Abstract
High levels of car travel contribute to poor air quality in California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV), but car usage is unlikely to decline in the near future, as the region is not dense enough to support an effective transit system as an alternative for personal travel. The region’s air quality presents a significant environmental justice concern given the high percentage of minority and low-income residents in the Valley. To combat the harm caused by high-emitting vehicles, the SJV Air Pollution Control District and the nonprofit Valley Clean Air Now (Valley CAN) started the Tune In & Tune Up (TI&TU) program, providing SJV residents with free emission testing and vouchers for smog repair at a series of publicly-held events across the Valley. Since 2012, the program has distributed more than $12 million in redeemed vouchers.UCLA researchers evaluated the TI&TU program’s efficiency, environmental, and equity outcomes, and considered its relevance for expansion and adoption in other regions. Their findings are not only relevant to regional and state policymakers in California’s transportation planning and air quality fields, but to practitioners and scholars studying policies to support transportation equity and environmental justice more broadly
