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TRECH StudyProject Overview
The Transportation, Equity, Climate and Health Study (TRECH Study)
The TRECH Study is an independent research effort by:
The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (Harvard C-CHANGE) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthBoston University School of Public HealthInstitute for the Environment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The TRECH Study is made possible thanks in part to support from the Barr Foundation.
www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change
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Analyzing the Potential Health Benefits of Cl imate Transportation Policies
The TRECH Study
ResearchersfromtheCenterforClimate,Health,andtheGlobalEnvironmentatthe
HarvardT.H.ChanSchoolofPublicHealth(HarvardC-CHANGE),BostonUniversitySchoolofPublicHealth,andtheUniversityofNorthCarolinaarestudyingthepotential
real-worldhealthoutcomesfromclimatemitigationstrategiesforthetransportationsectorintheNortheastandMid-AtlanticregionsoftheU.S.developedbytheTransportationandClimateInitiative(TCI).
Specifically,theTransportation,Equity,ClimateandHealthStudy(TRECHStudy)willuseprojectionsoffutureairpollutionemissionsandshiftsinmodesoftransportationunder
differentpolicyscenariostoestimatehealthoutcomesfromchangesinairqualityandphysicalactivity.
TheTRECHStudyismadepossiblethanksinparttosupportfromtheBarrFoundation.
The Challenge
Greenhousegas(GHG)emissionsfromthetransportationsectorconstituteabout30%oftotalGHGemissionsintheU.S.,makingitthelargestsourceofclimatepollutionin
thenation1.Tailpipeemissionsfromthetransportationsectorarealsoalargesourceofconventionalairpollutants,includingcarbonmonoxide,hydrocarbons,nitrogenoxides,andparticulatematterthatcandegradeairqualityandharmhumanhealth.Inaddition,
currentandhistoricpatternsoftransportationdevelopmentinfluencenoisepollution,land-usepatterns,andaccesstoservices—allofwhichinfluenceclimateandhealth.
Scienceshowsthattransportationhaslargehealtheffectsthatdisproportionatelyaffectlower-incomecommunitiesandcommunitiesofcolor,andthatregionaltransportation
differencesleadtodifferenthealthoutcomes.Forexample,urbanresidentstypicallyexperiencegreaterairandnoisepollutionaswellasimpactsfromtransitservicedelays,
whereasruralresidentsdependmoreonvehicleuseforaccesstodistantservicesand
experiencelessaccesstopublicandactivetransportation,suchaswalkingorbiking.
1Basedonthe2017NationalEmissionsInventory.IntheNationalEmissionsInventory,the“transportationsector”includesemissionsfrompassengercarsandtrucks,buses,aircraft,shipsandboats,motorcyclesandrailsources.
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The Opportunity
Climatechangemitigationprogramsfortransportationhavethepotentialtogeneratesubstantialpublichealthbenefitsandhelpalleviatehistoricalandcurrentinequities.
Existingresearchsuggeststhatpositivehealthandequityoutcomesaregeneratedbytransportationinvestmentsthatpromotecompactmixed-usedevelopment,improveandincreaseuseofpublictransportation,enhancesafeandenjoyableaccesstoactivemodesoftransportsuchaswalkingandbiking,andencouragealternativestotravelinprivatemotorvehicles.
The Transportation and Climate Initiative
TheTransportation&ClimateInitiative(TCI)isaregionalcollaborationof12Northeast
andMid-AtlanticStatesandtheDistrictofColumbia,facilitatedbytheGeorgetownClimateCenter,thatseekstoimprovetransportation,developthecleanenergy
economyandreducecarbonemissionsfromthetransportationsector.TheparticipatingstatesareConnecticut,Delaware,Maine,Maryland,Massachusetts,NewHampshire,
NewJersey,NewYork,Pennsylvania,RhodeIsland,Vermont,andVirginia.Recognizingthatnearly40%ofregionalGHGemissionsintheNortheastandMid-Atlanticregions
comefromthetransportationsector2,participatingstateagencyofficialsaretakingactiontoreducetheseemissionsbyworkingwithexpertsandstakeholderstodevelopaproposedcapandinvestprogram.
TRECH Study Questions
TheTRECHStudyteamisestimatingthehealthconsequencesofseveraltransportation
policyscenariosthatwillbedefinedbythestatesparticipatinginTCIwithinputfromstakeholdersacrosstheregion.Ourfourresearchquestionsare:
1. Whatarethehealthconsequencesassociatedwithestimatedchangesinairquality
andphysicalactivityfordifferenttransportationpolicyscenariosintheNortheast
andMid-Atlanticregions?2. Howarecounty-scalechangesinairpollutionexposureandhealthbenefits
distributedgeographicallyandbyrace,ethnicity,andsocioeconomicstates?Or,whobenefitsandwhere?
3. Howdostatelevelchangesinemissionsinonestateaffectairqualityresultsinthe
countiesofnearbystates?
2StateEnergyDataSystemsoftheU.S.EnergyInformationAdministration:https://www.eia.gov/state/seds/.
