Increasing nationwide disparities in road freight emissions across cities

  • Le Pira, M., Tavasszy, L. A., Correia, G. H.

    D. A., Ignaccolo, M. & Inturri, G. Opportunities for integration between mobility as a service (MaaS) and freight transport: a conceptual model. Sustain.

    Cities Soc. 74, 103212 (2021).

    Article[1]  Google Scholar[2] 

  • Giuliano, G., Kang, S. & Yuan, Q. Agglomeration economies and evolving urban form. Ann. Reg.

    Sci. 63, 377-398 (2019).

    Article[3]  Google Scholar[4] 

  • The Cost of Air Pollution (OECD, 2014).

  • McNair, A. W. Investigation of environmental justice analysis in airport planning practice from 2000 to 2010. Transp.

    Res. D 81, 102286 (2020).

    Article[5]  Google Scholar[6] 

  • Fried, T., Verma, R. & Goodchild, A. Ecommerce and environmental justice in metro Seattle. Res.

    Transp. Econ. 103, 101382 (2024).

    Article[7]  Google Scholar[8] 

  • Jbaily, A. et al. Air pollution exposure disparities across US population and income groups. Nature 601, 228-233 (2022).

    Article[9]  Google Scholar[10] 

  • Picciano, P. et al.

    Air quality related equity implications of US decarbonization policy. Nat. Commun. 14, 5543 (2023).

    Article[11]  Google Scholar[12] 

  • Borlaug, B. et al. Heavy-duty truck electrification and the impacts of depot charging on electricity distribution systems. Nat.

    Energy 6, 673-682 (2021).

    Article[13]  Google Scholar[14] 

  • Colmer, J., Hardman, I., Shimshack, J. & Voorheis, J. Disparities in PM2.5 air pollution in the United States. Science 369, 575-578 (2020).

    Article[15]  Google Scholar[16] 

  • Wang, Y. et al. Air quality policy should quantify effects on disparities. Science 381, 272-274 (2023).

    Article[17]  Google Scholar[18] 

  • Brugge, D., Durant, J.

    L. & Rioux, C. Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: a review of epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health risks. Environ. Health 6, 23 (2007).

    Article[19]  Google Scholar[20] 

  • Beckx, C. et al.

    A dynamic activity-based population modelling approach to evaluate exposure to air pollution: methods and application to a Dutch urban area. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 29, 179-185 (2009).

    Article[21]  Google Scholar[22] 

  • Camilleri, S.

    F. et al. Air quality, health and equity implications of electrifying heavy-duty vehicles. Nat. Sustain. 6, 1643-1653 (2023).

    Article[23]  Google Scholar[24] 

  • Yu, C. et al.

    Integrated strategies for road transportation-related multi-pollutant control: a cross-departmental policy mix. Transp. Res. D 132, 104257 (2024).

    Article[25]  Google Scholar[26] 

  • Yuan, Q.

    Environmental justice in warehousing location: state of the art. J. Plan. Lit. 33, 287-298 (2018).

    Article[27]  Google Scholar[28] 

  • Liu, K., Wang, Q., Wang, M. & Koks, E.

    E. Global transportation infrastructure exposure to the change of precipitation in a warmer world. Nat. Commun. 14, 2541 (2023).

    Article[29]  Google Scholar[30] 

  • Sengupta, D. & Lazarus, E.

    D. Rapid seaward expansion of seaport footprints worldwide. Commun. Earth Environ. 4, 440 (2023).

    Article[31]  Google Scholar[32] 

  • Cui, Z. & Long, Y.

    Perspectives on stability and mobility of transit passenger's travel behaviour through smart card data. IET Intel. Transp. Syst. 13, 1761-1769 (2019).

    Article[33]  Google Scholar[34] 

  • Freight Analysis Framework version 5. Federal Highway Administration. https://faf.ornl.gov/faf5/[35] (2017).

  • Mommens, K., Brusselaers, N., van Lier, T. & Macharis, C.

    A dynamic approach to measure the impact of freight transport on air quality in cities. J. Clean. Prod. 240, 118192 (2019).

    Article[36]  Google Scholar[37] 

  • Brusselaers, N., Macharis, C. & Mommens, K.

    The health impact of freight transport-related air pollution on vulnerable population groups. Environ. Pollut. 329, 121555 (2023).

    Article[38]  Google Scholar[39] 

  • Brusselaers, N., Macharis, C. & Mommens, K. Rerouting urban construction transport flows to avoid air pollution hotspots. Transp.

    Res. D 119, 103747 (2023).

    Article[40]  Google Scholar[41] 

  • Antonczak, B., Thompson, T. M., DePaola, M.

