Feds studying traffic and climate change
By Tony Bizjak, Sacramento Bee
UC Davis was chosen this week in a national competition to lead an $11 million federal study of how to reduce the impact America’s transportation system has on climate change – and to come up with ways to keep people moving when catastrophic climate events occur.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the Davis Institute for Transportation Studies will look into ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by the everyday movement of Americans to work, school and elsewhere.
Federal officials say the national transportation system, mainly solo drivers in cars, accounts for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, which have been said to influence climate change, including extreme weather events such as hurricanes. Davis researchers will head a team with several other universities on the two-year project.