The Joint Effects of Income, Vehicle Technology, and Rail Transit Access on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Author(s):  
Marlon G. Boarnet ◽  
Raphael W. Bostic ◽  
Andrew Eisenlohr ◽  
Seva Rodnyansky ◽  
Raúl Santiago-Bartolomei ◽  
...  

This paper examines the relationship between income, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for households with varying access to rail transit in four metropolitan areas—Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Sacramento—using data from the 2010–2012 California Household Travel Survey. Daily vehicle GHG emissions are calculated using the California Air Resources Board’s 2014 EMFAC (emission factors) model. Two Tobit regression models are used to predict daily VMT and GHG by income, rail transit access (within or outside 0.5 miles of a rail transit station in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, and linear distance to rail in San Diego and Sacramento), and metropolitan area. Comparing predicted VMT and GHG emissions levels, this paper concludes that predicted VMT and GHG emission patterns for rail access vary across metropolitan areas in ways that may be related to the age and connectivity of the areas’ rail systems. The results also show that differences in household VMT due to rail access do not scale proportionally to differences in GHG emissions. Regardless, the fact that GHG emissions are lower near rail transit for virtually all income levels in this study implies environmental benefits from expanding rail transit systems, as defined in this paper.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-54
Author(s):  
Samuel H. Yamashita

In the 1970s, Japanese cooks began to appear in the kitchens of nouvelle cuisine chefs in France for further training, with scores more arriving in the next decades. Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, Joël Robuchon, and other leading French chefs started visiting Japan to teach, cook, and sample Japanese cuisine, and ten of them eventually opened restaurants there. In the 1980s and 1990s, these chefs' frequent visits to Japan and the steady flow of Japanese stagiaires to French restaurants in Europe and the United States encouraged a series of changes that I am calling the “Japanese turn,” which found chefs at fine-dining establishments in Los Angeles, New York City, and later the San Francisco Bay Area using an ever-widening array of Japanese ingredients, employing Japanese culinary techniques, and adding Japanese dishes to their menus. By the second decade of the twenty-first century, the wide acceptance of not only Japanese ingredients and techniques but also concepts like umami (savory tastiness) and shun (seasonality) suggest that Japanese cuisine is now well known to many American chefs.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1856 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Skabardonis ◽  
Pravin Varaiya ◽  
Karl F. Petty

A methodology and its application to measure total, recurrent, and nonrecurrent (incident related) delay on urban freeways are described. The methodology used data from loop detectors and calculated the average and the probability distribution of delays. Application of the methodology to two real-life freeway corridors in Los Angeles, California, and one in the San Francisco, California, Bay Area, indicated that reliable measurement of congestion also should provide measures of uncertainty in congestion. In the three applications, incident-related delay was found to be 13% to 30% of the total congestion delay during peak periods. The methodology also quantified the congestion impacts on travel time and travel time variability.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Yu ◽  
Melissa Venecek ◽  
Jianlin Hu ◽  
Saffet Tanrikulu ◽  
Su-Tzai Soon ◽  
...  

Abstract. Regional concentrations and source contributions are calculated for airborne particle number concentration (PNC) and ultrafine particle mass concentration (PM0.1) in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) and the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) surrounding Los Angeles with 4 km spatial resolution and daily time resolution for selected months in the years 2012, 2015, and 2016. Performance statistics for daily predictions of PNC concentrations meet the threshold normally required for regulatory modeling of PM2.5 (MFB 


