Transportation Energy Futures Series: Effects of the Built Environment on Transportation: Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Other Factors

Abstract

This is one of a series of reports produced as a result of the Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored multi-agency project initiated to identify underexplored strategies for abating greenhouse gases and reducing petroleum dependence related to transportation. The project was designed to consolidate existing transportation energy knowledge, advance analytic capacity-building, and uncover opportunities for sound strategic action.Transportation currently accounts for 71% of total U.S. petroleum use and 33% of the nation's total carbon emissions. The TEF project explores how combining multiple strategies could reduce GHG emissions and petroleum use by 80%. Researchers examined four key areas -lightduty vehicles, non-light-duty vehicles, fuels, and transportation demand -in the context of the marketplace, consumer behavior, industry capabilities, technology and the energy and transportation infrastructure. The TEF reports support DOE long-term planning. The reports provide analysis to inform decisions about transportation energy research investments, as well as the role of advanced transportation energy technologies and systems in the development of new physical, strategic, and policy alternatives.In addition to the DOE and its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, TEF benefitted from the collaboration of experts from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory, along with steering committee members from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, academic institutions and industry associations. More detail on the project, as well as the full series of reports, can be found at http://www.eere.energy.gov/analysis/transportationenergyfutures. ...................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................. 69 References ......................................................................................................................... Contract LIST OF TABLES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Designing the Built Environment to Reduce Energy Use and EmissionsUrban form has evolved in response to a variety of demographic, social, economic, technological, and policy drivers. While direct authority over land use resides primarily at the local level, the federal government's transportation and housing policies have indirectly influenced the built environment. These policies accelerated mid-and late-20 th century trends of decentralization and declines in population density that were driven by increasing automotive mobility and the post-World War II baby boom. Suburbanization now shows some signs of slowing or reversing in response to demographic, economic, and cultural changes, renewing interest in smaller homes in urban settings. Local governments are increasingly impl...

Review of Social Equity and Environment in Urban Transportation

“…A denser population has the advantage of possibly reducing gas-emission vehicle usage by encouraging other modes such as walking or biking, such as in New York City. However, many cities similar to Los Angeles do not have a robust high-density city center and are more uniformly distributed (Porter et al, 2013). Greenhouse gases will be denser in these areas.…”

Emerging travel trends, high-speed rail, and the public reinvention of U.S. transportation

“…(Newman and Kenworthy, 2011) Hubs help to concentrate land use and increase density. The greater a city's population density, the more likely it is for transit systems to attract sufficient ridership away from cars (Porter et al, 2013). One study found that people in a relatively dense city with transit such as Boston tallied 25% fewer VMT than heavily cardependent Atlanta (Bento et al, 2005).…”