Salt Lake ranks high for clean transportation efforts

State of play: Salt Lake ranked 15th overall on a new index that scores the 100 biggest U.S. cities on a variety of measures for transportation-related emissions.

• San Jose, California, New York and San Francisco were the top cities for clean transportation.

How it works: The Transportation Climate Impact Index, created by transit-analysis firm StreetLight Data, looks at overall vehicle miles traveled, fuel efficiency, electric vehicles, transit ridership, cycling, walking and truck miles traveled.

By the numbers: Salt Lake ranked 8th for mass transit ridership, 11th for pedestrian activity and 16th for electric vehicle market penetration and bicycle activity.

• Our lowest rankings were for truck miles traveled (No. 59) and fuel economy (No. 42).

Yes, but: Ogden-Clearfield and Provo-Orem tied for dead last for mass transit ridership.

• Utah Transit Authority manages public transportation for all three metro areas.

Zoom in: Although air quality in northern Utah is expected to worsen, transportation is far from the only factor.

• Wildfire smoke is projected to be a huge contributor amid rising temperatures and drought.
• That said, climate change is mostly a result of vehicle emissions.

Between the lines: The Wasatch Front will always be extra susceptible to poor air quality because the mountain ranges create a basin that traps pollution when high pressure systems linger between storms.