SB1 Sec 48(a) ZEV Finance Research with ITS Davis
As the market share of zero-emissions hydrogen and electric vehicles increases in California, the motor vehicle fuel tax becomes less applicable as a user fee, and declining revenues could produce shortfalls for maintaining the transportation system. The authors of SB1 sought policy options to raise usage-based revenues from electric and zero-emissions transportation system users.This research was specified in SB1 as a study for the University of California at Davis. Professor Martin Wachs, an internationally-renowned transportation finance expert member of the SB 1077 Road User Charge Technical Advisory Committee, is assisting research at UC Davis with this study.
Infrastructure-to-Vehicle Communications for Autonomous Vehicle Systems
Researchers have been developing innovative methods for integrated traffic management and communications networking systems for autonomous transportation systems. These models provide for optimal on-ramp merging and adaptive formation of vehicular flows across highway lanes, with the goal of achieving high vehicular flow rates while reducing queueing delays. To effectively control vehicular flows and formations across the highway, researchers have developed new data communications protocols and algorithms.The research team proposes to translate its models and techniques to the design of autonomous transportation systems when aided by interconnected roadside unit (RSU) stations that form a backbone network infrastructure. The research team’s methods will be used to determine the best configuration of joint traffic management and data networking mechanisms, described by the locations and interconnection features of the RSU stations and the backbone network infrastructure that they form.
Falling Transit Ridership: California and Southern California
In the last ten years transit use in Southern California has fallen significantly. This report investigates that falling transit use. The project examines patterns of transit service and patronage over time and across the region and considers an array of explanations for falling transit use: declining transit service levels, eroding transit service quality, rising fares, falling fuel prices, the growth of Lyft and Uber, the migration of frequent transit users to outlying neighborhoods with less transit service, and rising vehicle ownership. While all of these factors probably play some role, the research concludes that the most significant factor is increased motor vehicle access, particularly among low-income households that have traditionally supplied the region with its most frequent and reliable transit users.