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Dr. Deb Niemeier
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, 1173 Glenn L. Martin Hall, 4298 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20742, USA

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0 Inequality
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Journal article
Published: 28 June 2021 in ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
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As of March 2021, the State of Florida, U.S.A. had accounted for approximately 6.67% of total COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease) cases in the U.S. The main objective of this research is to analyze mobility patterns during a three month period in summer 2020, when COVID-19 case numbers were very high for three Florida counties, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. To investigate patterns, as well as drivers, related to changes in mobility across the tri-county region, a random forest regression model was built using sociodemographic, travel, and built environment factors, as well as COVID-19 positive case data. Mobility patterns declined in each county when new COVID-19 infections began to rise, beginning in mid-June 2020. While the mean number of bar and restaurant visits was lower overall due to closures, analysis showed that these visits remained a top factor that impacted mobility for all three counties, even with a rise in cases. Our modeling results suggest that there were mobility pattern differences between counties with respect to factors relating, for example, to race and ethnicity (different population groups factored differently in each county), as well as social distancing or travel-related factors (e.g., staying at home behaviors) over the two time periods prior to and after the spike of COVID-19 cases.

ACS Style

Guimin Zhu; Kathleen Stewart; Deb Niemeier; Junchuan Fan. Understanding the Drivers of Mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Florida, USA Using a Machine Learning Approach. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2021, 10, 440 .

AMA Style

Guimin Zhu, Kathleen Stewart, Deb Niemeier, Junchuan Fan. Understanding the Drivers of Mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Florida, USA Using a Machine Learning Approach. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2021; 10 (7):440.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Guimin Zhu; Kathleen Stewart; Deb Niemeier; Junchuan Fan. 2021. "Understanding the Drivers of Mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Florida, USA Using a Machine Learning Approach." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 10, no. 7: 440.

Journal article
Published: 26 March 2021 in Safety Science
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No-notice wildfires pose a serious threat to the safety of residents, where the notification time and departure time may all be within a matter of minutes. Here, we examine the factors associated with the initial wildfire awareness time, the evacuation preparation time, and finally the departure time. We use unique interview and survey data gathered in Red Cross shelters just weeks after evacuation for the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California. We specify models for awareness time, departure time, and preparation time and find that quicker awareness is associated with seeing the fire first-hand, familiarity with local evacuation protocol, smartphone ownership, among others. We find that higher incomes are associated with quicker awareness, but had no effect on departure or preparation times. Longtime residents had longer preparation and departure times. Taken together, our results suggest new pathways for better understanding how to plan and prepare for no-notice disaster events.

ACS Style

Sarah Grajdura; Xiaodong Qian; Deb Niemeier. Awareness, departure, and preparation time in no-notice wildfire evacuations. Safety Science 2021, 139, 105258 .

AMA Style

Sarah Grajdura, Xiaodong Qian, Deb Niemeier. Awareness, departure, and preparation time in no-notice wildfire evacuations. Safety Science. 2021; 139 ():105258.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sarah Grajdura; Xiaodong Qian; Deb Niemeier. 2021. "Awareness, departure, and preparation time in no-notice wildfire evacuations." Safety Science 139, no. : 105258.

Journal article
Published: 21 October 2020 in Journal of Transport Geography
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Many US metropolitan areas have undergone dramatic shifts in socioeconomic organization.. As urban areas gentrify, many low-income residents and communities of color have transitioned towards the exurban periphery. These suburban neighborhoods tend to have fewer employment opportunities and are fairly disconnected from public transportation networks serving the urban core. Using regional transportation plans (RTPs) for three California MPOs, we show that the transportation accessibility and environmental health issues affecting these exurban communities are unique and inadequately captured by the MPOs' current equity metrics. MPOs performance evaluation is regional and achieving equity within the urban core communities will not address emerging equity, accessibility and air quality concerns for exurban communities. With a brief history and a focused case study of RTPs for the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Fresno, we examine how air pollution, equity, and transportation interact in three different types of 21st century cities. We find that when allocating limited transportation funds, California metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) prioritize the improvement of existing public transportation in urban core areas over expansion of transit networks towards disconnected exurbs. This approach is an effective way to reduce vehicle miles traveled (and thus, air pollution) at the regional level due to high population concentrations in urban cores. However, this approach also concentrates the air quality benefits of VMT reduction in these same urban core areas. Exurban residents' on-road and near-road exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution (TRAP) will not be reduced by improving public transit within the urban core. We argue that although these suburban and exurban communities are a small percentage of the regional population, they have a right to share in the benefits of transportation investments, particularly given the historical and ongoing patterns of displacement and economic exclusion from urban core areas.

