Role of Brownfield Developments in Reducing Household Vehicle Travel
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 138, Issue 3
Abstract
The transportation sector is the second largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United State. Developing underutilized urban industrial sites with certain characteristics (i.e., close proximity to transit, job and services, low remediation cost, and high density) can potentially reduce the transportation sector’s impact on the environment by lowering vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) and related GHG emissions. This study examines the effect of residential brownfield developments on VKT reduction and the resulting costs (including the cost of driving time, fuel, and external air pollution costs) and further compares the resulting costs with the initial one-time cleanup cost of brownfield sites. Sixteen brownfield and conventional development sites were analyzed in Baltimore, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh. Travel demand models were used to estimate VKT differences among the developments. Air pollution valuation data were used to estimate external environmental cost differences. On average, residential brownfield developments reduce VKT by 52% compared to conventional greenfield developments. Also on average, brownfield developments result in a time and fuel cost reduction of 60% and an external environmental cost saving of 66%. Comparing these cost savings with the initial one-time cleanup cost of brownfields, it is shown that development density and the cost of remediation significantly affect the number of years required for the VKT cost savings to offset the remediation cost.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank colleagues Dr. Deborah Lange and Amy Nagengast and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. 0755672) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Brownfield Training Research and Technical Assistance Grant). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the National Science Foundation.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 138 • Issue 3 • September 2012
Pages: 206 - 214
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 24, 2011
Accepted: Jan 30, 2012
Published online: Feb 3, 2012
Published in print: Sep 1, 2012
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