Ranking the Climate Impact of Transportation in the 100 Largest U.S. Metro Areas

Streetlight Data released its "2020 U.S. Transportation Climate Impact Index," which ranks the 100 largest metropolitan areas on climate impact using performance-based transportation metrics.

As explained in an article that introduces the index, the rankings boil down to the difference between car travel and low-carbon alternative modes of travel. Thus, the number one metropolitan area probably won't come as a surprise: New York City-Newark-Jersey City. Coming in second is San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, and coming in third is Madison, Wisconsin.

Streetlight Data released a package of data and articles to help offer insight into the details of the index beyond the rankings. So the entire list of metropolitan areas and rankings by key metrics in the index are also available.

The decline of the coal industry in recent years has pushed transportation to the top of the list as the largest emitter of greenhouse gas by sector. Streetlight Data puts a finer point on the origins of that leading source of greenhouse gases.