Global Warming Solutions Reports

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Executive Summary

New England’s transportation system produces
more carbon dioxide pollution – the leading
contributor to global warming – than
any other part of the region’s economy. Cars, SUVs
and other light-duty vehicles are the leading polluters.
If New England hopes to fulfill its commitments to
reduce global warming pollution – and achieve the
80 percent reductions in emissions scientists believe
will be necessary to stave off the worst impacts of
global warming – we must reduce emissions from the
transportation sector.

New England states that have made significant investments
in transit are curbing emissions of global
warming pollutants, using less gasoline, and enjoying
a host of other benefits. Improving and expanding
transit service in the region will play a vital role in
addressing New England’s global warming and energy
challenges.

New England transit systems reduce global warming
pollution and save large amounts of oil.

• In 2005, transit use averted more than 1.7 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution in
New England, equivalent to taking 310,000 cars
off New England’s roads for a year. Increases in
ridership on many New England transit services
due to higher fuel prices mean that transit is likely
delivering even greater benefits today.

• Transit also saved more than 240 million gallons
of gasoline in New England in 2005, enough to
fill more than 24,000 tanker trucks.

• States that have made a greater investment in
transit services have reaped more global warming
emission benefits. (See Table ES-1.) Massachusetts,
which has the most extensive transit network
in New England and invests far more in transit
than any other New England state, accounted for
about three-quarters of the emission reductions.
New Hampshire, whose sparse transit network
reflects a lack of state investment, and Vermont,
the most rural state in the U.S., achieved no direct
emission reductions from transit according to our
analysis, although transit service does provide
other important social and economic benefits.


Rail transit delivered the largest reductions in global
warming emissions.

• 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) accounted for most
of the emission reductions from transit use. (See
Table ES-2.) 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.

Bus service presents a more complex picture.

• Many bus services in New England deliver global
warming emission reductions and energy savings,
and the number of bus services that deliver those
benefits is increasing as ridership rises. How ever, not all bus services “break even” on global
warming emissions. Several New England transit
agencies have taken innovative steps to reduce
their global warming emissions and gasoline
consumption – for example, by using cleaner alternative
fuels instead of diesel, using smaller and
more fuel-efficient vehicles, and by using creative
strategies to boost ridership. Other New England
transit agencies should follow their lead.
Transit service provides a host of other benefits to
the public.

• Global warming emission reductions and energy
savings are just two of many benefits provided by
transit. Other benefits include:

• Mobility Benefits: Transit provides a transportation
lifeline for those who do not own or
cannot drive a car. It also serves as a valuable
source of backup transportation for many New
Englanders who usually drive and will become
increasingly important as the region’s population
continues to age.

• Community Benefits: 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 can even give a boost
to tourism.

• Efficiency Benefits: Transit 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. The availability of high-quality
transit can also reduce the cost of owning,
maintaining and fueling vehicles, saving consumers’
money.

• Various types of transit services are designed to
provide different benefits, with some services more
successful at providing basic mobility and others
succeeding at “getting cars off the road.” The
value of transit service to a community can only
be evaluated by taking all benefits into account.
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.

• New England states 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 commuter rail
service to southern New Hampshire, extension of
Downeaster rail service in Maine and commuter
rail service in Rhode Island, extensions of the
MBTA Blue and Green lines and construction
of the greater Boston Urban Ring, and creation
of commuter rail service in central Connecticut.

• The region’s leaders should anticipate future needs
and plan for projects that would enhance the ef-
ficiency of the region’s transit system, such as the
greater Boston north-south rail link, as well as the
Boston-Montreal and Boston-Maine high speed
rail corridors.

• The region should work to boost transit ridership
by improving existing transit services, learning
from innovations made by transit agencies in the
U.S. and abroad. The region should invest in
maintenance of the current system, as well as in
simple innovations – such as real-time schedule
information at transit stops, prioritization of transit
vehicles at traffic signals, and on-board wireless
Internet – that can encourage more riders to take
transit, thus delivering additional global warming
emission reductions and energy savings.

• Making the necessary investments in transit will
require the region to rethink its transportation
spending priorities. State and federal transportation
budgets are facing increasing strain as gas
tax revenues level off and transportation infrastructure
needs increase. New England states
should 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.