ACS Style

Johanna Heyer; Matthew Palm; Deb Niemeier. Are we keeping up? Accessibility, equity and air quality in regional planning. Journal of Transport Geography 2020, 89, 102891 .

AMA Style

Johanna Heyer, Matthew Palm, Deb Niemeier. Are we keeping up? Accessibility, equity and air quality in regional planning. Journal of Transport Geography. 2020; 89 ():102891.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Johanna Heyer; Matthew Palm; Deb Niemeier. 2020. "Are we keeping up? Accessibility, equity and air quality in regional planning." Journal of Transport Geography 89, no. : 102891.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2020 in Journal of Transport Geography
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ACS Style

Xiaodong Qian; Miguel Jaller; Debbie Niemeier. Enhancing equitable service level: Which can address better, dockless or dock-based Bikeshare systems? Journal of Transport Geography 2020, 86, 1 .

AMA Style

Xiaodong Qian, Miguel Jaller, Debbie Niemeier. Enhancing equitable service level: Which can address better, dockless or dock-based Bikeshare systems? Journal of Transport Geography. 2020; 86 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xiaodong Qian; Miguel Jaller; Debbie Niemeier. 2020. "Enhancing equitable service level: Which can address better, dockless or dock-based Bikeshare systems?" Journal of Transport Geography 86, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 14 March 2019 in Journal of Transport Geography
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Bikeshare programs are increasingly popular in the United States and they offer an important alternative mode choice for many types of last-mile trips. Bikeshare systems have not captured high levels of ridership from disadvantaged populations, but there is some evidence that current bikeshare systems have specifically targeted certain populations to ensure sufficiently high demand for profitability. Far less attention has been paid to bikeshare programs' potential to provide greater access to jobs and essential services for disadvantaged communities. This paper uses two case study cities (Chicago and Philadelphia) to first, examine whether bikeshare systems have targeted specific populations, and to second, quantitatively assess the potential for bikeshare systems to provide greater accessibility for disadvantaged communities. Our results demonstrate that a well-designed bikeshare system can generate greater accessibility improvements for disadvantaged communities than the same system would produce for other populations. Using a newly developed spatial index that combines the potential for increased access to jobs and essential services, the level of bike infrastructure, and the disadvantaged population shares, we also find evidence that existing bikeshare systems have been specifically designed to target certain ridership. We find that locating stations in proximity to disadvantaged communities has the potential to increase household access (by bike and by bike-to-transit) to jobs and essential services and can close accessibility gaps between mobility constrained populations and critical services. The spatial index can be applied to identify potential locations to locate bikeshare stations (dock-based bikeshare systems) or rebalance bikes (dockless bikeshare systems) to address bikeshare equity issues.

ACS Style

Xiaodong Qian; Deb Niemeier. High impact prioritization of bikeshare program investment to improve disadvantaged communities' access to jobs and essential services. Journal of Transport Geography 2019, 76, 52 -70.

AMA Style

Xiaodong Qian, Deb Niemeier. High impact prioritization of bikeshare program investment to improve disadvantaged communities' access to jobs and essential services. Journal of Transport Geography. 2019; 76 ():52-70.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xiaodong Qian; Deb Niemeier. 2019. "High impact prioritization of bikeshare program investment to improve disadvantaged communities' access to jobs and essential services." Journal of Transport Geography 76, no. : 52-70.

Journal article
Published: 20 December 2018 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Exposure to high air pollutant concentrations results in significant health risks. Many communities of color and low-income communities face disproportionately higher levels of air pollution exposure. Environmental justice (EJ) screening tools play a critical role in focusing early attention on areas with a high likelihood of disparate health impacts. In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) released EJScreen, a screening tool with indicators of a range of pollution burdens across the US. However, little is known about the accuracy of the screening estimates of pollution exposure. This study compares EJScreen’s traffic proximity air quality metric to dispersion modeling results. Using the area around the Houston Ship Channel, we conduct fine-grained air pollution dispersion modeling to evaluate how closely EJScreen’s indicator approximates estimated roadway air pollution concentrations. We find low correlation between modeled concentrations and the EJScreen roadway air pollution indicator. We extend EJScreen’s roadway air pollution screening method in three ways: (1) using a smaller unit of analysis, (2) accounting for the length of each road segment, and (3) accounting for wind direction. Using the Houston region, we use two of the methods and show that the proposed extensions provide a more accurate transportation air pollution screening assessment at the regional and local level.

