Quantifying the stormwater benefits of mode shift to transit
Focus Area
Environmental Considerations in Planning
Subcommittee
All
Status
Archived
Cost
Unknown
Timeframe
Under 1 year
Research Idea Scope
Most stormwater work focuses on how to manage stormwater generated off of impervious roadways. However, getting people to switch from driving alone to taking the bus takes cars off the road, and prevents further roadway expansion. The stormwater benefits of this mode shift is a great reason to promote transit, but the qualitative stormwater benefits are not easily available. Another facet of this work should be to understand the stormwater impacts of gasoline cars vs. hybrids vs. electric cars to see what the respective pollution generation is, with respect to stormwater.
Urgency and Payoff
In many areas, water quality continues to decline and threaten wildlife and human health. At the same time electric vehicles are looked to as a fix for climate change, without recognizing their stormwater impacts. Getting a grasp on this information can ensure we go in the right direction with transportation as we try to avert air, water, and climate impacts.
Submitted
06/04/2019