For Immediate Release: September 20, 2007
For more information:
Matthew
Davis, Environment Maine Research & Policy
Center, 207-253-1965
Dylan Voorhees, Natural
Resources Council of Maine, 207-622-3101 ext 212, cell 802-989-3172
Maine
Groups Call on Governor Baldacci to Prioritize 21st Century Transit
System to Cut Pollution
“Cool Moves” Report Outlines Transit’s
Contribution to Curbing Global Warming Pollution
PORTLAND, ME- Transit use in New England reduced the region’s global
warming pollution more than 1.7 million metric tons in 2005, equivalent to
taking 310,000 cars off New England’s roads for the year, according to a new
report, Cool Moves, released today by the Environment Maine Research
& Policy Center and Natural Resources Council of Maine. Trains, buses and vanpools also saved 240 million
gallons of gasoline, in addition to reducing congestion, spurring smart growth,
boosting mobility and developing local economies.
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. Cool Moves underscores the
importance of transit in solving our state’s and region’s global warming and transportation woes. And with the region
facing an energy crisis, as well as rising traffic congestion and crumbling
infrastructure, now is a critical turning
point for our leaders to invest in a 21st century transit system.
“Transportation produces the lion’s share of global warming
pollution, and trains, vanpools and buses are sensible ways to reduce this
pollution,” said Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
According to the
new report from the New England Climate Coalition, states that invested the
most in transit got the largest reductions in global warming pollution and
gasoline usage. Here in Maine, our state
invested only $6.8 million in transit, and got small reductions in return,
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.”
Several transit
services in Maine got high marks from the
report, including the Downeaster train, the GoMaine vanpools and Bangor’s BAT Community Connector bus service. Bangor invested in convenient low-floor buses and
subsequently launched an effort to rebrand its service as sleek,
consumer-friendly and convenient. BAT’s new buses were painted fire-engine red
with a swooping bat symbol designed to capture attention. As described in a
recent federal research project on transit ridership, “the result has been a
revamping of previously hardened stereotypes of what public transit looks like
– hip, fast, and attractive rather than dingy, smelly and old.” The approach
has worked: 60 percent more trips were taken on the BAT in 2006 than had been
taken five years earlier.
Commuter rail and other forms
of rail transit (such as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s
subway and light rail networks and the Amtrak intercity rail network such as
the Downeaster) accounted for most of the emission reductions from transit use.
Vanpool programs, in which transit agencies provide vans for groups of
commuters who use them to travel to and from work, also provided significant
emission reductions relative to the small number of New
England commuters currently using the services. Emissions reductions across the region, in metric tons of
carbon dioxide pollution included:
- 685,924 from commuter rail,
- 639,898 from heavy rail (subway),
- 241,200 from light rail,
- 132,093 from intercity rail (Amtrak),
- 25,188 from bus,
- 14,866 from vanpool, and
- 1,109 from trolleybus.
In order to reduce global
warming emissions from cars and light trucks (such as pickups, SUVs and
minivans), our state has adopted the Clean Cars Program, which will require an
approximate 30 percent reduction in global warming pollution from new cars and
light trucks by 2016. Over the last 25 years, the number of miles traveled on New England’s roads has increased by nearly 70 percent.
Should that rate of growth continue, vehicle travel in the region would
increase by another 24 percent between now and 2018, wiping out virtually all
of the emission savings delivered by the Clean Cars Program.
“Our dependence
on automobiles makes Mainers drive more and more miles each year. The good and
bad news is that we haven’t even scratched the surface of creating a comprehensive,
convenient, and comfortable transit system,” said Voorhees.
In addition to reducing
global warming pollution, transit can help promote more compact land-use
patterns that allow more trips to be taken on foot or via bike while consuming
less land and reducing the cost of public services. Transit also enables the
rest of the transportation system to work more efficiently, cutting down on
traffic congestion that wastes time, wastes fuel and causes excess pollution. Data
from 2005 compiled by the Texas Transportation Institute shows that congestion
has worsened in the greater Boston area, wasting
more than 62 million gallons of fuel, 93 million hours of delays and $1.8
billion.
“Public transportation is 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
workforce available to employers. 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 9:1.”
To address the region’s
global warming and energy challenges, New England should invest in developing a
21st century transit system that provides convenient, affordable and
comfortable transit service to more New Englanders. Our state leaders should:
·
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 Lewistion-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,” said Davis.
###
The New England Climate
Coalition is a group of over 150 state, local, regional and national
environmental, public health, municipal and religious organizations dedicated
to achieving global warming pollution reductions in the region.
