Inclusive Climate Mitigation and Adaptation: The Case Study of Commuter Vans in New York City

Action Collaboratives: Energy, Built Environment

Vehicle electrification efforts have more recently extended to shared mobility systems like public and school buses and, in New York City, commuter (“dollar”) vans that serve lower-income people and communities. While studies that explore the implementation and effectiveness of public transport and school bus electrification are now emerging, these studies have not extended to the unique commuter vans in New York City, which may also offer broader lessons to other parts of the world. This research focuses on this gap and opportunity using a strong community engagement and co-production approach.

Meet the Project Team

The Principal Investigator (PI) for this Project, Jacqueline Klopp is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD), and a social scientist whose research focuses on sustainable transport, land use, technology and climate issues in cities. Her work explores key urban policy and governance questions at the intersection of transport, land-use, air pollution and climate, with an emphasis on accountability and justice. She is the author of numerous articles on the politics of land-use and transportation in an age of rapid climate, urbanization and technological change. A leading voice in open transport data initiatives, Jacqueline is a founding member of the award-winning DigitalMatatus consortium, which created the first open transit data and public map for Nairobi's minibus system. She also helped found Digital Cairo and DigitalTransport4Africa, a collaborative platform to foster better research and planning across the African continent. 

Jacqueline also leads the Partnership for Research on Informal and Shared Mobility and is a core member of the Clean Air Toolbox for Cities, an interdisciplinary network supporting cities in Africa and Asia with data to address air pollution and climate change. In 2021, she was honored as one of the "Remarkable Women in Transport" by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Rebecca Carter is a junior at Columbia College, studying political science and history with a focus on environment, race, and class in U.S. politics. She has been active in the youth climate movement since 2019 and cares deeply about public transportation as a tool for equity. At CSUD, she will help lead the Commuter Van Seed Project, bringing a strong commitment to climate justice and community-led solutions.

Yu Jeong is a graduate student in the M.S. in Climate Finance program at Columbia Climate School. Originally from South Korea, she grew up across the U.A.E., Cameroon, and Chile, an international perspective that shaped her interest in housing and mobility challenges. She earned her B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and worked as a real estate investment banker and sustainability-focused investor before coming to Columbia. At CSUD, Yu Jeong supports the Commuter Van Project and contributes to the Partnership for Research on Informal and Shared Mobility, applying her financial expertise to the design of equitable, low-carbon transport strategies.