Author(s):  
Daniel J. Gore

The Environmental Protection Agency promulgation of “Control of Emissions of Air Pollution from New Marine Compression Ignition Engines at or above 37 kW,” on December 29, 1999, marked the first time federal air pollution regulations were directly applied to marine engines for commercial U.S. ships. Perhaps surprisingly, these regulations are not having as much impact as are individual State Implementation Plans (SIP) for Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) attainment, and local political pressures. These regional plans and pressures are forcing many domestic marine operators and ports to get a quick education on the cause and mitigation of air pollution. Cases in point, include: • The State of Alaska now fines passenger vessels that enter ports with greater than allowable stack gas opacities. One cruise operator has opted to plug into shore power when its vessels are tied up to pier. • In the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach vessel operators have been asked to slow vessel speeds below normal while entering and exiting in a voluntary attempt to reduce NOx emissions. • Environmentalists in the San Francisco Bay Area are applying significant political pressures to ensure proposed new ferry systems emit a minimum of air pollution. • The State of Texas briefly considered stopping all industrial equipment in the Port of Houston for twelve hours per day as a method of decreasing area ozone formation. • Potential NOx emissions generated during imminent channel dredging in the Port of New York and New Jersey is impeding the development of the latest State Implementation Plan. Local pressures are likely to continue to grow, federal regulations are set to become more stringent, and international conventions loom on the horizon. However, as expected in such a competitive industry, concerns are often focused on the bottom line in which cost of operations is a pre-eminent factor. It was in view of these dynamics that the federal Maritime Administration (MARAD) recently launched the Maritime Energy and Clean Emissions Program. This paper introduces the Program, including the background, evolution, and progress of each strategic goal. This paper is intended to be an overview. Attention is paid to the potential transferability and/or development of technologies not previously deployed in the U.S. marine environment. Any of the specific projects described could become the basis for a separate technical paper.


Author(s):  
Brad Prager

Werner Herzog was born in Munich in 1942. Before the end of World War II Herzog’s family moved to Sachrang, a small town in Bavaria not far from the Austrian border. Herzog started making films in his late teens with a camera he claims to have stolen from the Munich Film School. After making several short films and his first feature film, Signs of Life (1968), his work connected with that of filmmakers such as Wim Wenders and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who were of the same generation and who also began making films at a young age. He has expressed respectful words for these other auteurs, but he has rejected most direct association with them and with the New German Cinema movement, underscoring his independence, his reluctance to lend his name to political causes, and his identification not as German but more regionally as a Bavarian. Herzog received international recognition for Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) and won the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes for The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974). He encountered intense criticism for Fitzcarraldo (1982), for which he was rumored to have harmed the native Amazonians who participated in his project. Herzog countered these accusations, but the air of controversy lingered. A documentary made about the making of Fitzcarraldo, Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams (1982), showcased Herzog as a charismatic performer and mesmerizing speaker. Throughout the following years Herzog worked less and less in Germany, ultimately resettling in California in the 1990s, first in the San Francisco Bay Area and then in Los Angeles. During his time in the United States he continued to make both documentaries and feature-length fiction films, including Rescue Dawn (2006) and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call—New Orleans (2009). He received widespread acclaim for his documentary work, particularly for Grizzly Man (2005) and Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), the last of which was a much praised foray into 3D filmmaking. Herzog was nominated for an Academy Award for the documentary feature Encounters at the End of the World (2007). Although he remains well known for the bold exploits connected with his early works, his tumultuous relationship with the actor Klaus Kinski, and his willingness to push cinematic boundaries, he is best known for his capacity to express himself philosophically on a wide range of topics and for his sage Germanic voice, which he has lent to diverse projects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3582
Author(s):  
Sungwoo Lee ◽  
Sungho Tae

Multiple nations have implemented policies for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction since the 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015. In this convention, participants voluntarily agreed to a new climate regime that aimed to decrease GHG emissions. Subsequently, a reduction in GHG emissions with specific reduction technologies (renewable energy) to decrease energy consumption has become a necessity and not a choice. With the launch of the Korean Emissions Trading Scheme (K-ETS) in 2015, Korea has certified and financed GHG reduction projects to decrease emissions. To help the user make informed decisions for economic and environmental benefits from the use of renewable energy, an assessment model was developed. This study establishes a simple assessment method (SAM), an assessment database (DB) of 1199 GHG reduction technologies implemented in Korea, and a machine learning-based GHG reduction technology assessment model (GRTM). Additionally, we make suggestions on how to evaluate economic benefits, which can be obtained in conjunction with the environmental benefits of GHG reduction technology. Finally, we validate the applicability of the assessment model on a public building in Korea.


