NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Electric Vehicles at Rail Stations

RACM Analysis

Michael Baker Jr., Inc. Page 1

Control Measure:

The project evaluates the impact of placing electric vehicles at transit stations to 

provide commuters with a way to travel from the stations to job locations nearby. 

The electric vehicle would also be used by the commuter to make midday trips 

before retuning the vehicle to the station at the end of the day.

Description:

While NJ Transit has a number of suburban rail stations, employment tends to be 

some distance from these rail stations. Unable to easily complete this “last mile” 

of their journey, potential transit users instead use private vehicles to make their 

entire journey.

One proposed solution to this “last mile” issue is to place electric vehicles at 

transit stations, allowing commuters to use them to travel the last leg of their 

journey to work. The advantage of this approach is that not only is the short 

distance trip from the station to the workplace replaced with a low-polluting 

mode, but the commuter’s entire journey from home is now a combination of 

transit and electric vehicle, displacing a more significant amount of VMT than the 

mileage of the electric vehicles would indicate. Also, since the commuter would 

be in possession of the vehicle during the day, any midday trips for lunch or for 

shopping would be by the electric vehicle rather than a traditionally fueled 

vehicle. This would further enhance the benefits of the program.

Methodology:

The impacts of this program were estimated using assumptions about the trips to 

the region and usage of the vehicle during the day. The NJAQONE “Emissions 

Only” methodology was used to calculate the air quality impacts of the vehicles. 

Calculations were done as though all vehicles were located in Middlesex County.

Traffic impacts are based on the assumption that each vehicle in the program 

replaces a single auto commuter trip. The transit portion of the new trip is 

assumed to use existing services such that no additional transit emissions would 

occur. The transportation/traffic impacts of the program were calculated as 

follows:
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Electric Vehicles at Rail Stations

RACM Analysis

Michael Baker Jr., Inc. Page 2

Average Work Trip Length 12.15

Return Work Trip 12.15

Midday Return Trip 4 (For Lunch, Shopping, Etc)

28.3 VMT reduced

Number of vehicles in the 

program: X 10

283 VMT reduced (total)

Number of trips reduced (2 x 10) 20 Vehicle Trips reduced/day

These transportation impacts were then entered into the NJAQONE software in 

order to calculate the emissions impacts of the program. Note, the impacts of 

this project were so small that the project was entered into NJ-AQONE as 10,000 

vehicles and the results divided by 1,000 to yield the actual impact.

Results: Typical Summer Day/Annual Emissions

Total VT Reduced = 20 trips/day Statewide

Total VMT Reduced = 283 miles/day Statewide

Statewide Benefits (Emission Reductions Due to Reduced Queuing):

Pollutant

Type

Analysis Year 2009

Tons/Day Tons/Year

VOC 0.00015 -

NOx 0.00015 0.0398

PM2.5 - 0.00113

SO2 - 0.00069

Ozone Analysis – Daily Benefits in New Jersey

Benefits 

(Reductions)

Ozone Non-Attainment Area

New York-N. New 

Jersey-Long Island,

NY-NJ-CT

PhiladelphiaWilmington-Atlantic City

PA-NJ-MD-DE

VT 20 -

VMT 283 -

VOC (Tons/Day) 0.00015 -

NOx (Tons/Day) 0.00015 -
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Electric Vehicles at Rail Stations

RACM Analysis

Michael Baker Jr., Inc. Page 3

PM2.5 Analysis – Annual Benefits in New Jersey

Benefits 

(Reductions)

PM2.5 Non-Attainment Area

New York-N. New 

Jersey-Long Island,

NY-NJ-CT

PhiladelphiaWilmington

PA-NJ-DE

VT 5,000 -

VMT 70,750 -

NOx (Tons/Year) 0.0398 -

PM2.5 (Tons/Year) 0.00113 -

SO2 (Tons/Year) 0.00069 -

Cost/Benefit Analysis

Total costs were estimated as follows:

Vehicle cost estimated for $16,000 for a base, sub-compact vehicle + $16,000 to 

convert to electric.

$32,000*/Car – spread over 4 years = $8,000/year

$7,500/Car/Year Operating Expenses

Cost Per Year:

$15,500 x 10 vehicles = $155,000/year

Annual costs were divided by 250 to obtain the daily cost used in calculating the 

Ozone cost/benefit ratios

Cost/Benefit Results

Pollutant Benefits

Cost/Benefit for Each Pollutant

Ozone PM 2.5

NY-NJ-CT PA-NJ-DE-MD NY-NJ-CT PA-NJ-DE

VOC ($/Ton, Daily) $4,133,333 - - -

NOx ($/Ton, Daily) $4,133,333 - - -

NOx ($/Ton, Annual) - - $3,894,472 -

PM2.5 ($/Ton, Annual) - - $137,168,142 -

SO2 ($/Ton, Annual) - - $224,637,681 -