All Research Products

The National Center for Sustainable Transportation's primary output from research is reports and white papers. Many projects also produce a Project Brief to summarize and highlight the policy and/or research findings and implications. NCST research also produces journal articles, conference papers, books, dissertations, theses, presentations, and posters. The NCST has also created various tools that can be used by policymakers and practitioners, such as models, calculators, and planning tools.

Across Early Policy and Market Contexts, Women and Men Show Similar Interest in Electric Vehicles

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) will rely, ultimately, on the participation of all vehicle buyers. Researchers at UC Davis examined whether the gender similarities in prospective interest in EVs witnessed in California extended to other states that, while generally supportive of California’s EV goals and signatories to many of California’s air quality standards had less supportive policy frameworks, fewer EV sales, and less EV charging infrastructure in 2014.

Across Early Policy and Market Contexts Women and Men Show Similar Interest in Electric Vehicles

Research Product Type
Research Report
While ownership and purchase of all vehicles approach gender parity, to date electric vehicles (EV) are being purchased by far more men than women. Prior analysis from California finds no reason in the available data why this difference persists. This report extends that analysis across 12 other U.S. states with varying, but generally less supportive than California, EV policy and market contexts.

Empirical analysis of the role of incentives in zero-emission last-mile deliveries in California

Research Product Type
Associated Publication
This paper evaluates the role of incentives for zero and near-zero emission vehicle (ZEV) technologies in last-mile delivery operations. Specifically, the study investigates the total cost of ownership and life cycle environmental impacts associated with last-mile deliveries, and compares the private and public costs of different vehicle powertrain and fuel pathways, under existing incentives in the State of California.

Dataset: Total Cost of Ownership of Plug-in Electric Vehicles Calculations Data sheet

Research Product Type
Data
This data from the Cost of Plug-In EV Ownership project was collected from academic research, industry technical reports, and vehicle technology data maintained by the EPA and the Alternative Fuel Data Center. The household-level data used for market segmentation is obtained from the 2019 California Vehicle Survey hosted by NREL.

Transportation of electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries at end-of-life: A literature review

Research Product Type
Associated Publication
In this paper, the authors conduct a critical review of the peer-reviewed literature on EV traction battery reuse and recycling to assess how transportation is represented. In response to the limited and highly variable treatment of battery end-of-life (EoL) transportation, the literature review is followed by contextual information about the U.S., including the regulatory framework and existing network for EoL batteries.

Consideration of Automated Vehicle Benefits and Research Needs for Rural America

Research Product Type
Research Report
This paper examines mechanisms for autonomous vehicle-induced increases in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) – some of which are expected to have a disproportionately larger impact on rural VMT – and outlines five methods that have been used to study VMT changes: travel demand equalization; travel demand elasticity; travel demand models; and stated and revealed preference surveys.

Workforce Development Needs of Transportation Sector Climate Adaptation Professionals

Research Product Type
White Paper
This white paper assesses the workforce development needs and current training opportunities related to transportation-sector climate adaptation. To do so, training needs were examined and opportunities identified by state and regional transportation agencies; training needs of aspiring and early-career climate adaptation professionals were cataloged; and a scan was completed of the educational opportunities in climate adaptation currently offered by universities in the United States.

Congestion Reduction via Personalized Incentives

Research Product Type
Research Brief
Researchers at the University of Southern California developed a real-time, distributed algorithm for offering personalized incentives to individual drivers to make socially optimal routing decisions.