COVID-19

Barriers to Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Transportation

  • Principal Investigator Giovanni Circella, Ph.D.
  • University of California, Davis
The key objective of this contract is to inform the California Air Resources Board on the quickly evolving transportation patterns resulting from the deployment and adoption of emerging transportation technologies, and the disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and identify opportunities for reduction of vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation.
Project Status
In Progress

Caltrans Planning Horizons: Failing Malls - Optimizing Opportunities for Housing

California, like most of the country, was facing a transformation of retail before the COVID-19 epidemic. Increasing Internet shopping has ushered closing of anchor stores, such as Macy's, Sears, as well as the closure of many regional shopping malls, which have sizeable footprints, ranging from 40-100+ acres. The epidemic has accelerated these trends. This offers opportunities for redeveloping failing malls to address pressing needs in California, the need for housing, and for efficient transit provision for such redevelopments.

Evaluating Transit Use in the Post-Pandemic Era

  • Principal Investigator Parsa Pezeshknejad
  • University of Vermont
This project will evaluate the reasons that public transit riders return (or do not return) to transit in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Project Status
In Progress

Investigating the Temporary and Longer-term Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mobility in California

Research Product Type
Research Report
This study investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed people’s activity-travel patterns, using datasets collected through three waves of surveys in spring 2020, fall 2020, and summer 2021. In general, the pandemic has generated a mix of short-lived temporary changes and potential longer-term impacts. The study provides various strategies to help increase transportation and social equity among various population groups as the communities recover from the pandemic.

Spatial Implications of Telecommuting in the United States

  • Principal Investigator Andrii Parkhomenko, Ph.D.
  • University of Southern California
The research team will create a quantitative spatial equilibrium model of on-site and remote worker location choice and transport demand in the contiguous United States in order to examine how the distribution of jobs and residents within and across U.S. cities would change if the 2020 surge in working from home becomes permanent, and what the effect on demand for commuting and freight transport would be.
Project Status
Complete
Subscribe to COVID-19 Content