Poster - #UCLAFSPH-5 - Keywords: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Data Science, Transportation Decarbonization, Climate Mitigation Policy, Air Pollution

Environmental justice implications of transportation decarbonization in California

Qiao Yu, Brian Yueshuai He, Jiaqi Ma, Yifang Zhu
1. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA, USA 2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

ABSTRACT:
Zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption is a key climate mitigation tool in California, but its environmental justice implications remain unclear. Here, we quantify ZEV adoption in California between 2015 and 2020 at the census tract level. We then apply an integrated traffic model together with a dispersion model to simulate air quality changes near roads in the Greater Los Angeles area. We found - per capita ZEV ownership in non-disadvantaged communities (non-DACs) is 3.8 times of that in DACs. - compared to their population share, black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) residents own fewer ZEVs regardless of DAC designation. - DAC residents remain disproportionately exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollutants. Such disparities call for more targeted ZEV policies to address the historically unjust pollution burden among DAC and BIPOC residents.