UAA Inventory: Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Transportation

As a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, UAA has agreed to conduct an inventory of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This inventory serves as a baseline against which to measure the effectiveness of GHG emissions reduction projects. To fulfill the Commitment UAA agreed to conduct an inventory of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as some Scope 3 emissions. In addition to signing the Presidents Climate Commitment, UAA signed the Talloires Declaration in April 2004. The Talloires Declaration is a statement of principles and practices for using higher education to promote sustainability. Scope 1 emissions are defined as direct GHG emissions occurring from sources that are owned or controlled by the institution. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions generated in the production of energy purchased by the institution. Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions that are the consequence of the activities of the institution, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the institution. Pursuant to the Commitment, this study estimates the levels of two types of Scope 3 GHG emissions – commuting by students and employees, and university-funded air travel. Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions are being estimated in a separate study. Two models were developed and used: a UAA commuter model and a UAA air travel model.Office of Sustainability, University of Alaska Anchorag

Municipality of Anchorage Baseline Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Base Year 2008

The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) conducted a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory with a 2008 base year in order to quantify the results of initiatives to reduce the MOA’s current carbon footprint, place those initiatives into a broader strategic plan, and measure reductions going forward. The MOA conducted the carbon baseline because it is a signatory of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Over 710 U.S. Mayors have signed the agreement. Under the agreement, Anchorage must attempt to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets of 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012, encourage their state governments and federal government to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets, and urge the U.S. Congress to pass greenhouse gas reduction legislation establishing a national emissions trading system. The greenhouse gas emissions inventory is the first step for Anchorage to begin measuring the reductions of greenhouse gases as the MOA strives to meet the 7% reduction goal by 2012. The MOA chose to adopt the framework developed by the Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) for measuring progress toward reduction goals because of its wide use, standardized methodology, and proven results. The ICLEI strategy has been adopted worldwide by over 1,000 communities working toward meet Kyoto Protocol carbon emission reduction targets.Municipality of Anchorag

Stalled On The Road To Adulthood? Analyzing the Nature of Recent Travel Changes for Young Adults in America, 1995 to 2009

Young people in the 2000s traveled fewer miles, owned fewer vehicles, and were less likely to hold a driver’s license than young people in the 1990s. Scholars, policymakers, and journalists proffered a host of possible explanations for this trend: attitudes and preferences about travel fundamentally changed due in part to the increased availability of communication technologies; economic conditions limited activities (including employment) and constrained travel options; young adults became less likely to attain adult roles like marriage and child-birth; young people lead a back-to-the-city movement where the utility of non-automobiles modes improved; and/or racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to drive and the population became more diverse. Whichever of these explanations is the principal cause, perhaps the American love affair with the car was over.I assess the evidence for these hypotheses using data from the 1995, 2001, and 2009 national travel surveys in the United States. I identify four distinct traveler types using latent profile analysis of travel patterns over a single day and an extended period. These types—Drivers, Long-distance Trekkers, Multimodals, and Car-less—serve as the dependent variable in the subsequent analysis, where I evaluate changes in the prevalence of each type over time for specific subgroups and use multinomial logistic regression to identify the independent relationship between traveler type and economic resources, adult roles, residential location, and race/ethnicity.I find that economic constraints, role deferment, and racial/ethnic compositional changes in the population primarily explain the travel trends during this period. The evidence in support of preferences and residential location explanations was substantially more limited. The concluding chapter contextualizes these findings, arguing that a large and growing share of young adults suffer from transportation disadvantage. The most important take-away from this work is that the decline in driving by young people in the 2000’s deserves our attention—not as an unmitigated success story, but as an early indication of a problem

A tale of two millennials

In recent years, the millennial generation (those born roughly between 1980 and 2000) has gained significant attention in transport research. Initial research characterized this generation as multimodal, urban and tech-savvy; they have at times been painted as our great hope for a sustainable transport future. Yet more recently a parallel narrative has emerged. According to this view, millennials are simply reacting to difficult economic circumstances that have restricted their ability to pay for a car. This paper explores the evidence for these two conflicting narratives of the millennial generation and possible reasons why the two narratives have come about. It discusses the implications of the two millennial narratives on both social and technological equity and sets out initial thoughts on how these issues may be addressed in future research and policy

The role of habit and residential location in travel behavior change programs, a field experiment

Early evaluations of travel change programs demonstrated dramatic success in shifting people out of cars and into transit and active travel. Yet methodological shortcomings of early studies combined with newer more rigorous evaluations have called into question the dramatic early results. In this study, we use a randomized field experiment of incoming graduate students at the University of California, Los Angeles to answer two research questions. First, do travel behavior change programs work? And second, why do they tend to work for movers, but not non-movers? We test two competing hypothesized mechanisms for how travel interventions work: (1) by breaking travel habits during a period of self-reflection (habit pathway), or (2) by improving the transit quality of one’s home neighborhood (residential location pathway). We find that a low-cost, informational program effectively altered the travel patterns of movers, but not non-movers. Overall, we find little support for the residential location pathway. Members of the treatment group did not live in significantly different neighborhoods compared to members of the control group. In addition, the treatment remained effective when controlling for residential location. This provides indirect evidence for the habit pathway, by which travel behavior programs influence travel behavior through information provided during periods of reflection. Behavioral change campaigns targeted at recent movers are likely just as effective as campaigns targeting those preparing to move as both groups are undergoing periods of reflection

What Explains the Gender Gap in Schlepping? Testing Various Explanations for Gender Differences in Household-Serving Travel

Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), researchers at UCLA and Rutgers find the gender gap in household-serving travel still exists — women are indeed more likely to take these trips than men. To explain this persistent division in household-serving travel, researchers explore the ATUS data using three perspectives: (1) time availability, (2) microeconomic, and (3) gender socialization. Their findings can help transportation planners and researchers better understand travel patterns within households

What Explains the Gender Gap in Schlepping? Testing Various Explanations for Gender Differences in Household-Serving Travel

Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), researchers at UCLA and Rutgers find the gender gap in household-serving travel still exists — women are indeed more likely to take these trips than men. To explain this persistent division in household-serving travel, researchers explore the ATUS data using three perspectives: (1) time availability, (2) microeconomic, and (3) gender socialization. Their findings can help transportation planners and researchers better understand travel patterns within households