The Climate Smart Transportation and Communities Consortium was launched in late 2018 with a grant from the CA Strategic Growth Council to conduct research that addresses transportation-related environmental impacts that fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable populations while meeting the mobility needs of society, fostering healthy and equitable communities, and supporting economic growth. The CSTACC is led by UC Davis’ Institute of Transportation, in close collaboration with partners at UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Riverside, and the University of Southern California. The research efforts build upon years of previous research, and leverage dozens of researchers with varying areas of expertise.
Researchers will organize around five interrelated areas--innovative mobility, electrification, public transit, land use and active transportation, and goods movement--with equity and policy engagement serving as crosscutting themes throughout. The research program will advance the state of knowledge in these five areas through three regional "case study" initiatives in Southeast Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, and the Central Valley as well as three statewide initiatives. The statewide initiatives are 1) Leveraging the Three Revolutions to Create Equitable and Sustainable Communities, 2) Accelerating the Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles, and 3) Statewide Transportation Modeling Initiative.
In addition, each project and the Consortia as a whole is committed to bringing a variety of voices and perspectives in to inform and guide the research efforts. The Transportation Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Group (TEEJAG) was formed to provide feedback on current and future research conducted by the CSTACC.