Project Summary
Despite significant improvement in California’s air quality in the last four (4) decades, several areas in California are still classified as nonattainment for multiple particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) and 8-hour ozone ambient air quality standards. The South Coast and the San Joaquin Valley are the only two (2) areas in the nation with an “Extreme” classification for the federal ozone standard. The health and economic impacts of exposure to elevated levels of air pollution in California are considerable; and improving air quality will pay substantial dividends in terms of reducing costs associated with emergency room visits and hospitalization, lost work and school days, and most critically, premature mortality. In addition, many low-income and disadvantaged communities within the nonattainment areas, and across the State, continue to experience disproportionately high levels of air pollution and the resulting detrimental impacts to their health.
Among the different sources of emissions in California, heavy-duty diesel vehicles are one of the largest sources of air pollution contributing to approximately 26 percent of total statewide mobile source oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 32 percent of mobile source diesel particulate matter (PM) emissions. CARB has a long history of regulating emissions from on-road heavy duty diesel vehicles through programs such as the heavy-duty in-use compliance, such as Truck & Bus regulation. More recently, CARB implemented the Heavy-Duty Inspection and Maintenance Regulation this year to ensure that vehicle emissions controls systems are well-maintained. In 2024, CARB will implement Advanced Clean Trucks and Advanced Clean Fleets to transition fleets to zero emission vehicles. To assess the effectiveness of and improve current and upcoming regulations, a more detailed understanding of fleet characteristics of in and out-of-state heavy-duty trucks operating on California roadways is needed, as well as their compliance rates with these regulations. This information is crucial for estimating emissions benefits of these programs, especially in South Coast and San Joaquin Valley regions and within disadvantaged communities.
This study seeks to maintain and expand CARB’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) network that can be used to monitor the activity and technologies (e.g., diesel or battery electric) of heavy-duty trucks operating within California, such as out of state trucks entering the state though the major interstate gateways and border crossings. Coupled with other fleet monitoring technology, this will gain further insights on the travel characteristics of heavy-duty trucks and better assess their emissions impacts while operating in California. In addition, the compliance rates of heavy-duty trucks with existing fleet rules (e.g., Truck and Bus Regulation) will also be assessed. This will be accomplished primarily by collecting license plate data from on-road vehicles in California using automated technologies such as automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras at multiple locations along major truck corridors near locations with existing infrastructure that can facilitate the installation of such technologies. The work will be performed over twelve (12) months.