ACS Style

Dana Rowangould; Greg Rowangould; Elena Craft; Deb Niemeier. Validating and Refining EPA’s Traffic Exposure Screening Measure. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018, 16, 3 .

AMA Style

Dana Rowangould, Greg Rowangould, Elena Craft, Deb Niemeier. Validating and Refining EPA’s Traffic Exposure Screening Measure. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018; 16 (1):3.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dana Rowangould; Greg Rowangould; Elena Craft; Deb Niemeier. 2018. "Validating and Refining EPA’s Traffic Exposure Screening Measure." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 1: 3.

Journal article
Published: 12 September 2017 in Journal of the American Planning Association
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Problem, research strategy, and findings: Low-income households face affordability issues and are often forced to live in areas with limited job access and inadequate transportation. Local communities exacerbate these problems through exclusionary zoning. We study the impact of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) change in allocation formula under California’s affordable housing mandate. The old policy followed a fair share strategy, whereas the new policy requires local jurisdictions to locate mandated affordable housing units in jobs-rich areas. We compare affordable housing produced in the region before and after ABAG adopted the jobs-housing policy; we also compare the new patterns to the location of market-rate housing and to the experiences of San Diego (CA) and Los Angeles (CA), both of which retain fair share allocation. We do not control for variables that may have affected affordable housing location. ABAG’s policy shift is associated with a 104% improvement in the balance of housing and jobs at the local level; affordable housing units are more likely than market-rate housing to locate in jobs-rich areas, which may indicate that localities prioritize affordable housing. We also find that more affordable housing locates in such areas in the San Francisco Bay Area (CA) than in San Diego or Los Angeles. Takeaway for practice: A voluntary regional government in a state with mandatory affordable housing requirements can affect the production and distribution of affordable housing. A total of 25 U.S. states require localities to include affordable housing elements in their comprehensive plans; we suggest that regional and local planners use these opportunities to meet multiple policy goals by directing affordable housing to jobs-rich neighborhoods.

ACS Style

Matthew Palm; Deb Niemeier. Achieving Regional Housing Planning Objectives: Directing Affordable Housing to Jobs-Rich Neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area. Journal of the American Planning Association 2017, 83, 377 -388.

AMA Style

Matthew Palm, Deb Niemeier. Achieving Regional Housing Planning Objectives: Directing Affordable Housing to Jobs-Rich Neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area. Journal of the American Planning Association. 2017; 83 (4):377-388.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Matthew Palm; Deb Niemeier. 2017. "Achieving Regional Housing Planning Objectives: Directing Affordable Housing to Jobs-Rich Neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area." Journal of the American Planning Association 83, no. 4: 377-388.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2017 in Poultry Science
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As pastured poultry production has gained increased popularity in the United States in recent years, there is a growing need for research and outreach efforts aimed at this sector of poultry production. In order to get familiarized with American pastured poultry producers, we conducted an online questionnaire aimed primarily at evaluating what operational challenges are faced by producers and what educational opportunities should be initiated by researchers. Results showed that pastured poultry farms largely vary in total number of acres farmed and total number of birds kept. The vast majority of farms (96%) rotate their flocks on pasture and include livestock species (78%) in their rotation systems. Mobile coops are the preferred housing option provided by producers (88%). The most common source of mortality listed by respondents was predation (52%), followed by “other” (32%). However, predation was not selected as the most important challenge by the majority of respondents. Sixty-four percent of participants instead mentioned providing adequate feed at reasonable cost as the major challenge in raising poultry on pasture, followed again by “other” (52%) and lack of processing facilities for small numbers of birds (40%). Finally, the topics considered by respondents as the most helpful to learn more about were how to improve egg production rate and/or feed conversion ratio (67%), followed by how to improve pasture condition and optimum vegetative cover all year round (62%). Despite its small sample size, this study's results provide some valuable insights of challenges encountered and information needed on pastured poultry farms.

ACS Style

C. Elkhoraibi; M. Pitesky; N. Dailey; D. Niemeier. Operational challenges and opportunities in pastured poultry operations in the United States. Poultry Science 2017, 96, 1648 -1650.

AMA Style

C. Elkhoraibi, M. Pitesky, N. Dailey, D. Niemeier. Operational challenges and opportunities in pastured poultry operations in the United States. Poultry Science. 2017; 96 (6):1648-1650.

Chicago/Turabian Style

C. Elkhoraibi; M. Pitesky; N. Dailey; D. Niemeier. 2017. "Operational challenges and opportunities in pastured poultry operations in the United States." Poultry Science 96, no. 6: 1648-1650.

Comment
Published: 01 March 2017 in Journal of the American Planning Association
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ACS Style

David R. Heres; Deb A. Niemeier. The Past and Future of Research on the Link Between Compact Development and Driving: Comment on “Does Compact Development Make People Drive Less?”. Journal of the American Planning Association 2017, 83, 145 -148.

AMA Style

David R. Heres, Deb A. Niemeier. The Past and Future of Research on the Link Between Compact Development and Driving: Comment on “Does Compact Development Make People Drive Less?”. Journal of the American Planning Association. 2017; 83 (2):145-148.

Chicago/Turabian Style

David R. Heres; Deb A. Niemeier. 2017. "The Past and Future of Research on the Link Between Compact Development and Driving: Comment on “Does Compact Development Make People Drive Less?”." Journal of the American Planning Association 83, no. 2: 145-148.

Journal article
Published: 01 September 2016 in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
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Renewable portfolio standards (RPSs׳) require a certain fraction of the electricity generated for a given region be produced from renewable resources. California׳s RPS mandates that by 2020, 33% of the electricity sold in the state must be generated from renewables. Such mandates have important implications for the electricity sector as well as for the whole society. In this paper, we estimate the costs and benefits of varying 2020 California RPS targets on electricity prices, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, criteria pollutant emissions, the electricity generation mix, the labor market, renewable investment decisions, and social welfare. We have extended the RPS Calculator model, developed by Energy and Environmental Economics (E3) Inc., to account for distributions of fuel and generation costs, to incorporate demand functions, and to estimate the effects of RPS targets on GHG emissions, criteria pollutant emissions, and employment. The results of our modeling provide the following policy insights: (1) the average 2020 electricity price increases as the RPS target rises, with values ranging between $0.152 and $0.175/kW h (2008 dollars) for the 20% RPS to 50% RPS, respectively; (2) the 33% and 50% RPS targets decrease the GHG emissions by about 17.6 and 35.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) relative to the 20% RPS; (3) the GHG emission reduction costs of the RPS options are high ($71–$94 per ton) relative to results from policy options other than RPS or prices that are common in the carbon markets; and (4) a lower target (e.g., a 27% RPS) provides higher social welfare than the 33% RPS (mandate) under low and moderate CO2 social costs (lower than $35/ton); while a higher RPS target (e.g., 50%) is more beneficial when using high CO2 social costs or rapid renewable technology diffusion. However, under all studied scenarios, the mandated 33% RPS for California would not provide the best cost/benefit values among the possible targets and would not maximize the net social benefit objective.

ACS Style

Omid M. Rouhani; Debbie Niemeier; H. Oliver Gao; Germà Bel. Cost-benefit analysis of various California renewable portfolio standard targets: Is a 33% RPS optimal? Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2016, 62, 1122 -1132.

AMA Style

Omid M. Rouhani, Debbie Niemeier, H. Oliver Gao, Germà Bel. Cost-benefit analysis of various California renewable portfolio standard targets: Is a 33% RPS optimal? Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2016; 62 ():1122-1132.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Omid M. Rouhani; Debbie Niemeier; H. Oliver Gao; Germà Bel. 2016. "Cost-benefit analysis of various California renewable portfolio standard targets: Is a 33% RPS optimal?" Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 62, no. : 1122-1132.

Journal article
Published: 11 February 2015 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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It has been shown that the location of schools near heavily trafficked roads can have detrimental effects on the health of children attending those schools. It is therefore desirable to screen both existing school locations and potential new school sites to assess either the need for remedial measures or suitability for the intended use. Current screening tools and public guidance on school siting are either too coarse in their spatial resolution for assessing individual sites or are highly resource intensive in their execution (e.g., through dispersion modeling). We propose a new method to help bridge the gap between these two approaches. Using this method, we also examine the public K-12 schools in the Sacramento Area Council of Governments Region, California (USA) from an environmental justice perspective. We find that PM2.5 emissions from road traffic affecting a school site are significantly positively correlated with the following metrics: percent share of Black, Hispanic and multi-ethnic students, percent share of students eligible for subsidized meals. The emissions metric correlates negatively with the schools’ Academic Performance Index, the share of White students and average parental education levels. Our PM2.5 metric also correlates with the traffic related, census tract level screening indicators from the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool and the tool’s tract level rate of asthma related emergency department visits.

ACS Style

Philine Gaffron; Deb Niemeier. School Locations and Traffic Emissions — Environmental (In)Justice Findings Using a New Screening Method. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2015, 12, 2009 -2025.

AMA Style

Philine Gaffron, Deb Niemeier. School Locations and Traffic Emissions — Environmental (In)Justice Findings Using a New Screening Method. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2015; 12 (2):2009-2025.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Philine Gaffron; Deb Niemeier. 2015. "School Locations and Traffic Emissions — Environmental (In)Justice Findings Using a New Screening Method." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 12, no. 2: 2009-2025.

Journal article
Published: 03 July 2013 in Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems
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A microfabricated electrostatic precipitator successfully demonstrated its airborne liquid phase particles precipitation functionality. The particles used in the experiments were polydispersed liquid phase oleic acid particles with sizes ranging from 30 nm to 300 nm. Two configurations with electrode gaps of 1.8 mm and 2.0 mm were tested at 2.2 kV and 2.6kV, respectively. During the test, the microfabricated electrostatic precipitator was inserted into a flow chamber with an aerosol stream containing oleic acid particles. Particle precipitation is demonstrated via both visual observation and the measurement of the corona current during aerosol exposure. The corona current for the 2.0 mm electrode gap configuration was decreased by approximately 50% and the circuit resistivity is increased by the corresponding magnitude as the oleic acid particles precipitated during a 60s exposure. The recovery of corona current is observed when the aerosol source is turned off. Wicking of precipitated oleic acid away from the collection grid to its anchoring feature is observed. The analytical and experimental corona current versus time elapsed during the aerosol exposure are calculated and compared. The discrepancy between the analytical and experimental corona currents is consistent with the observed wicking effect and variation in percent coverage on the collector grid by precipitating particles.

ACS Style

Beelee Chua; Anthony S. Wexler; Norman C. Tien; Debbie A. Niemeier; Britt A. Holmén. Collection of Liquid Phase Particles by Microfabricated Electrostatic Precipitator. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems 2013, 22, 1010 -1019.

AMA Style

Beelee Chua, Anthony S. Wexler, Norman C. Tien, Debbie A. Niemeier, Britt A. Holmén. Collection of Liquid Phase Particles by Microfabricated Electrostatic Precipitator. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems. 2013; 22 (5):1010-1019.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Beelee Chua; Anthony S. Wexler; Norman C. Tien; Debbie A. Niemeier; Britt A. Holmén. 2013. "Collection of Liquid Phase Particles by Microfabricated Electrostatic Precipitator." Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems 22, no. 5: 1010-1019.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2013 in Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
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ACS Style

Beelee Chua; Anthony S. Wexler; Norman C. Tien; Debbie A. Niemeier; Britt. A. Holmén. Micro corona based particle steering air filter. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical 2013, 196, 8 -15.

AMA Style

Beelee Chua, Anthony S. Wexler, Norman C. Tien, Debbie A. Niemeier, Britt. A. Holmén. Micro corona based particle steering air filter. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical. 2013; 196 ():8-15.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Beelee Chua; Anthony S. Wexler; Norman C. Tien; Debbie A. Niemeier; Britt. A. Holmén. 2013. "Micro corona based particle steering air filter." Sensors and Actuators A: Physical 196, no. : 8-15.

Journal article
Published: 28 February 2010 in Atmospheric Environment
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Future air pollution emissions in the year 2030 were estimated for the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) in central California using a combined system of land use, mobile, off-road, stationary, area, and biogenic emissions models. Four scenarios were developed that use different assumptions about the density of development and level of investment in transportation infrastructure to accommodate the expected doubling of the SJV population in the next 20 years. Scenario 1 reflects current land-use patterns and infrastructure while scenario 2 encouraged compact urban footprints including redevelopment of existing urban centers and investments in transit. Scenario 3 allowed sprawling development in the SJV with reduced population density in existing urban centers and construction of all planned freeways. Scenario 4 followed currently adopted land use and transportation plans for the SJV. The air quality resulting from these urban development scenarios was evaluated using meteorology from a winter stagnation event that occurred on December 15th, 2000 to January 7th 2001. Predicted base-case PM2.5 mass concentrations within the region exceeded 35 μg m−3 over the 22-day episode. Compact growth reduced the PM2.5 concentrations by ∼1 μg m−3 relative to the base-case over most of the SJV with the exception of increases (∼1 μg m−3) in urban centers driven by increased concentrations of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC). Low-density development increased the PM2.5 concentrations by 1–4 μg m−3 over most of the region, with decreases (0.5–2 μg m−3) around urban areas. Population-weighted average PM2.5 concentrations were very similar for all development scenarios ranging between 16 and 17.4 μg m−3. Exposure to primary PM components such as EC and OC increased 10–15% for high density development scenarios and decreased by 11–19% for low-density scenarios. Patterns for secondary PM components such as nitrate and ammonium ion were almost exactly reversed, with a 10% increase under low-density development and a 5% decrease under high density development. The increased human exposure to primary pollutants such as EC and OC could be predicted using a simplified analysis of population-weighted primary emissions. Regional planning agencies should develop thresholds of population-weighted primary emissions exposure to guide the development of growth plans. This metric will allow them to actively reduce the potential negative impacts of compact growth while preserving the benefits.

ACS Style

Mark Hixson; Abdullah Mahmud; Jianlin Hu; Song Bai; Debbie A. Niemeier; Susan L. Handy; Shengyi Gao; Jay R. Lund; Dana Coe Sullivan; Michael J. Kleeman. Influence of regional development policies and clean technology adoption on future air pollution exposure. Atmospheric Environment 2010, 44, 552 -562.

AMA Style

Mark Hixson, Abdullah Mahmud, Jianlin Hu, Song Bai, Debbie A. Niemeier, Susan L. Handy, Shengyi Gao, Jay R. Lund, Dana Coe Sullivan, Michael J. Kleeman. Influence of regional development policies and clean technology adoption on future air pollution exposure. Atmospheric Environment. 2010; 44 (4):552-562.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mark Hixson; Abdullah Mahmud; Jianlin Hu; Song Bai; Debbie A. Niemeier; Susan L. Handy; Shengyi Gao; Jay R. Lund; Dana Coe Sullivan; Michael J. Kleeman. 2010. "Influence of regional development policies and clean technology adoption on future air pollution exposure." Atmospheric Environment 44, no. 4: 552-562.

Journal article
Published: 30 September 2008 in Energy Policy
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With the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32), California has begun an ambitious journey to reduce in-state GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Under the direction of executive order S-20-06, a mandated Market Advisory Committee (MAC) charged with studying market-based mechanisms to reduce GHG emissions, including cap and trade systems, has recommended taking an “upstream” approach to GHG emissions regulation, arguing that upstream regulation will reduce administrative costs because there are fewer agents. In this paper, we argue that, the total costs to society of a GHG cap and trade scheme can be minimized though downstream regulation, rather than the widely proposed upstream approach. We propose a household carbon trading system with four major components: a state allocation to households, household-to-household trading, households to utility company credit transfers, and utility companies to government credit transfers. The proposed system can also be considered more equitable than carbon taxes and upstream cap and trade systems to control GHG emissions from residential energy use and is consistent with AB32.

ACS Style

D. Niemeier; Gregory Rowangould; Alex Karner; Mark Hixson; Brooke Bachmann; Carrie Okma; Ziv Lang; David Heres Del Valle. Rethinking downstream regulation: California's opportunity to engage households in reducing greenhouse gases. Energy Policy 2008, 36, 3436 -3447.

AMA Style

D. Niemeier, Gregory Rowangould, Alex Karner, Mark Hixson, Brooke Bachmann, Carrie Okma, Ziv Lang, David Heres Del Valle. Rethinking downstream regulation: California's opportunity to engage households in reducing greenhouse gases. Energy Policy. 2008; 36 (9):3436-3447.

Chicago/Turabian Style

D. Niemeier; Gregory Rowangould; Alex Karner; Mark Hixson; Brooke Bachmann; Carrie Okma; Ziv Lang; David Heres Del Valle. 2008. "Rethinking downstream regulation: California's opportunity to engage households in reducing greenhouse gases." Energy Policy 36, no. 9: 3436-3447.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2008 in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
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ACS Style

H. Oliver Gao; Debbie A. Niemeier. Using functional data analysis of diurnal ozone and NOx cycles to inform transportation emissions control. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2008, 13, 221 -238.

AMA Style

H. Oliver Gao, Debbie A. Niemeier. Using functional data analysis of diurnal ozone and NOx cycles to inform transportation emissions control. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. 2008; 13 (4):221-238.

Chicago/Turabian Style

H. Oliver Gao; Debbie A. Niemeier. 2008. "Using functional data analysis of diurnal ozone and NOx cycles to inform transportation emissions control." Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 13, no. 4: 221-238.

Proceedings article
Published: 15 May 2008 in Transportation Land Use, Planning, and Air Quality
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Urban and regional air pollution is an increasingly critical problem in areas where rapid growths occurring and future development is expected. Within the typical planning horizon, many modeling tools (e.g., land use, travel demand, and emissions models) are used to evaluate the impact of regional development, population trends, and infrastructure improvements on air quality. However, these models were not designed, nor are they generally used as a cohesive system with feedbacks between them. Consequently, there is a gap in our understanding of how different models interact and combine to influence emissions inventories associated with future policy scenarios. In this study, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, an emissions modeling framework was developed using the UPlan, TP+/Viper, and UCDrive emission models for the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) in central California. Specifically, future land use and subsequent travel patterns and emissions inventories were examined based on four policy scenarios for the year 2030: baseline (following general plans, with no roadway expansion), controlled growth (compact urban boundary, higher residential densities, no roadway expansion), uncontrolled growth (low residential densities, roadway expansion), and as-planned (following general plans, with roadway expansion). The integrated modeling framework links emissions to levels of travel pattern variations under different land use policy and development strategies. For example, compared to a scenario with highly controlled urban growth strategies, less restraint on urban growth results in more than a 20% increase in vehicle miles traveled and about 18% higher emissions of primary pollutants at the regional scale in year 2030. By means of comparing and connecting land use, travel patterns and emissions, the sensitivity of SJV mobile emission inventories to different possible growth scenarios can be assessed.

ACS Style

S. Bai; D. A. Niemeier; S. L. Handy; S. Gao; J. R. Lund; D. C. Sullivan. Integrated Impacts of Regional Development, Land Use Strategies, and Transportation Planning on Future Air Pollution Emissions. Transportation Land Use, Planning, and Air Quality 2008, 192 -205.

AMA Style

S. Bai, D. A. Niemeier, S. L. Handy, S. Gao, J. R. Lund, D. C. Sullivan. Integrated Impacts of Regional Development, Land Use Strategies, and Transportation Planning on Future Air Pollution Emissions. Transportation Land Use, Planning, and Air Quality. 2008; ():192-205.

Chicago/Turabian Style

S. Bai; D. A. Niemeier; S. L. Handy; S. Gao; J. R. Lund; D. C. Sullivan. 2008. "Integrated Impacts of Regional Development, Land Use Strategies, and Transportation Planning on Future Air Pollution Emissions." Transportation Land Use, Planning, and Air Quality , no. : 192-205.

Journal article
Published: 05 March 2008 in Transportation
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The majority of comparisons between state transportation systems do not control for characteristics that may vary greatly between states (e.g., vehicle miles traveled). A shortcoming of such analyses is that a state’s individual characteristics can be highly influential in determining how transportation policy is set and funds are spent. The purpose of this paper is to extend previous efforts to create groups of similar peer states by developing a new methodological framework that incorporates demographic, temporal, and locational variability into the peer group delineations. We collected historical data for 42 variables on transportation infrastructure, population, economy, growth, topography and weather. To examine trends before and after the passage of ISTEA we gathered data over two time periods: 1985 through 1990 and 1995 through 2000. Using principal components analysis (PCA) we reduced variables into seven components, and then statistically clustered states into peer groups for each time period based on the components and the remaining variables. We identified a range of cluster solutions and demonstrate how cluster statistics help to describe the contextual basis behind the peer grouping. The results of this study are to provide government agencies, researchers and the public with a systematic methodological framework for identifying peer states that reflect similar attributes contributing to the development and maintenance of state transportation systems.

ACS Style

Patricia Hendren; Debbie A. Niemeier. Identifying peer states for transportation system evaluation & policy analyses. Transportation 2008, 35, 445 -465.