    W. & Rowangould, G.

    2020 Near-roadway population census, traffic exposure and equity in the United States. Transp. Res. D 125, 103965 (2023).

    Article[42]  Google Scholar[43] 

  • Sdoukopoulos, A., Pitsiava-Latinopoulou, M., Basbas, S. & Papaioannou, P.

    Measuring progress towards transport sustainability through indicators: analysis and metrics of the main indicator initiatives. Transp. Res. D 67, 316-333 (2019).

    Article[44]  Google Scholar[45] 

  • Thind, M.

    P. S., Tessum, C. W. & Marshall, J.

    D. Environmental health, racial/ethnic health disparity, and climate impacts of inter-regional freight transport in the United States. Environ. Sci.

    Technol. 57, 884-895 (2023).

    Article[46]  Google Scholar[47] 

  • Hennessy, E. M., Scown, C. D. & Azevedo, I.

    M. L. The health, climate, and equity benefits of freight truck electrification in the United States. Environ.

    Res. Lett. 19, 104069 (2024).

    Article[48]  Google Scholar[49] 

  • Arter, C. A., Buonocore, J., Chang, C. & Arunachalam, S.

    Mortality-based damages per ton due to the on-road mobile sector in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S. by region, vehicle class and precursor. Environ. Res. Lett. 16, 065008 (2021).

    Article[50]  Google Scholar[51] 

  • Pan, S., Roy, A., Choi, Y., Sun, S. & Gao, H.

    O. The air quality and health impacts of projected long-haul truck and rail freight transportation in the United States in 2050. Environ. Int. 130, 104922 (2019).

    Article[52]  Google Scholar[53] 

  • Wong, W.

    P., Sinnandavar, C. M. & Soh, K.-L. The relationship between supply environment, supply chain integration and operational performance: the role of business process in curbing opportunistic behaviour. Int.

    J. Prod. Econ. 232, 107966 (2021).

    Article[54]  Google Scholar[55] 

  • Scholvin, S., Breul, M. & Diez, J.

    R. Diversity in brokerage: how do gateway cities interlink their hinterlands? Reg. Stud. 57, 215-224 (2023).

    Article[56]  Google Scholar[57] 

  • Wagener, N., Aritua, B. & Zhu, T.

    The new silk road: opportunities for global supply chains and challenges for further development. LogForum 16, 193-207 (2020).

    Article[58]  Google Scholar[59] 

  • Liu, H. & Kim, D. Simulating the uncertain environmental impact of freight truck shifting programs. Atmos. Environ. 214, 116847 (2019).

    Article[60]  Google Scholar[61] 

  • Lee, G. et al.

    Assessing air quality and health benefits of the Clean Truck Program in the Alameda corridor, CA. Transp. Res. A 46, 1177-1193 (2012).

    Google Scholar[62] 

  • Perugu, H., Wei, H. & Yao, Z.

    Integrated data-driven modeling to estimate PM2.5 pollution from heavy-duty truck transportation activity over metropolitan area. Transp. Res. D 46, 114-127 (2016).

    Article[63]  Google Scholar[64] 

  • National Highway Freight Network. Federal Highway Administration. https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/infrastructure/nfn/index.htm[65] (2017).

  • Sakai, T., Beziat, A. & Heitz, A.

    Location factors for logistics facilities: location choice modeling considering activity categories. J. Transp. Geogr. 85, 102710 (2020).

    Article[66]  Google Scholar[67] 

  • Wang, Q., Li, Y. & Li, R.

    Rethinking the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis across 214 countries: the impacts of 12 economic, institutional, technological, resource, and social factors. Humanit. Soc. Sci.

    Commun. 11, 292 (2024).

    Article[68]  Google Scholar[69] 

  • Wang, Q., Wang, X., Li, R. & Jiang, X. Reinvestigating the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) of carbon emissions and ecological footprint in 147 countries: a matter of trade protectionism. Humanit. Soc.

    Sci. Commun. 11, 160 (2024).

    Article[70]  Google Scholar[71] 

  • Yang, L. et al. Environmental-social-economic footprints of consumption and trade in the Asia-Pacific region. Nat.

    Commun. 11, 4490 (2020).

    Article[72]  Google Scholar[73] 

  • Vanoutrive, T. & Cooper, E. How just is transportation justice theory? The issues of paternalism and production. Transp.

    Res. A 122, 112-119 (2019).

    Google Scholar[74] 

  • Martens, K., Golub, A. & Robinson, G. A justice-theoretic approach to the distribution of transportation benefits: implications for transportation planning practice in the United States. Transp.

    Res. A 46, 684-695 (2012).

