Community Green House Gas Emissions

The Regional Travel Demand Model provides estimates of traffic flows along major roadways within the Pioneer Valley. This estimate is used to calculate Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) often receives requests from its member communities for VMT values based on the most recent model year scenario. During the review period of the 2020 update of the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), PVPC received a recommendation to calculate GHG emissions based on Total VMT for each of the member communities within the Pioneer Valley Region. Subsequently, PVPC agreed to include this recommendation as a task in the FFY2021 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP). This technical memo explains the methodology and assumptions made in the process of calculating community-level GHG emissions based on VMT estimates.