Informing California Policy for the Three Transportation Revolutions – Shared, Automated, and Electrified Vehicles

Research Team: Daniel Sperling (lead), Susan Shaheen, and Brian Taylor

UC Campus(es): UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA

Problem Statement: For the first time in many decades, the passenger transportation system is experiencing massive innovation. These innovations could lead to dramatically different futures. One future could be more urban sprawl, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and unhealthy cities and individuals. The other future could bring huge public and private benefits, including more transport choices, greater affordability and accessibility, and healthier, more livable cities, along with less vehicle use and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Policies and research on shared mobility and vehicle automation are lagging behind what is happening in the marketplace. This lag is a source of uncertainty for investors and service providers, and results in inefficiencies from deferred investments and innovation, and opportunity costs from investments that will eventually be redirected or dismantled as policymakers and regulators belatedly adopt requirements.

Project Description: The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis (ITS-Davis) invited approximately 100 leading transportation experts and policy leaders from around the country in Fall 2017 to participate in a conference and discussion on this topic with the purpose of developing policy briefs for local, state, and federal policymakers that can be used to guide decision-making, policies, and strategies on shared, automated, and electrified vehicles. A subset of conference participants also contributed to a book on the same topic, which was released in Spring 2018. The goal of the conference and policy brief series is to identify policies and strategies that direct these innovations toward the public interest in reductions of air pollution, traffic congestion, greenhouse gases, and energy use. The full series of policy briefs are posted on ITS-Davis’s website: https://3rev.ucdavis.edu/policybriefs.

Status: Completed

Budget: $95,000