    Google Scholar[75] 

  • Shekarrizfard, M., Faghih-Imani, A. & Hatzopoulou, M. An examination of population exposure to traffic related air pollution: comparing spatially and temporally resolved estimates against long-term average exposures at the home location. Environ.

    Res. 147, 435-444 (2016).

    Article[76]  Google Scholar[77] 

  • Kumar, P. et al. Dynamics of coarse and fine particle exposure in transport microenvironments. npj Clim. Atmos.Sci. 1, 11 (2018).

    Article[78]  Google Scholar[79] 

  • Dons, E. et al.

    Impact of time-activity patterns on personal exposure to black carbon. Atmos. Environ. 45, 3594-3602 (2011).

    Article[80]  Google Scholar[81] 

  • Justice40 a whole-of-goverment initiative. US Government. https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/[82] (2022).

  • Turner, A. E.

    Cities, e-commerce and public health: 3 legal pathways to limiting freight vehicle emissions. Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climate_change/228[83] (2024).

  • Lewis, S. & Henkels, D. Good neighbor agreements: a tool for environmental and social justice. Soc.

    Justice 23, 134-151 (1996).

    Google Scholar[84] 

  • 2014 National Emissions Inventory (NEI) data. USEP. https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/2014-national-emissions-inventory-nei-data#doc[85] (2014).

  • Rocha, A. D. et al.

    Unprivileged groups are less served by green cooling services in major European urban areas. Nat. Cities 1, 424-435 (2024).

    Article[86]  Google Scholar[87] 

  • The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF). Federal Highway Administration. https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/faf/[88] (2017).

  • County transportation profiles. BTS. https://www.bts.gov/ctp[89] (2020).

  • American community survey dataset. USC. https://data.census.gov/[90] (2020).

  • GDP by county, metro, and other areas.

    BEA. https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-county-metro-and-other-areas[91] (2020).

  • Yu, C.

    Estimation dataset of the ethnic models and income models of road freight transportation air pollutant emissions. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17396631[92] (2025).

  • References

    1. ^ Article (doi.org)
    2. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    3. ^ Article (link.springer.com)
    4. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    5. ^ Article (doi.org)
    6. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    7. ^ Article (doi.org)
    8. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    9. ^ Article (doi.org)
    10. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    11. ^ Article (doi.org)
    12. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    13. ^ Article (doi.org)
    14. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    15. ^ Article (doi.org)
    16. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    17. ^ Article (doi.org)
    18. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    19. ^ Article (link.springer.com)
    20. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    21. ^ Article (doi.org)
    22. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    23. ^ Article (doi.org)
    24. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    25. ^ Article (doi.org)
    26. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    27. ^ Article (doi.org)
    28. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    29. ^ Article (doi.org)
    30. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    31. ^ Article (doi.org)
    32. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    33. ^ Article (doi.org)
    34. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    35. ^ https://faf.ornl.gov/faf5/ (faf.ornl.gov)
    36. ^ Article (doi.org)
    37. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    38. ^ Article (doi.org)
    39. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    40. ^ Article (doi.org)
    41. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    42. ^ Article (doi.org)
    43. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    44. ^ Article (doi.org)
    45. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    46. ^ Article (doi.org)
    47. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    48. ^ Article (doi.org)
    49. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    50. ^ Article (doi.org)
    51. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    52. ^ Article (doi.org)
    53. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    54. ^ Article (doi.org)
    55. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    56. ^ Article (doi.org)
    57. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    58. ^ Article (doi.org)
    59. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    60. ^ Article (doi.org)
    61. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    62. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    63. ^ Article (doi.org)
    64. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    65. ^ https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/infrastructure/nfn/index.htm (ops.fhwa.dot.gov)
    66. ^ Article (doi.org)
    67. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    68. ^ Article (doi.org)
    69. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    70. ^ Article (doi.org)
    71. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    72. ^ Article (doi.org)
    73. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    74. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    75. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    76. ^ Article (doi.org)
    77. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    78. ^ Article (doi.org)
    79. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    80. ^ Article (doi.org)
    81. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    82. ^ https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/ (www.whitehouse.gov)
    83. ^ https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climate_change/228 (scholarship.law.columbia.edu)
    84. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    85. ^ https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/2014-national-emissions-inventory-nei-data#doc (www.epa.gov)
    86. ^ Article (doi.org)
    87. ^ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
    88. ^ https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/faf/ (ops.fhwa.dot.gov)
    89. ^ https://www.bts.gov/ctp (www.bts.gov)
    90. ^ https://data.census.gov/ (data.census.gov)
    91. ^ https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-county-metro-and-other-areas (www.bea.gov)
    92. ^ https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17396631 (doi.org)