Geotab ITS and The Ray fast-track sustainable transportation:

The transportation sector is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., contributing 27% of the nation’s total GHG every year. By implementing new ideas and technologies to transform highway infrastructure, The Ray is playing a critical role in reducing this environmental damage and creating a sustainable, net-zero future for transportation.     

“Decreasing the pollution generated by long-haul truck traffic on interstate highways is an urgent priority,” says Allie Kelly, executive director at The Ray, a nonprofit testbed for net-zero transportation. “Nearly one-third of the pollution that is causing climate change comes from the transportation sector, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks produce a quarter of those emissions. Then there’s the fact that 70% of American freight is transported on trucks, and the freight trucking market is experiencing consistent growth. If we’re going to solve the climate crisis, we have to solve the truck problem.” 

The Ray works with transportation agencies in 25 of 50 states to enable infrastructure technologies that promote net-zero transportation, such as electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. 

“We are the bridge between the public transportation sector and private sector infrastructure innovations,” says Kelly. “By partnering with Geotab ITS, The Ray can help transportation planners uncover powerful contextualized insights on truck movement which inform data-driven decision making around infrastructure investments.” 

The U.S. Department of Transportation is funding states’ strategies for electric charging infrastructure along interstates and highways to make electric vehicles more practical, efficient and attractive, especially for medium and heavy-duty vehicle operators. While federal support for these projects is significant, transportation agencies need better data and technical know-how to create robust project plans. By using Geotab ITS’ Altitude data on freight vehicles, The Ray can help agencies determine the optimal locations for significant infrastructure investments in the electrification of transportation.

The federal government is making historic investments in sustainable infrastructure, providing $5 billion over five years for states to deploy electric vehicle chargers, and $2.5 billion for alternative, low or zero-carbon fueling. To receive these funds, states have submitted National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure plans to the Federal Highway Administration. 

“This money is definitely creating a need for data and expertise in this area,” says Laura Rogers, deputy director at The Ray. “While there are few zero-emission freight trucks on the road today beyond a few pilot vehicles, they’re in the pipeline. We’re working with transportation agencies to prepare the infrastructure for these trucks as quickly as possible, so there are no barriers to their introduction.”

Yet many state and local transportation agencies lack the internal resources to analyze and plan appropriately for this new infrastructure. 

“Transportation agencies have highly skilled people who know how to build and maintain roads and bridges, and many are proficient in intelligent transportation systems,” says Rogers. “They know logistics corridors and major truck routes, for example, and do truck counts to estimate freight volumes. What agencies don’t readily have is the data insights about truck movement patterns to drive decisions for building  freight charging infrastructure.” 

To understand where the infrastructure investments are needed the most, planners need a holistic view of truck movement data to understand:

• Where the freight trucks are coming from
• Where the trucks are going
• Where they are stopping
• How long trucks are stopping

“Agencies need the data, tools and technical assistance that will accelerate their analysis and planning, giving them confidence that the design, quantity and locations of the charging infrastructure they build will best serve their customers,” says Rogers.