The Impact of Last-Mile Delivery Fleet Electrification on Emissions, Dispersion, and Health: An Environmental Justice Analysis Based on Dallas County, Texas

The increasing popularity of online shopping leads to more last-mile deliveries and higher emissions from last-mile delivery trucks. Despite small amounts being emitted from the tailpipe of delivery trucks, there can be a significant amount of fine particulate matter that degrades the health quality of residents from aggregated delivery trucks at the community level. Addressing the environmental impact of last-mile deliveries is needed to achieve the sustainability goals because air pollution mitigation can reduce mortalities. This study employs a comprehensive methodology to assess the health impact of fine particulate matter from last-mile delivery trucks and the benefits of their electrification. It uses a three-tiered modeling approach, incorporating emissions measurement, exposure level evaluation, and health impact assessment. In addition, this paper shows the changes in health impacts at the various levels of the fleet electrification rate using a case study in Dallas County, Texas. The results indicate that higher fine particulate matters are concentrated near or on the major roadways and transportation facilities. This study also shows the relationships between last-mile delivery emissions and socio-economic variables and found that younger, racial minorities and low-income communities are exposed to higher last-mile emissions due to the proximity of their residences to major truck corridors. To evaluate the health impacts of fleet electrification, this study uses 2%, 10%, and 30% market shares of fleet electrification. The results indicate that for 2% of the market share of fleet electrification to last-mile delivery trucks, up to 1 death per year can be prevented, while 70 deaths per year can be prevented with 30% of electrification for the whole traffic.