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4. Towhatextentarepre-existingtransportation-relatedhealthburdensalleviatedunderdifferenttransportationpolicyscenarios?
TRECH Study Research Approach
Scope -TheTRECHstudycoverstheexpectedchangesinairqualityandtheassociatedhealthbenefitsfromreducedemissionsaswellasthepotentialphysicalactivitybenefitsfromincreasedaccesstowalking,biking,orotheractivemodesoftransportation.Thescopedoesnotcovertheeffectsofnoiseexposureandsocialdeterminantsofhealth.
Modeling—Toaddressthefourresearchquestionsabove,weareusingamulti-modelapproachthatlinksanemissionsmodeltoanairqualitymodel(i.e.,CMAQ-DDM3)andahealthmodel(i.e.,BenMAP4).Thiswillincludechangesinemissionsofcarbondioxide,sulfurdioxide,nitrogenoxides,volatileorganiccompounds,andparticulatematterforeachcountyinthestudyregion.TheemissionsmodelingisconductedbytheconsultingfirmsofOnLocationandCambridgeSystematics.
Wewillcombinethemodelingresultswithcensusdatatoestimateinequitiesinairpollutionexposureandhealthriskswithinandbetweendemographicgroups,andwithandwithoutthepolicyscenarios.Wewillanalyzehowchangesinbikingandwalkingtripsunderthepolicyscenariosimpactphysicalactivityandhealth,usingamodelcalledtheHEATtool5.
Theinformationgeneratedbytheresearchmodelsusedinthisstudyrepresentasubsetoftheinformationthatpolicymakersneedtoconsiderwhenmakingdecisionsabouttransportationpolicy.Whenevaluatingfinalpolicyoptions,itisalsoimportanttouseothersourcesofknowledge,includingstakeholderperspectivesandqualitativeinformationabouthealthytransportationsystems.
Scale —Theairqualityandhealtheffectsofthetransportationpolicyscenarioswillbeestimatedatthecountyscalefortheentireregion.Questionsaboutthehealthequityorenvironmentaljusticeconsequencesofagivenpolicyoftenrelatetoconditionsattheneighborhoodscale.Follow-upcasestudiesusingadditionaldataandmethodswouldberequiredtoestimatehealthoutcomesinspecificneighborhoods.
Pollution Sources–Ourairqualitymodelwillfocusonchangesinemissionsfromon-roadvehiclesandchangesinemissionsfromtheelectricgridthatareassociatedwithelectricvehicleuse.Emissionsestimatesarenotcurrentlyavailabletoevaluatenon-road,non-tailpipesourcesofpollutionsuchasbusdepots,airports,non-roadfreight,androadwear.
3CommunityMulti-ScaleAirQualitymodel-DirectDecoupledMethod4EnvironmentalBenefitsMappingandAnalysisProgram5HealthEconomicAssessmentTool
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Core Research Team
AaronBernstein,MD,MPH,Co-Director,HarvardC-CHANGEJonathanBuonocore,ScD,ResearchAssociate,HarvardC-CHANGEKathyFallonLambert,MS,SeniorAdvisor,HarvardC-CHANGEDrewMichanowicz,MPH,PhD,ResearchFellow,HarvardC-CHANGESarahZelasky,ResearchIntern,HarvardC-CHANGECalvinArter,PhDstudent,UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHillSaravArunachalam,PhD,Professor,InstitutefortheEnvironment,UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHillMariaDanielaCastillo,BS,ResearchAssistant,BostonUniversitySchoolofPublicHealthPatrickKinney,ScD,Professor,BostonUniversitySchoolofPublicHealthJonLevy,ScD,ProfessorandChair,BostonUniversitySchoolofPublicHealthMatthewRaifman,PhDstudent,BostonUniversitySchoolofPublicHealth
Researchcontact:KathyFallonLambert;[email protected]:MarcyFranck;[email protected]
About Harvard C-CHANGE
TheCenterforClimate,Health,andtheGlobalEnvironmentattheHarvardT.H.ChanSchoolofPublicHealth(HarvardC-CHANGE)increasespublicawarenessofthehealthimpactsofclimatechangeandusessciencetomakeitpersonal,actionable,andurgent.LedbyformerU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyAdministratorGinaMcCarthyandCo-directorDr.AaronBernstein,theCenterleveragesHarvard’scutting-edgeresearchtoinformpolicies,technologies,andproductsthatreduceairpollutionandothercausesofclimatechange.Bymakingclimatechangepersonal,highlightingsolutions,andemphasizingtheimportantroleweallplayindrivingchange,HarvardC-CHANGEputshealthoutcomesatthecenterofclimateactions.
The Transportation, Equity, Climate and Health Study (TRECH Study)
TheTRECHStudyisanindependentresearcheffortby:TheCenterforClimate,Health,andtheGlobalEnvironmentattheHarvardT.H.ChanSchoolofPublicHealth(HarvardC-CHANGE)www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change
BostonUniversitySchoolofPublicHealthwww.bu.edu/sph/
TheInstitutefortheEnvironmentattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHillwww.ie.unc.edu/
