Pathways for Reducing Transportation Emissions

Strategies to reduce transportation emissions fall into three primary categories:

1. Electrify cars, buses, and trucks (coupled with decarbonized electricity) and provide charging infrastructure
2. Reduce reliance on single-occupancy vehicles by supporting alternative modes of transit (walking, biking, transit, car-sharing)
3. Land use changes that reduce vehicle-miles-traveled by fostering denser development near transit and providing housing close to workplaces.

Many state agencies fund one or more types of transportation-related investments. Most multisector programs fund projects with a transportation component, as noted in our tables depicting multisector programs. Below, we organize the transportation-specific investments by the type of recipient (individual, households, and businesses versus programs available to local governments and communities) and by more discrete funding decisions, including a sampling of pilot projects and one-time funding decisions.

Agencies and Their Programs

• The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has the primary authority over vehicular pollution. In addition to setting emission standards for cars and heavy-duty vehicles, CARB’s Low Carbon Transportation Investments and Air Quality Improvement Program includes a range of programs, often called “Clean Transportation Incentives,” that incentivize clean investment through rebates and other measures. CARB programs funded by cap-and-trade revenue (California Climate Investments) are consolidated under the “Moving California” program. CARB’s annual funding plan explains the programs and their funding allocations. 

• The California Energy Commission (CEC) invests in vehicle charging infrastructure and provides some support for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Its Clean Transportation Program serves as an umbrella for many of these initiatives. The Clean Transportation Program’s specific programs and investments are detailed in the program’s 2022-23 investment plan update.

• The California Public Utilities Commission has authorized utility-developed and utility-owned electric vehicle charging stations.  The specific mechanisms for these investments appear to be in flux.

• The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) helps develop and coordinate policies and programs of the state’s multiple transportation agencies. The agency coordinated the development of the 2021 Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI), which set actions and strategies for reducing GHG emissions and preparing for climate change that apply across all of the transportation agencies and their projects.

• The California Transportation Commission (CTC) develops programs and allocates funds for transportation infrastructure, including highways, passenger rail, transit, and active transportation.

• California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) manages highways and inter-city rail.

• The Strategic Growth Council also manages multi-sector programs, which can include but are not limited to transportation investments.

Funding Sources

• California Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF): The state auctions a percentage of the allowances in the cap-and-trade program.  The revenue must be devoted to greenhouse gas reductions. Informed by state agencies’ Investment Plan, completed every three years, the Legislature apportions the GGRF funds to specific programs.

• General Fund: In the 2021 and 2022 budget bills, the legislature provided billions of dollars to support vehicle electrification, including charging infrastructure.

• Air Pollution Control Fund: This fund holds penalties and fees collected from entities that violate pollution control laws, like penalties from recent settlements with car manufacturers. The legislature allocates these funds to agencies for air pollution improvement projects.

• Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Settlement: The funding allocations are set in California’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan. One funding category is for ZEV infrastructure for light-duty vehicles.

• Air Quality Improvement Fund: This fund comes from smog abatement fees collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles and funds the Air Quality Improvement Program.

• SB 1: The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, committed $54 billion over 10 years to fix roads and bridges as well as devoting additional resources to transit, active transportation, and safety. The designated funding is in the “Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account.”
  
• CEC Clean Transportation Program funds: Vehicle and vessel registration, vehicle identification plates, and smog abatement fees.

• Proposition 39: This 2012 proposition authorized funds for school and community college investments in energy efficiency and expanded clean energy, and it provides funds for replacing diesel school buses.

• Federal transportation dollars: State transportation agencies also provide a conduit for federal transportation funds from traditional transportation bills, as well as from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, which dedicated substantial funding for transportation infrastructure (among many other investments).

Transportation funding opportunities are organized as follows:

• Programs Available to Individual Households and Businesses
• Programs Available to Local Governments, Public Entities, and Community-Based Organizations
• Transportation Pilot Programs, Demonstrations and Discrete Solicitations

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Programs Available to Individual Households and Businesses

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Programs Available to Local Governments, Public Entities, and Community-Based Organizations

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Transportation Pilot Programs, Demonstrations, and Discrete Solicitations

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Banner image courtesy of Míocar.