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The Road to Clean Transportation

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The Road to Clean Transportation The Road to Clean Transportation A Bold, Broad Strategy to Cut Pollution and Reduce Carbon Emissions in the Midwest The Road to Clean Transportation A Bold, Broad Strategy to Cut Pollution and Reduce Carbon Emissions in the Midwest Alana Miller and Tony Dutzik, Frontier Group Ashwat Narayanan, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin Peter Skopec, WISPIRG Foundation August 2018 Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank Kevin Brubaker, Deputy Director, Environmental Law & Policy Center; Gail Francis, Strategic Director, RE-AMP Network; Sean Hammond, Deputy Policy Director, Michigan Environmental Council; Karen Kendrick-Hands, Co-founder, Transportation Riders United and Member of Citizens’ Climate Lobby; Brian Lutenegger, Program Associate, Smart Growth America; and Chris McCahill, Deputy Director, and Eric Sundquist, Director, State Smart Transportation Initiative for their review of drafts of this document, as well as their insights and suggestions. Thanks also to Gideon Weissman of Frontier Group for editorial support, and to Huda Alkaff of Wisconsin Green Muslims; Bill Davis and Cassie Steiner of Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter; Megan Owens of Transportation Riders United; and Abe Scarr of Illinois PIRG for their expertise throughout the project. The authors thank the RE-AMP Network for making this report possible. The authors also thank the RE-AMP Network for its work to articulate a decarbonization strategy that “includes everyone, electrifies everything and decarbonizes electricity,” concepts we drew upon for this report. The WISPIRG Foundation and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin thank the Sally Mead Hands Foundation for generously supporting their work for a 21st century transportation system in Wisconsin. The WISPIRG Foundation thanks the Brico Fund for generously supporting its work to transform transportation in Wisconsin. The authors bear responsibility for any factual errors. Policy recommendations are those of WISPIRG Foundation and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. 2018, WISPIRG Foundation and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin. Some Rights Reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. To view the terms of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, the WISPIRG Foundation offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. The WISPIRG Foundation works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer citizens meaningful opportunities for civic participation. For more information, please visit wispirgfoundation.org. 1000 Friends of Wisconsin promotes land use policies and activities that advance healthy com- munities, positive economic outcomes and environmental benefits in Wisconsin. Our trans- portation program advocates for smarter land uses, public transit and active transportation infrastructure. We carry out research and policy analysis, legal advocacy and implement stra- tegic campaigns to advance these goals. For more information, please visit www.1kfriends.org. Frontier Group provides information and ideas to help citizens build a cleaner, healthier and more democratic America. We address issues that will define our nation’s course in the 21st cen- tury – from fracking to solar energy, global warming to transportation, clean water to clean elec- tions. Our experts and writers deliver timely research and analysis that is accessible to the public, applying insights gleaned from a variety of disciplines to arrive at new ideas for solving pressing problems. For more information about Frontier Group, please visit www.frontiergroup.org. Cover photos (clockwise from top left): Flickr user David Wilson, CC BY 2.0; Flickr user Chicago Bicycle Program, CC BY-2.0; CC0; Eric Wheeler, Metro Transit, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0; Flickr user jonnyfixedgear, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0; Staff Layout: Alec Meltzer/meltzerdesign.net Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction: A Vision for Equitable, Zero-Carbon Transportation 5 Transportation Policy in the Midwest Contributes to Global Warming and Inequity 8 Auto-Centric Transportation Policy Undermines Equity 10 Auto-Centric Transportation Policy Fuels Climate Change 11 A Complete Decarbonization Strategy Offers Many Benefits 13 Achieving Deeper Emissions Reductions 14 Decarbonizing Faster and More Easily 15 Providing Resiliency 15 Advancing Equity 16 Accelerating Transportation Electrification 17 Smart Transportation and Land Use Strategies Reduce Carbon Pollution 18 The Low-Carbon Transportation Toolbox 18 Smart