Introuction
Transportation accounts for 30% of GHGs in Canada, with an estimated impact of 14,600 premature deaths/year and annual economic losses of $114 billion due to health impacts attributed to air pollution2 and traffic-related air pollutants (TRAP) have been linked to disparities in exposure for biologically susceptible and socially vulnerable populations. In the quest to decarbonize our transportation, EVs have emerged as a viable solution to transition away from fossil fuels. However, the integration of EVs will require the development of additional power generation and charging infrastructure while doing nothing to address traffic congestion or vehicular injuries.
To ease the built-up pressure on the need for fast development of the charging infrastructure and the market for a high EV uptake rate, parallel and alternative mobility options must be included. New research directions are in diversified opportunities needed for communities to reduce personal vehicle use and associated emissions under a changing climate, accounting for the fact that climate solutions are highly heterogeneous and depend on an area's climate, geography, social and economic context, and local values.
Project's status
The project team is developing multiple tools and validating them to provide a cutting-edge integrated modeling system. This system includes an agent-based traffic model, bike-sharing demand and distance forecasting model, urban transportation emission and energy consumption model, life cycle model, and environmental co-impact model. These models will test scenarios for utilizing bike-sharing in informed policy-making and explore government incentives to use bike-sharing as a viable pathway for decarbonizing urban mobility. The models are validated against environmental data and bike-sharing data provided by the project partner, Mobi by Rogers.
It is anticipated that by the end of 2024, the integrated modeling system will be fully operational, verified, and calibrated. In 2025, it will be utilized to simulate mode change and various other scenarios.
Publications
The project data flow:
