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U.S. Department of Transportation
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Why Is the Environment a Part of Connected Vehicle Research?
Source: EPA. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, 1990 to 2006.  2008.
§Surface transportation has a significant impact on the environment:
□Transport sector accounts for 28% of GHG emissions in the US.
□Surface vehicles represent almost 80% of the transport sector GHG in the US.
A question that is often asked is, “Why is the environment a part of Connected Vehicle Research?”

Transportation has a significant impact on the environment. Per the pie chart on the left, transportation overall accounts for about 28% of emissions.  Surface transportation, shown in the pie chart on the right, is a very significant proportion of those emissions. Light duty vehicles (58%), freight trucks (19%), motorcycles (0.1%), and buses (0.6%) sum to about 78% of all transport emissions.

Given these numbers, there would seem to be a significant window of opportunity here for ITS in general (and connected vehicle technologies specifically) to address environmental issues.  The ITS JPO’s AERIS program intends to investigate if connected vehicle technologies and strategies could have a significant impact on reducing the negative effect of transportation on the environment.