Growth and Compact Development 18 Public Transportation 20 Active Transportation 22 Shared Mobility 24 Smart Pricing 26 Smart Transportation and Smart Growth Can Drive Significant Emissions Reductions 28 Conclusion and Recommendations 29 Notes 31 Executive Summary ransportation is central to daily life in the Midwest can ensure that the trans- the Midwest and to our economy. But portation system we pass on to our Tthe effects of our transportation sys- children is clean, resilient, equitable tem extend far beyond the time we spend and accessible to all. commuting or the ability of a company to Studies by leading academics, national receive freight on time. Our transporta- laboratories and nonprofit groups have tion system shapes how our communities envisioned what a transformed transpor- look and feel, the opportunities for ad- tation system might look like – and the vancement and growth that are available role it might play in combating global to our people, and the quality of the air warming. For example, a 2017 study from we breathe. researchers at the University of Califor- The Midwest’s transportation system is nia, Davis, and the Institute for Trans- also reshaping our climate. Transportation portation & Development Policy found is now responsible for nearly one-third of that by shifting mobility patterns through the region’s carbon dioxide emissions.1 the expansion of things like public transit, Our dependence on fossil fuel-powered walking, and biking, along with electrify- vehicles, and the vast number of miles we ing and automating vehicles, global emis- travel in those vehicles every year, con- sions would be a fraction of a business-as- tributes to global warming, which, in turn, usual scenario (see Figure ES-1).2 threatens the Midwest with more extreme A complete strategy for decarbonizing weather – everything from higher temper- transportation that reduces the need for atures to more intense downpours – in the driving can complement efforts to power years and decades to come. vehicles with clean energy, and can be But a better future is possible. more effective, more resilient, and create By transforming our vehicles, re- a more equitable transportation system thinking the design of our cities and than strategies that rely only on changes towns, maximizing the benefits of new to vehicles and fuels. technologies, and doubling down on The Midwest can start bringing a proven strategies like public transit, future of equitable, accessible zero- Executive Summary 1 Figure ES-1. Global Emissions Resulting from Three Scenarios in 20503 5 4 ons) T 3 2 (Billion Metric 1 Global CO2 Emissions, 2050 0 Business-as-Usual Electrification & Electrification, Automation Automation & Mobility Changes carbon mobility closer to reality today, zero-carbon transportation options. In by embracing proven and emerging the Twin Cities area, for instance, shifts tools to expand low-carbon transporta- in development patterns led to a two- tion choices, and by setting bold goals thirds reduction in the land area re- and benchmarks for the future. In the quired per new resident between 2000 Midwest, smart transportation and smart and 2016 compared with the decade growth strategies could reduce transpor- prior, a change that can greatly reduce tation energy demand and lead to emis- transportation demand.5 sions reductions of at least 20 percent by 2050, with greater reductions possible if • Public Transportation: Emissions Re- those strategies are adopted together. duction Potential – 0.9 to 3.6 percent by 20506 Key strategies include: Public transit helps reduce emissions from transportation in several ways: • Smart Growth and Compact Devel- moving large numbers of people ef- opment: Emissions Reduction Poten- ficiently, supporting electrification of tial – 5 to 16 percent by 20504 transportation, and supporting compact Sprawling, single-use developments development. Residents of transit-rich necessitate traveling longer distances communities drive 10 to 30 percent and often require the use of private fewer miles than residents of car-ori- vehicles. Cities and towns that priori- ented neighborhoods; expanding transit tize compact mixed-use development can reduce emissions while increasing bring destinations closer together, re- mobility opportunities for people un- ducing the need for travel and enabling derserved by a car-centered transporta- the use of a wide variety of low- and tion system.7 2 The Road to Clean Transportation • Active Transportation: Emissions Re- • Shared Mobility: Emissions Reduc- duction Potential – 0.4 to 1.1 percent by tion Potential – 1 to 4 percent10 20508 Shared transportation options, in- Walking and biking are zero-carbon cluding carsharing and bikesharing, modes of transportation
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