Global Warming In the News

Report calls for L-A passenger rail lines

Friday, September 21, 2007

LEWISTON - An environmental report released Thursday recommends speedy development of passenger rail lines to Lewiston and Brunswick to help reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.

The "Cool Moves" report was released by the Environment Maine Research & Policy Center and the Natural Resources Council of Maine. It states that public transportation in New England reduced the region's global warming pollution by more than 1.7 million metric tons in 2005. That is equivalent to taking 310,000 cars off New England's roads for a year, according to the report.

In Maine, where the state invested $6.8 million in transit systems, the reduction was small, cutting global warming pollution by 807 tons.

"As the saying goes, you reap what you sow," said Matthew Davis of the Environment Maine Research & Policy Center. "If our state is serious about tackling global warming, we need to invest more in transit."

The report recommends state leaders:

• Move aggressively to build important transit projects, many of which have been on the drawing board for years or decades. Among those projects are extending Downeaster rail service in Maine to Brunswick and Lewiston-Auburn.

• Anticipate future needs and plan for projects that would enhance the efficiency of the state and region's transit system, such as the Boston-Maine high-speed rail corridor.

• Boost transit ridership by maintaining and improving existing transit services, learning from innovations made by other transit agencies, such as real-time schedule information at transit stops, prioritization of transit vehicles at traffic signals, and on-board wireless Internet, thus delivering additional global warming emission reductions and energy savings.

• Rethink its transportation spending priorities to increase the share of overall transportation funding devoted to transit, eliminate subsidies for automobile use, and develop funding mechanisms that both encourage the use of transportation alternatives and provide new revenues for improvement and expansion of transit.

"If we take these sensible actions, our state will be en route to a more secure and reliable transportation system while getting on track to meet our global warming pollution reduction goals," Davis said.

Transportation is the leading source of carbon dioxide - the leading global warming pollutant - in New England, accounting for 40 percent of the region's carbon dioxide emissions.

Public transportation is also good for the economy, said Steven Linnell, senior transportation planner with the Greater Portland Council of Governments.

"As energy costs continue to rise, using transit saves commuters serious money and expands the work force available to employers," Linnell said. "Even in rural areas the multiplier effect returns $3 for every $1 invested in transit. Urban areas can see rates of return as high as 9 to 1."