Sustainable Freight Research Center

Welcome to the Sustainable Freight Research Program

A program of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis

Latest News

California Drives Toward Electric Future

by Ula Chrobak, UC Davis Magazine
May 22, 2024

The pressure is on for California to meet its clean-vehicle goals. In less than two years, 35% of vehicles sold must have zero tailpipe emissions. And by 2035, all light-duty vehicles sold must be zero emissions.

USDOT awards $1.7 million in research funding to UC-Davis for Climate Change and Transportation Research Center

by Mass Transit
May 14, 2024

The new center, which will be led by Kari Watkins, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and faculty affiliate at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, will advance research and technologies to support the nation’s clean energy goals, accelerate decarbonization of the transportation sector, strengthen the resilience of the nation’s transportation infrastructure and address environmental inequities created by the transportation system.

Blog: Electrifying Transportation and Shifting Travel Patterns can Cut CO2 while Saving the US Trillions of Dollars

by Lew Fulton
March 11, 2024

Widespread adoption of electric vehicles—combined with a shift in travel modes towards more walking, cycling, and transit use—can help ease the climate crisis, improve quality of life, and save Americans money. A key to shifting travel modes to less automobile use is making biking, walking, and transit safer and more convenient by redirecting infrastructure investments and making urban areas more compact.

ITS-Davis students and researchers to participate in nearly 70 sessions at TRB 2024

January 09, 2024

The TRB 103rd Annual Meeting will be held in Washington, DC from January 7th through 11th, 2024. Many ITS-Davis representatives will be participating in the meetings, sessions, and exhibits. Their presentations with session number, title, date, time, presentation topics, and authors are listed here: ITS-Davis at TRB 2024.

Blog: As Countries Set Ambitious Targets for Electric Vehicle Sales, More International Trade and Domestic Investment Is Needed

by Hong Yang and Lew Fulton
December 22, 2023

In an effort to curb emissions, governments in major vehicle markets are proposing and adopting requirements that electric vehicles (EVs) make up a certain percentage of new vehicle sales in coming years. This week the Government of Canada announced EV sales targets of 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2035 for light-duty vehicles, similar to the goals the United States announced last year of 50% by 2030 and 67% by 2032.

Transportation and Climate Blog: Making Policy in the Absence of Certainty: Biofuels and Land Use Change

by Colin Murphy, UC Davis Policy Institute, STEPS+ Energy Futures
October 30, 2023

Biofuels are an important tool to help decarbonize our transportation system, and their role will likely grow in coming years. New tax credits authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act are being finalized; these would offer significant incentives for the biofuel alternatives to conventional jet fuel, so-called “Sustainable Aviation Fuels” or SAF. But it’s not always clear how sustainable these fuels truly are, or whether they offer a significant GHG advantage over petroleum.

Transportation and Climate Blog: Supporting California’s Move to Zero-Emission Vehicles by Creating a Viable, Large-Scale Fuel-Cell Vehicle and Hydrogen System

by Lew Fulton
June 14, 2023

California is marching ahead with firm rules now in place for both light-duty and medium/heavy-duty vehicles to transition to zero emission stock by 2045. The State is requiring that all new vehicles sold from 2035 onward be “zero-emission vehicles” (ZEVs)—battery electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles. While battery electric vehicles currently dominate ZEV sales and discussions of the zero-emissions future, fuel-cell vehicles are expected to play a key role, especially in truck and bus fleets and some households.

Blog: Cutting US road sector GHG emissions by 90% or more by 2050 takes both ZEVs and low-carbon fuels

by Lewis Fulton, Marshall Miller, and Qian Wang
April 30, 2023

Big reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector are needed to limit the magnitude of climate change impacts. Understanding what kinds of policy and market dynamics are at play can help us meet national goals. Our recent study shows that there is an interplay between policy, vehicle types, and fuel sources, and that early investment in zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) could yield big savings and big reductions in GHG emissions, by 2050. Low-carbon fuels for non-electric vehicles will also need to play an important role.

Greenlight blog e-commerce, warehouse and freight

Reforming Transportation Through Electrification, Ride Sharing & Automation, Part 1

by Transport Energy Strategies
September 01, 2022

Dan Sperling discusses the three revolutions, electrification, ride-sharing, and automation, which he says will reform the current transportation system we have.

Available Position: Sustainable Freight Research Analyst, ITS-Davis, UC Davis

February 14, 2022

Apply by date, 2/23/2022

Available Position: Postdoc Researcher, ITS-Davis, Energy Futures Program

December 01, 2021

POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR POSITION

Professor Dan Sperling, Supervisor

UC ITS and CalEPA Study: Decarbonizing California Transportation by 2045

April 26, 2021

by UC Davis News and Media Relations

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California. In order to achieve the state’s goals of carbon neutrality by 2045 and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, decarbonizing this sector is essential. But such a transition is unlikely to occur rapidly without key policy intervention.

UC Davis Transportation and Climate Blog: Keeping e-Commerce Environmentally Friendly—What Consumers Can Do

December 02, 2020

By Miguel Jaller, Anmol Pahwa, Seth Karten

With more states and individuals observing stricter limits on in-person shopping, and with holidays coming, what can we do to limit the environmental and societal impact of online shopping? And even beyond this moment, how do we minimize the harm—or maximize the benefit—of online shopping to society and life on our planet?

UC Davis Transportation and Climate Blog: A National Zero Carbon Transportation Plan for the US

October 30, 2020

By Dan Sperling, Lew Fulton, and Vicki Arroyo

UC Institute of Transportation Studies to lead major study on a carbon-neutral transportation system for California

September 23, 2020

California is a global leader on policies to reduce the emissions causing climate change. But transportation has proven a particularly challenging sector to decarbonize. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) recently released a draft scope of work for a major transportation study that will help steer the state towards its goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.