New Index Ranks Climate Impact of Transportation for 100 Largest U.S. Metro Areas

×

Error message

  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$ds_changed in eval() (line 16 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$ss_search_api_url in eval() (line 20 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$tm_title in eval() (line 20 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$ds_changed in eval() (line 16 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$ss_search_api_url in eval() (line 20 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$tm_title in eval() (line 20 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$ds_changed in eval() (line 16 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$ss_search_api_url in eval() (line 20 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).
  • Notice: Undefined property: stdClass::$tm_title in eval() (line 20 of /var/www/7/modules/php/php.module(80) : eval()'d code).

SAN FRANCISCO, March 14, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- StreetLight Data, Inc. (StreetLight), a subsidiary of Jacobs (NYSE: J) and the leading Big Data company providing insights into how people, goods, and services move, today released StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index report. In addition to other findings, this national study ranks the country's 100 most populous metro areas based on eight key transportation factors impacting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Metadata
Provider: 
PR NewswirePR Newswire
Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Information
Tags: 
DOT, Sales management, VMT, Fuel economy, Street, Transport, GHG, SAN, Travel, Software, Big data, City, Hand
Geotags: 
CALIFORNIA, JACOBS, NEW YORK
⚠ partially generated by AI ↴
Organisation: 
JACOBS, STREETLIGHT, STREETLIGHT DATA, STREETLIGHT, A JACOBS COMPANY
Summary
Key Points: 
  • In addition to other findings, this national study ranks the country's 100 most populous metro areas based on eight key transportation factors impacting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
  • "Now is the time to take a close look at transportation climate impact locally."
  • In the U.S., transportation is the biggest contributor to GHG emissions, and reining in transportation emissions is essential to meeting net zero emissions goals.
  • StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index Best Performing Top 10 U.S. Metro Areas:
    The top metro areas generally have low VMT, significant bike and pedestrian activity, high per-capita transit use, as well as better fuel economy.




New Index Ranks Climate Impact of Transportation for 100 Largest U.S. Metro Areas

StreetLight Data analysis shows San Jose, New York and San Francisco top the rankings of metros with the most climate-friendly transportation impact

SAN FRANCISCO, March 14, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- StreetLight Data, Inc. (StreetLight), a subsidiary of Jacobs (NYSE: J) and the leading Big Data company providing insights into how people, goods, and services move, today released StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index report. In addition to other findings, this national study ranks the country's 100 most populous metro areas based on eight key transportation factors impacting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

"In 2023 we saw many of the pandemic related reductions in transportation emissions return to pre-pandemic levels," said Laura Schewel, StreetLight CEO and VP of Transportation Software at Jacobs. "Now is the time to take a close look at transportation climate impact locally."

In the U.S., transportation is the biggest contributor to GHG emissions, and reining in transportation emissions is essential to meeting net zero emissions goals. StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index report leverages the StreetLight InSight® platform used by the nation's leading DOT and MPOs which transforms multimodal transportation data into contextualized, normalized, and aggregated travel patterns to derive its findings. This year's analysis examines eight GHG-related transportation factors to evaluate how America's cities rank on their efforts to make climate progress: 1. Vehicle Miles Traveled, 2. Fuel Economy, 3. Transit Ridership, 4. EV Penetration, 5. Biking Activity, 6. Pedestrian Activity, 7. Trucks Miles Traveled, and 8. Change in VMT. Understanding how a metro performs across each factor is critical for identifying areas of improvement.

"In 2023 we saw many of the pandemic related reductions in transportation emissions return to pre-pandemic levels," said Laura Schewel, StreetLight CEO and VP of Transportation Software at Jacobs. "Now is the time to take a close look at transportation climate impact locally. Across the US, the composition of a community's emissions varies a lot. With data-driven findings in hand, leaders can more accurately understand the patterns that drive emissions, and thus better plan for and execute on regional transportation projects."

StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index Best Performing Top 10 U.S. Metro Areas:

The top metro areas generally have low VMT, significant bike and pedestrian activity, high per-capita transit use, as well as better fuel economy.

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

3. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA

4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

6. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

7. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

8. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

9. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA

10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Featured Findings from StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index:

Coastal and Northeast Metros Rank High

  • Top-ranking metros are concentrated around the coasts and the upper northeast. The west also sees most metros ranking in the top 50. Metros ranking worst for climate performance are located primarily in the southeast and central U.S.

Large Metros Don't Necessarily Rank the Highest

  • Big cities New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago are in the top quartile for climate ranking, while Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas rank in the bottom 50.
  • The NYC metro ranks in the top 10 for nearly all factors, and first for transit and bike activity. It is sixth for limiting VMT, which is a bit lower than might be expected given that transit ridership is well ahead of all other metros. NYC lags in EV penetration, ranking 36th.

San Jose is First – But With Worrisome VMT Trends

  • San Jose is the top metro overall for transportation climate performance. It ranks first across 4 factors: VMT, Fuel Economy, EV Penetration, and Truck Miles Traveled. However, it ranks in the bottom 50 for Change in VMT. VMT is coming back quickly in the region, a warning sign as San Jose looks to lower emissions further.

Augusta-Richmond County is Last

  • The Augusta-Richmond County metro region, spanning South Carolina and Georgia, ranks worst for overall climate impact. The metro scores below rank 70 across every measure and 98th for both VMT and Transit. Miles driven are high and EVs, fuel efficient vehicles, and alternative modes are less common than in various other metros.
  • Just ahead of the greater Augusta metro, the lowest scorers for overall climate impact are the greater metro regions of Omaha, NE; Columbia, SC; Jackson, MS; and Bakersfield, CA.

To get a copy and explore StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index report, and view the full 100 U.S. metro areas across each of eight transportation climate factors, visit streetlightdata.com/transportation-climate-report.

Methodology

StreetLight Data's 2024 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index ranks the top 100 most populated metros across eight key climate impact factors, including Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), Fuel Economy, Transit, EV Penetration, Biking Activity, Pedestrian Activity, Truck Miles Traveled, and finally, VMT Change. Relevant factors are normalized by population size. To create a final ranking, factors were assigned a weight based on StreetLight's analysis of the factor's relative climate impact.

About StreetLight, a Jacobs Company

StreetLight Data, Inc. ("StreetLight") pioneered the use of Big Data analytics to shed light on how people, goods, and services move, empowering smarter, data-driven transportation decisions. The company applies proprietary machine-learning algorithms and its vast data processing resources to measure travel patterns of vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, accessible as analytics on the StreetLight InSight® SaaS platform. Acquired by Jacobs as a wholly owned subsidiary in February 2022, StreetLight provides innovative digital solutions to help communities reduce congestion, improve safe and equitable transportation, and maximize the positive impact of infrastructure investment.

www.streetlightdata.com

Media Contact

Peter Evers, StreetLight Data, 1 (415) 888-3680, [email protected], www.streetlightdata.com

Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/new-index-ranks-climate-impact-of-transportation-for-100-largest-us-metro-areas-302088973.html

SOURCE StreetLight Data



Copyright: 
2024 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.