AMA Style

Patricia Hendren, Debbie A. Niemeier. Identifying peer states for transportation system evaluation & policy analyses. Transportation. 2008; 35 (4):445-465.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Patricia Hendren; Debbie A. Niemeier. 2008. "Identifying peer states for transportation system evaluation & policy analyses." Transportation 35, no. 4: 445-465.

Journal article
Published: 31 December 2007 in Atmospheric Environment
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This paper explores the range of CALINE4's PM2.5 modeling capabilities by comparing previously collected PM2.5 data with CALINE4 predicted values. Two sampling sites, a suburban site located at an intersection in Sacramento, CA, and an urban site located in London, were used. Predicted concentrations are graphed against observed concentrations and evaluated against the criterion that 75% of the points fall within the factor-of-two prediction envelope. For the suburban site, data estimated by CALINE4 produced results that fell within the acceptable factor-of-two percentage envelope. A reverse dispersion test was also conducted for the suburban site using observed and calculated emission factors, and although it showed correlations between the observed values and CALINE4 predicted values, it could not conclusively prove that the model is accurate at predicting PM2.5 concentrations. Although the results suggest that CALINE4 PM2.5 predictions may be reasonably close to observed values, the number of observations used to verify the model was small and consequently, findings from the suburban site should be considered exploratory. For the urban site, a much larger data set was evaluated; however, the CALINE4 results for this site did not fall 75% within the factor-of-two envelope. Several factors, including street canyon effects, likely contributed to an inaccuracy of the emission factors used in CALINE4, and therefore, to the overall CALINE4 predictions. In summary, CALINE4 does not appear to perform well in densely populated areas and differences in topography may be a decisive factor in determining when CALINE4 may be applicable to modeling PM2.5. For critical transportation projects requiring PM2.5 analysis, use of CALINE4 may not be optimal because of its inability to produce reasonable estimates for highly trafficked areas. Additional data sets for CALINE4 analysis, particularly in urban environments, are required to fully understand CALINE4's PM2.5 modeling capabilities.

ACS Style

Elizabeth Ann Yura; Thomas Kear; Debbie Niemeier. Using CALINE dispersion to assess vehicular PM2.5 emissions. Atmospheric Environment 2007, 41, 8747 -8757.

AMA Style

Elizabeth Ann Yura, Thomas Kear, Debbie Niemeier. Using CALINE dispersion to assess vehicular PM2.5 emissions. Atmospheric Environment. 2007; 41 (38):8747-8757.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Elizabeth Ann Yura; Thomas Kear; Debbie Niemeier. 2007. "Using CALINE dispersion to assess vehicular PM2.5 emissions." Atmospheric Environment 41, no. 38: 8747-8757.

Journal article
Published: 04 December 2007 in Transportation
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There have been a number of studies of the effectiveness of vehicle scrappage programs, which offer incentives to accelerated scrappage of older vehicles often thought to be high emitters. These programs are voluntary and aimed at replacement of household vehicles. In contrast, there is a gap in knowledge related to the emissions benefits of government fleet replacement (retirement) programs. In this study, the efficacy of a fleet replacement program for a local government agency in Northern Illinois, the Forest Preserve of DuPage County (FPDC), is examined using a probabilistic vehicle survival model that accounts for time-varying covariates such as vehicle age and gasoline price. The vehicle lifetime operating emissions are calculated based on the estimated vehicle survival probabilities from the survival model and compared with those derived using the EPA default fleet used in MOBILE6 and the fleet represented by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) survival curve. The results suggest that while there may be short term emission benefits of the FPDC fleet replacement plan, the long-term emission benefits are highly sensitive to economic factors (e.g., future gasoline price) and exhibit a decreasing trend. This indicates that an adaptive multi-stage replacement strategy as opposed to a fixed one is preferable to achieve optimal cost effectiveness.

ACS Style

Jie Lin; Cynthia Chen; Debbie A. Niemeier. An analysis on long term emission benefits of a government vehicle fleet replacement plan in northern illinois. Transportation 2007, 35, 219 -235.

AMA Style

Jie Lin, Cynthia Chen, Debbie A. Niemeier. An analysis on long term emission benefits of a government vehicle fleet replacement plan in northern illinois. Transportation. 2007; 35 (2):219-235.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jie Lin; Cynthia Chen; Debbie A. Niemeier. 2007. "An analysis on long term emission benefits of a government vehicle fleet replacement plan in northern illinois." Transportation 35, no. 2: 219-235.