Trends in Automobile Energy use and GHG Emissions in Suburban and Inner City Neighborhoods: Lessons from Metropolitan Phoenix, USA

This paper compares the effects of long term suburban growth on travel behavior, energy consumption, and GHG emissions through a case study of neighborhoods in central Phoenix and the suburban city of Gilbert, in the Phoenix metropolitan region, USA. Motorized travel patterns in these study areas are estimated using 2001 and 2009 National Household Travel Survey data. Energy consumption and GHG emissions, including both Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide for each study area are estimated based on the corresponding trip distribution results. The final normalized outcomes are compared spatially between Phoenix and Gilbert within the same year, and temporally between year 2001 and 2009 to determine how the differential land use changes in those places influenced travel energy consumption and GHG emissions.