In 2010, the Massachusetts DOT announced its GreenDOT initiative, which focuses on three main goals: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting healthy transportation options, and encouraging smart growth development throughout the state. In recent testimony to the state’s House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, and in a subsequent SSTI webinar, Ned Codd, MassDOT’s Assistant Secretary for GreenDOT, stressed the agency’s commitment to reducing statewide emissions.
greenhouse gas
Building the market: Putting Zero-Emission Vehicles on the road
It took decades for the current gasoline and diesel service station infrastructure to be built out, enabling longer- distance travel. As we enter an era where more drivers are considering adopting electric vehicles, infrastructure to “fuel” these zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) is lacking in a similar way to the early automobile period’s gas station shortage. In particular, the market has been slow to respond to the need for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. A new coalition of eight states on both coasts has released a plan to speed the adoption of ZEV technology and address this infrastructure gap.
New Bay Area TDM mandate expands benefits to commuters
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission have launched a joint pilot program requiring employers with more than 50 full-time employees in the District’s nine-county area to offer one or more commuter benefits to their employees by the end of September 2014.
Southern California Association of Governments adopts strong sustainability plan
On April 3, the Southern California Association of Governments unanimously adopted a 25 year transportation plan that focuses on transit, road maintenance, walking, biking, sustainability, land use, and reduction of greenhouse gases. Local officials and citizen’s groups alike hailed it as a significant change in strategy for a region notorious for clogged freeways and the worst air quality in the nation.
The Colorado Energy Smart Transportation Initiative: A Framework for Considering Energy in Transportation (SSTI and Colorado DOT, 2012)
The mission of Colorado’s Energy Smart Transportation Initiative was to develop a framework for considering energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in transportation decision-making. With SSTI assistance, a collaborative team composed of federal and state agencies, MPOs, and rural planning partners came together to leverage resources and promote efficiency and effectiveness among agencies by exploring ways to develop “energy smart transportation” strategies. This report includes strategies developed to incorporate energy efficiency and GHG emissions in transportation planning, increase energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions from transportation, advance environmentally friendly alternative vehicle and fuel technologies, and increase efficiency through truck fleet enhancements, improved traveler information, and other methods.
Policy options for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. transportation: No silver bullet
Transportation accounts for 2/3 of the nation’s oil consumption and produces between ¼ and 1/3 of all the CO2 emitted from the nation’s energy consumption. TRB established a special committee of experts to explore policy …
Getting Back on Track: Aligning State Transportation Policy with Climate Change Goals
A new report by NRDC and Smart Growth America analyzes each state’s transportation policies and evaluates how they support efforts to reduce GHG emissions. The report can be found on both the NRDC and Smart …
Transportation’s Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions (U.S. DOT, 2010)
Read the study here.