Global Warming Solutions News

Report Outlines Pollution Reduction Benefits of Public Transportation

Boston, MA- Transit use in New England prevented more than 1.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution in 2005, equivalent to taking 310,000 cars off the road, according to a new report, Cool Moves, released today by the Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center and Clean Water Fund. Trains, buses and vanpools saved 240 million gallons of gasoline while also reducing congestion, spurring smart growth, boosting mobility and developing local economies.

Coming on the heels of the Transportation Finance Commission’s recommendations to fund transportation infrastructure, Cool Moves highlights the importance of transit in solving Massachusetts’ global warming pollution and transportation woes. Transportation continues to be the leading source of global warming pollution in New England and congestion continues to worsen each year.

“Transportation is the largest contributor to global warming pollution in Massachusetts,” said Katy Krottinger of Clean Water Fund. “Increasing mass transit is a common sense solution that will put us on the path to 80% emission reductions in by 2050 that scientists say we must achieve to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.”

According to the report, states that invested the most in transit got the largest reductions in both global warming pollution and gasoline usage. Massachusetts has the largest transit system in all of New England and thus averted the most emissions. The state’s investment of over a billion dollars paid off by eliminating more than 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution.

“We are trying to do two things with this report,” said Frank Gorke, Director of the Environment Massachusetts Research and Policy Center. “First, as the city, state, region and nation begin to struggle with tackling global warming, we want to make sure that the benefits of transit are clear. And second, as we all begin to grapple with crumbling infrastructure and resource constraints, we want to make sure that public transportation is a top priority. The transportation finance commission has already pointed out that we need to fix our transportation infrastructure in order to continue to grow our economy. And if we hope to solve our global warming and energy problems, we need to make public transportation our first move.”

The type of transit system also had a significant impact on the amount of reductions. Commuter rails, subway systems, light rails, and Amtrak accounted for most of the emission reductions. Vanpool programs in which transit agencies provide vans for groups of commuters to travel to and from work, also provided significant emission reductions relative to the number of commuters currently using the services.

Reductions in carbon dioxide pollution across the region in metric tons included:

685,924 from commuter rail,

639,898 from heavy rail (subway),

241,200 from light rail, (electric rail)

132,093 from intercity rail (Amtrak),

25,188 from bus,

14,866 from vanpool, and

1,109 from trolleybus (electric bus)

"Because transportation is the leading cause of New England's release of heat trapping gases, we are in desperate need of state and national level leadership to halt sprawl so that all of us drive less, and so that our public transportation systems can operate effectively. While rail travel along the Boston to New York corridor has improved, a faster, high speed link that is up to European standards would cut emissions drastically from both cars and air travel, and improve the economy of New England," said Bill Moomaw of Tufts University.

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 will increase by another 24 percent between now and 2018, which will wipe out virtually all of the emission savings from the state’s strict emissions standards for vehicle tailpipes.

“Reducing emissions from automobiles depends on both the availability of cleaner cars and a far greater investment in alternatives to travel by private automobile,” said Carrie Russell of the Conservation Law Foundation. “A comprehensive, convenient and affordable transit system is one of our best strategies for addressing climate change.”

The report also highlighted other public benefits of public transportation, including easing congestion on roadways and promoting more compact land-use patterns that result in more foot and bike traffic and less land and resource consumption.

“My family lives in Boston and rides the MBTA daily. Public transportation in Boston is easier, cheaper, and more efficient than driving,” said Loie Hayes of the Boston Climate Action Network. “Even with all the benefits of mass transit, people continue to buy and drive automobiles. If we keep adding new cars to the roads every year, not only are we running the risk of catastrophes like the one in Minnesota, but we’re also increasing the likelihood that our children will be trying to survive on an inhospitable planet.”

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:

• Develop funding mechanisms for the MBTA and regional transit authorities that enable both service expansions and service improvements, using the recent recommendations of the Transportation Finance Commission as a starting point;

• Speed to the finish on transportation projects that are under construction or on the drawing board, and reject delays for any transit project with clear climate and other public benefits;

• 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, and prioritization of transit vehicles at traffic signals; and

• Rethink 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.

The report will be available at www.environmentmassachusetts.org and www.cleanwaterfund.org.

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