Impact Methodologies

Environmental - Operating

Case Studies

Sacramento, California

An integrated transportation-land use model is used to incorporate feedback from transportation investments into land development, and subsequently into transportation performance and transportation-related emissions.

Salt Lake City, Utah

A simplified air quality model is developed that simulates the dispersion of emissions from mobile and point sources. Pollutants are then overlaid on population data to obtain metrics of the air quality impacts of alternative regional development scenarios.

SPARTACUS (Europe)

Transportation-related emissions data are decomposed within a GIS raster (grid cell) environment to pinpoint emissions spatially. A dispersion model is then applied to track pollutants and to measure their coincidence with population. Exposure to emissions is measured by socioeconomic group to develop indicators of equity.

Waterloo, Iowa

GIS is used in conjunction with emissions and noise models to plot emissions and noise contours around transportation facilities. These are then overlaid on minority and low-income population data to develop measures of environmental justice.