Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals
Public transportation systems are often part of strategies to reduce urban environmental impacts from passenger transportation, yet comprehensive energy and environmental life-cycle measures, including upfront infrastructure effects and indirect and supply chain processes, are rarely considered. Usi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015041 |
| _version_ | 1797748378365329408 |
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| author | Mikhail Chester Stephanie Pincetl Zoe Elizabeth William Eisenstein Juan Matute |
| author_facet | Mikhail Chester Stephanie Pincetl Zoe Elizabeth William Eisenstein Juan Matute |
| author_sort | Mikhail Chester |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Public transportation systems are often part of strategies to reduce urban environmental impacts from passenger transportation, yet comprehensive energy and environmental life-cycle measures, including upfront infrastructure effects and indirect and supply chain processes, are rarely considered. Using the new bus rapid transit and light rail lines in Los Angeles, near-term and long-term life-cycle impact assessments are developed, including consideration of reduced automobile travel. Energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants are assessed, as well the potential for smog and respiratory impacts. Results show that life-cycle infrastructure, vehicle, and energy production components significantly increase the footprint of each mode (by 48–100% for energy and greenhouse gases, and up to 6200% for environmental impacts), and emerging technologies and renewable electricity standards will significantly reduce impacts. Life-cycle results are identified as either local (in Los Angeles) or remote, and show how the decision to build and operate a transit system in a city produces environmental impacts far outside of geopolitical boundaries. Ensuring shifts of between 20–30% of transit riders from automobiles will result in passenger transportation greenhouse gas reductions for the city, and the larger the shift, the quicker the payback, which should be considered for time-specific environmental goals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:04:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b22aa28039704ed4b5c95e6582a79304 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:04:52Z |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-b22aa28039704ed4b5c95e6582a793042023-08-09T14:26:28ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262013-01-018101504110.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015041Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goalsMikhail Chester0Stephanie Pincetl1Zoe Elizabeth2William Eisenstein3Juan Matute4Civil, Environmental, and Sustainability Engineering, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University , 501 E Tyler Mall Room 252, Mail Code 5306, Tempe, AZ 86287-5306, USAInstitute of the Environment and Sustainability, California Center for Sustainable Communities, University of California , Los Angeles, LaKretz Hall, Suite 300, 619 Charles E Young Dr. East, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496, USAInstitute of the Environment and Sustainability, California Center for Sustainable Communities, University of California , Los Angeles, LaKretz Hall, Suite 300, 619 Charles E Young Dr. East, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496, USACenter for Resource Efficient Communities, University of California , Berkeley, 390 Wurster Hall #1839, Berkeley, CA 94720, USALuskin School of Public Affairs, Local Climate Change Initiative, University of California , Los Angeles, Box 165606, 3250 Public Affairs Building, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656, USAPublic transportation systems are often part of strategies to reduce urban environmental impacts from passenger transportation, yet comprehensive energy and environmental life-cycle measures, including upfront infrastructure effects and indirect and supply chain processes, are rarely considered. Using the new bus rapid transit and light rail lines in Los Angeles, near-term and long-term life-cycle impact assessments are developed, including consideration of reduced automobile travel. Energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants are assessed, as well the potential for smog and respiratory impacts. Results show that life-cycle infrastructure, vehicle, and energy production components significantly increase the footprint of each mode (by 48–100% for energy and greenhouse gases, and up to 6200% for environmental impacts), and emerging technologies and renewable electricity standards will significantly reduce impacts. Life-cycle results are identified as either local (in Los Angeles) or remote, and show how the decision to build and operate a transit system in a city produces environmental impacts far outside of geopolitical boundaries. Ensuring shifts of between 20–30% of transit riders from automobiles will result in passenger transportation greenhouse gas reductions for the city, and the larger the shift, the quicker the payback, which should be considered for time-specific environmental goals.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015041transportationgreenhouse gas emissionslife cycle assessmenturban |
| spellingShingle | Mikhail Chester Stephanie Pincetl Zoe Elizabeth William Eisenstein Juan Matute Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals Environmental Research Letters transportation greenhouse gas emissions life cycle assessment urban |
| title | Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals |
| title_full | Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals |
| title_fullStr | Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals |
| title_short | Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals |
| title_sort | infrastructure and automobile shifts positioning transit to reduce life cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals |
| topic | transportation greenhouse gas emissions life cycle assessment urban |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015041 |
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