Why Study Transportation?

The transportation system is essential to modern society, enabling the movement of people and goods required for daily life. Yet it also harms public health, the environment, and our global climate in countless ways. In 2022, transportation accounted for 22% of total energy consumption, more than three-fourths of petroleum consumption, and 37% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Over 130 million Americans live in areas that fail to meet health-based standards for one or more criteria pollutants, of which transportation is a major source. The negative effects of the transportation system fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable members of our communities, those with the lowest incomes, the poorest health, and the most limitations on their mobility. The central challenge for the transportation field is to find ways to reduce these impacts while meeting the mobility needs of society, fostering healthy and equitable communities, supporting economic growth, and righting racial injustices of the past.