Policy Briefs

The NCST produces two-page Policy Briefs to help summarize and synthesize findings from its research and to highlight the policy and/or practice implications in an easy-to-understand, accessible style and format.

E-bike Incentive Programs Reduce GHGs and Support Recreational Travel

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
As yet, little is known about the efficacy of e-bike incentive programs in changing travel behavior. To understand the potential of these programs in this area, UC Davis researchers analyzed survey data from rebate recipients in Northern California and evaluated rebate programs for effects of e-bike ownership on travel behavior.

Do Slow Streets Encourage More Dockless Travel? Evidence from Electric Scooter Usage in Four Cities

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
A research team at the University of Southern California collaborated with Lime, an e-scooter company, to analyze Slow Streets programs in the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Portland. Using two statistical approaches, they examined dockless e-scooter travel at four different times of day and overall weekly and monthly averages of dockless e-scooter trips. 

New Tool for Gig Drivers Considering Going Electric

Research Product Type
Research Brief
By 2030, the state is targeting 90% of passenger miles traveled on TNCs to be fueled by electricity. To support this objective, UC Davis researchers developed an online tool to help gig drivers understand their potential cost savings from EVs.

Flexible Routing for Ridesharing

Research Product Type
Research Brief
Traffic congestion is a significant problem in major metropolitan areas in the United States. According to the Urban Mobility Report, in 2019 commuters on average lost about 54 hours in traffic congestion. The researchers developed three approaches to rideshare routing and evaluated their effectiveness in combating traffic congestion.

Community-Oriented Solutions May Help Rural Residents Adapt to Life Without a Car

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
Rural residents face significant mobility challenges because travel destinations are far, opportunities like jobs and access to essential needs are limited, and rural roadways are more dangerous than their urban counterparts. UC Davis researchers used US Census microdata and conducted interviews to describe socioeconomic and mobility characteristics of carless households and residents in rural California to understand barriers to access and travel adaptations among individuals with limited access to a vehicle.

Jobs and Automation in the Freight and Warehousing Sector

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
This policy brief summarizes the key findings and policy implications of recent research from UC Davis that assesses the landscape for freight automation and its potential labor impacts in the freight and warehousing sector.

Trade and Transportation Talent Pipeline Blueprints: Building University-Industry Talent Pipelines in Colleges of Continuing and Professional Education

Research Product Type
Research Brief
This research brief summarizes the project report which proposes Talent Pipeline Management solutions that CSU campuses can facilitate in a transformational skills paradigm—a time in which entrants and incumbents need accelerated training and education to acquire the in-demand KSAs of today’s working standards.

Increasing Highway Capacity Induces More Auto Travel

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
Researchers at the University of California, Davis reviewed the empirical research on induced travel to understand the likely effects of adding roadway capacity in a variety of contexts.

Updating the Induced Travel Calculator

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
With Calculator use increasing, the UC Davis researchers initiated a project to update the Calculator and improve its functionality based on recent data and empirical research.

Travel Behavior Trends During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
The proliferation of digital devices and online services over the past decades has changed how people travel, enabling new mobility options and offering greater opportunities for e-commerce and telework. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers modified their plan to understand new trends, such as increased remote work, online/virtual meetings, and e-shopping, as well as changes in travel.

Demonstrating the Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Complete Streets

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
The researchers assessed whether the LCA framework was useful in identifying whether a complete street delivered, or was likely to deliver, the intended performance and benefits, and the social and health conditions of the neighborhoods receiving the benefits.

Planning Can Maximize Benefits and Mitigate Negative Consequences of Future Travel Increases from E-Commerce

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
Researchers at the University of California, Davis developed a forecasting model to quantify the potential impacts of future e-commerce on emissions and transport activity under different scenarios with assumptions about penetration levels of various technologies (e.g., electrification, rush deliveries, crowdshipping, and automation/efficiency improvements).

Incentive Systems for New Mobility Services to Reduce Congestion

Research Product Type
Research Brief
Researchers at the University of Southern California developed a distributed algorithm for offering incentives to organizations to make socially optimal routing decisions designed to lower the traffic flow of congested roads without creating new congestion in other parts of the road network.

The Impact of Ridehailing on Other Travel Modes and on Vehicle Dependency

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
Researchers at the University of California, Davis surveyed California residents about their personal attitudes and preferences, lifestyles, travel patterns, vehicle ownership, adoption and use of new mobility services, and personal and household characteristics, and this brief summarizes the results of multiple studies that have used this dataset to generate insights into the impact of ridehailing services on the use of other travel modes and on car ownership prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Costs of Owning Battery-Electric Trucks – Is the Research Aligning?

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
Researchers at the University of California, Davis reviewed 10 recent studies of the total cost of ownership of battery-electric trucks, now and in the future, compared to a baseline diesel truck to derive general findings that are robust across all the studies.