Mobility Energy Productivity Tool Is Helping Decision-Makers Visualize Equity Gaps in Transportation and Find Solutions
How long does it take you to get to work or school? The answer varies widely for many Americans, depending on factors like where they live and whether they own a car. Even in densely populated cities like New York, a day’s routine can involve hours of commute time. Many essential trips also gobble up fuel and an outsized share of household income. When it takes too long, costs too much, or consumes lots of energy to reach key places like jobs and healthcare, that is poor quality of mobility—and it affects everyone. Traffic congestion alone costs the U.S. billions of dollars in lost time and wasted fuel each year. Meanwhile, excess pollution from inefficient travel undermines climate goals and worsens air quality. While insufficient mobility and accessibility have a broad impact, the burden falls most heavily on low-income areas,
which typically have longer commutes, fewer transportation options, and higher transportation costs. Mobility equity issues affect the quality of life for millions, from rural areas to urban centers. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have devised an innovative way to quantify and understand this problem: the Mobility Energy Productivity (MEP) tool. MEP distills three major components of mobility—time, cost, and energy—into a simple, easy-to-read score. That score can quantify the efficiency of connectivity provided by one or more travel modes (such as biking, driving, or public transit) for a given geographic area, from a small neighborhood to a large state. MEP can also analyze the quality of mobility for specific groups based on traits such as income, age, and vehicle ownership.
Source: This news is oiginally published by cleantechnica