IEEE Electrification - September 2019 - 22

First and Last Mile
In urban areas, it is important to get people out of their
cars as one way to reduce congestion. The first- and lastmile concept involves getting travelers who use public
transit to not use a private vehicle from the origin or destination of their trip to the transit stop. More bike, e-bike,
and e-scooter sharing systems as well as free shuttles,
walking, and MaaS can be used for these trips, enabling
travelers to reach public transportation without driving a
personal vehicle.

Conclusions
The answers to traffic congestion will not be solved overnight. As traffic congestion stays the same or continues to
get worse, smarter ITS technology-driven solutions need to
be implemented. ITS technology will continue to provide
solutions to traffic congestion problems. Transportation electrification is another important piece of this puzzle. Incremental steps must continue to move solutions forward.
Living in urban areas is on the rise. It is possible that, as
the urban population continues to grow, the demand for
automobile ownership will decrease. Millennials tend to
opt for smart transportation modes that are available at
the price of public transportation but offer the comfort of
a personal vehicle. Making sure that travelers continue to
use public transportation and alternative solutions to personal vehicles is important.
The demand for transportation continues to grow each
year. As the United States opts to focus on vehicles for
personal use and the current nonintegrated strategy for
deploying charging stations, the results could limit the
benefits that will be generated by the electrification of
transportation. Both the transportation and energy sectors
need to work together to make the adoption of EVs mainstream and build a network of charging stations.
Another consideration will be how we fund transportation as EVs become more mainstream and the number of
gasoline and diesel vehicles continues to decline. Currently, the United States depends on the gas tax to fund transportation; the federal tax is US$0.184 on each gallon of
gasoline and US$0.244 on each gallon of diesel. A new revenue stream, such as including road user fees, additional
toll roads, or a vehicle miles traveled fee, will need to be
developed for transportation funding. ITS will continue to
play a significant role in transportation electrification and
managing traffic congestion.

Additional Research
Additional research on the long-term capture and storage
of renewable sources of energy, i.e., wind and solar power
generation, is needed. Advances for alternative energy
sources may help reduce the burden on the electric grid,
which will further limit pollution because a large percentage of electricity generation comes from fossil fuels. This
research will lead to further improvements in the EV
transportation area.

I E E E E l e c t r i f i cati o n M agaz ine / SEPTEMBER 2019

For Further Reading
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Fast facts on transportation greenhouse gas emissions," 2017. Accessed on:
2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/
fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions
T. Misra, "Global car, motorcycle, and bike ownership, in 1
infographic," CITYLAB, Apr. 17, 2015. Accessed on: 2019.
[Online]. Available: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/
2015/04/global-car-motorcycle-and-bike-ownership-in-1infographic/390777/
American Public Transit Association, "Public transportation facts," 2018. Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://www.apta.com/mediacenter/ptbenefits/pages/
factsheet.aspx
U.S. Census Bureau. "New American community survey
statistics provide local data for every community nationwide," Dec. 7, 2017. Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/
acs-5yr.html
U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Energy Perspectives: Industrial and transportation sectors lead energy use
by sector," Dec. 18, 2012. Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=9250
International Energy Agency, "Global EV outlook 2018,"
2018. Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.iea
.org/gevo2018/
J. Hodges, "Electric cars may be cheaper than gas guzzlers
in seven years," Mar. 22, 2018. Accessed on: 2019. [Online].
Available: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/
2018-03-22/electric-cars-may-be-cheaper-than-gas-guzzlersin-seven-years
U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). "Traffic congestion and reliability: Linking solutions to problems," Feb. 1,
2017. Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available: https://ops.fhwa
.dot.gov/congestion_report_04/chapter2.htm
U.S. FHWA, "ITS research fact sheets-Benefits of intelligent transportation systems," 2009. Accessed on: 2019. [Online].
Available: https://www.its.dot.gov/factsheets/benefits_
factsheet.htm
D. Schrank and T. Lomax, "2009 urban mobility report,"
Texas Transportation Institute The Texas A&M University
System, July 2009. Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://static.tti.tamu.edu/tti.tamu.edu/documents/ums/
archive/mobility-report-2009-wappx.pdf
Florida Department of Transportation, "Managing congestion problems with intelligent transportation systems," Fall
2012. Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available: https://fdotwww
.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/content/
research/docs/showcase/rs-fall2012.pdf?sfvrsn=b0533f34_0
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
"USDOT releases 2016 fatal traffic crash data," Oct. 6, 2017.
Accessed on: 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.nhtsa
.gov/press-releases/usdot-releases-2016-fatal-traffic-crashdata
J. Poushter, "Car, bike or motorcycle? Depends on where
you live," Pew Research Center, Apr. 16, 2015. Accessed on:
2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2015/04/16/car-bike-or-motorcycle-depends-on-whereyou-live/

Biography
Michelle Boucher (mboucher@kcus.org) is with Kanaan
Consulting US, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/04/global-car-motorcycle-and-bike-ownership-in-1-infographic/390777/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/04/global-car-motorcycle-and-bike-ownership-in-1-infographic/390777/ https://www.apta.com/news-publications/public-transportation-facts/ https://www.apta.com/news-publications/public-transportation-facts/ https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/acs-5yr.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/acs-5yr.html https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=9250 https://www.iea.org/gevo2018/ https://www.iea.org/gevo2018/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/electric-cars-may-be-cheaper-than-gas-guzzlers-in-seven-years https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/electric-cars-may-be-cheaper-than-gas-guzzlers-in-seven-years https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/electric-cars-may-be-cheaper-than-gas-guzzlers-in-seven-years https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion_report_04/chapter2.htm https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion_report_04/chapter2.htm https://www.its.dot.gov/factsheets/benefits_factsheet.htm https://www.its.dot.gov/factsheets/benefits_factsheet.htm https://tti.tamu.edu/publications/catalog/record/?id=45755 https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/content/research/docs/showcase/rs-fall2012.pdf?sfvrsn=b0533f34_0 https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/content/research/docs/showcase/rs-fall2012.pdf?sfvrsn=b0533f34_0 https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/

IEEE Electrification - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification - September 2019