, Balaji Yelchuru
2017
Shared mobility—the shared use of a motor vehicle, bicycle, or other low-speed transportation mode that allows users to obtain short-term access to transportation on an as-needed basis—has the potential to help address some transportation equity challenges. In an effort to categorize the myriad of transportation equity barriers facing transportation system users, this primer proposes a ‘STEPS to Transportation Equity’ framework including: Spatial, Temporal, Economic, Physiological, and Social barriers. For each barrier category, shared mobility opportunities and challenges are...
Ensuring equal access for protected classes impacted by shared mobility services is critical. In California, this can include provisions mandating access for individuals with disabilities, as well as prohibitions in discrimination against other protected classes. Many of these laws not only prohibit discrimination against the end user but also shared mobility employees. In addition to prohibiting discrimination, it is imperative to ensure shared mobility is accessible to all. Equitable treatment of shared mobility providers (e.g., data, insurance, licensing) is also a key...
This white paper examines the social equity impacts of various congestion management strategies. The paper includes a comprehensive list of 30 congestion management strategies and a discussion of equity implications related to each strategy. The authors analyze existing literature and incorporate findings from 12 expert interviews from academic, non-governmental organization (NGO), public, and private sector respondents to strengthen results and fill gaps in understanding. The literature review applies the Spatial – Temporal – Economic – Physiological – Social (STEPS) Equity Framework (...
To better understand the equity implications of a variety of congestion management strategies, researchers at the Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) at University of California, Berkeley analyzed existing literature on congestion management strategies and findings from 12 expert interviews. The literature review applies the Spatial – Temporal – Economic – Physiological – Social (STEPS) Equity Framework1 to identify impacts and classify whether social equity barriers are reduced, exacerbated, or both by a particular strategy. The congestion management strategies of...