1922 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jehiel S. Davis
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia N Abuelezam ◽  
Yakir A Reshef ◽  
David Novak ◽  
Yonatan Hagai Grad ◽  
George R Seage III ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The structure of the sexual networks and partnership characteristics of young black men who have sex with men (MSM) may be contributing to their high risk of contracting HIV in the United States. Assortative mixing, which refers to the tendency of individuals to have partners from one’s own group, has been proposed as a potential explanation for disparities. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to identify the age- and race-related search patterns of users of a diverse geosocial networking mobile app in seven metropolitan areas in the United States to understand the disparities in sexually transmitted infection and HIV risk in MSM communities. METHODS Data were collected on user behavior between November 2015 and May 2016. Data pertaining to behavior on the app were collected for men who had searched for partners with at least one search parameter narrowed from defaults or used the app to send at least one private chat message and used the app at least once during the study period. Newman assortativity coefficient (R) was calculated from the study data to understand assortativity patterns of men by race. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess assortativity patterns by age. Heat maps were used to visualize the relationship between searcher’s and candidate’s characteristics by age band, race, or age band and race. RESULTS From November 2015 through May 2016, there were 2,989,737 searches in all seven metropolitan areas among 122,417 searchers. Assortativity by age was important for looking at the profiles of candidates with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.284 (Birmingham) to 0.523 (San Francisco). Men tended to look at the profiles of candidates that matched their race in a highly assortative manner with R ranging from 0.310 (Birmingham) to 0.566 (Los Angeles). For the initiation of chats, race appeared to be slightly assortative for some groups with R ranging from 0.023 (Birmingham) to 0.305 (Los Angeles). Asian searchers were most assortative in initiating chats with Asian candidates in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. In Birmingham and Tampa, searchers from all races tended to initiate chats with black candidates. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that the age preferences of MSM are relatively consistent across cities, that is, younger MSM are more likely to be chatted with and have their profiles viewed compared with older MSM, but the patterns of racial mixing are more variable. Although some generalizations can be made regarding Web-based behaviors across all cities, city-specific usage patterns and trends should be analyzed to create targeted and localized interventions that may make the most difference in the lives of MSM in these areas.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1113-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Apergis ◽  
James E. Payne

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine the long-run convergence properties of condominium prices based on the ripple effect for five major US metropolitan areas (Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco). Specifically, we test for both overall convergence in condominium prices and the possibility of distinct convergence clubs to ascertain the interdependence of geographically dispersed metropolitan condominium markets.Design/methodology/approachOur analysis uses two approaches to identify the convergence properties of condominium prices: the Lee and Strazicich (2003) unit root test with endogenous structural breaks and the Phillips and Sul (2007, 2009) time-varying nonlinear club convergence tests.FindingsThe Lee and Strazicich (2003) unit root tests identify two structural breaks in 2006 and 2008 with the rejection of the null hypothesis of a unit root and long-run convergence in condominium prices in the cases of Boston and New York. The Phillips and Sul (2007, 2009) club convergence test reveals the absence of overall convergence in condominium prices across all metropolitan areas, but the emergence of two distinct convergence clubs with clear geographical segmentation: on the east coast with Boston and New York and the west coast with Los Angeles and San Francisco while Chicago exhibits a non-converging path.Research limitations/implicationsThe results highlight the distinct geographical segmentation of metropolitan condominium markets, which provides useful information to local policymakers, financial institutions, real estate developers and real estate portfolio managers. The limitations of the research are the identification of the underlying sources for the convergence clubs identified due to the availability of monthly data for a number of potential variables.Practical implicationsThe absence of overall convergence in condominium prices, but the emergence of distinct convergence clubs that reflects the geographical segmentation of metropolitan condominium markets raises the potential for portfolio diversification.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies that have focused on single-family housing, this is the first study to examine the convergence of metropolitan area condominium prices.


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