Meeting Transportation Goals to Reduce Greenhouse Gases in the National Capital Region

Abstract

This paper summarizes the development, analysis, and results of the “what would it take?” scenario, which examines what would be necessary to meet aggressive goals for mitigating regional climate change in the transportation sector in the National Capital Region. This report includes a baseline inventory and forecast of carbon dioxide emissions in the region, identification and analysis of potential mitigation strategies, and analysis of whether any combination of these strategies meets long-term mitigation goals. The report includes cost-effectiveness analysis of these measures and specifically identifies short-term measures that feasibly can be implemented by local governments in the region. A major finding of the report is the difficulty in meeting aggressive mitigation targets without a full suite of actions across the categories of fuel efficiency, alternative fuels, and travel efficiency. Meeting early targets in transportation is possible if a wide range of short-term actions are taken by local governments immediately. The study also found that transportation strategies would be unlikely to be implemented for carbon dioxide reduction alone and would have various other benefits from criterion pollutant reduction to increasing mobility and accessibility that should be factored into decision making.

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