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News clippings related to transit, mobility and quality of life
MoveNews #102 for the week of May 23, 2010
Invitation
NEW: SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY!
Move SD is inviting your company to sponsor editions of MoveNews! Your corporate ID, logo and brief message will reach more than 2,000 email in-boxes of civically-minded people interested in sustainable transportation and land use issues. Contact Elyse Lowe at elowe@movesandiego.org for weekly and monthly sponsorship rates.
Events
June 1: Crossborder Climate Change Strategies
At this 2010 annual binational seminar, a panel of experts will discuss the challenges for binational climate change and adaptation strategies being evaluated in Baja California and the San Diego region and to give input to the Regional Transportation Plan 2050 update.
12:45 - 5 pm at the Caltrans District 11 HQ in Old Town
4050 Taylor Street, San Diego 92110
in the Garcia Conference Room
This event is free of charge, but space is limited. Please RSVP to dvi@sandag.org or call Domingo Vigil at 619-595-5622
Regional
San Diego Emits More CO2 Per Person Than Other Regions
KPBS, May 14, 2010
Global warming is already affecting San Diego's regional planning. California's Air Resources Board will set new carbon emission reduction goals this fall. San Diegos Association of Governments, or SANDAG - made up of the mayors of all 18 cities and the county - met today to discuss how new greenhouse gas reduction goals will affect their growth.
Gary Gallegos, executive director of SANDAG, says studies show San Diego generates more greenhouse gas per person than other California regions. "The baseline number that weve come up with," Gallegos said, "is that every person in San Diego is emitting 26 pounds of CO2 of greenhouse gasses per day. We start from a higher base than other parts of the state, but the law is that we have to reduce it from that baseline on a per capita basis."
Gallegos says transportation and energy make up more than half of carbon emissions. He says that means changing the way people move around the region is key to meeting the new targets. "This is definitely putting climate change front and center in terms of the regional transportation plan," he said.
Watchdog group claims transit agency took taxpayers for a ride
San Diego Union Tribune, May 11, 2010
Did local transit officials miss a golden opportunity to shore up their troubled finances?
The San Diego Taxpayers Association thinks so, and has named the region's mass transit agency a finalist for a "Golden Fleece" award, the dubious honor given annually by the association to government entities "that exemplify the wasteful, inefficient or downright absurd use of taxpayer dollars."
The way the association sees it, the Metropolitan Transit System board blew it in January when it passed up a chance to place advertisements on the side of its latest-generation buses. The board declined to back the idea on a 9-1 vote, with San Diego City Councilman Todd Gloria dissenting.
National
New Report: Public Transportation's Role in Responding to Climate Change
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, April 2010
This paper details the role public transportation has in responding to the challenge of climate change. It collects and analyzes data from across the country on public transportation fuel use, vehicles deployed, rides taken, and other key metrics, drawn from the National Transit Database at the Federal Transit Administration. This data, combined with information from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provides valuable insight into the relative impacts of automobile, truck, SUV, and public transportation travel on the production of greenhouse gas emissions.
MoveSD Note: See FIGURE 2, page 2 Estimated CO2 Emissions per Passenger Mile for Transit and Private Autos. They also report the following estimates:
- Average U.S. Single Occupany Vehicle: 0.964 pounds CO2/passenger mile
- San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Bus System carbon emissions: 0.845 Pounds CO2 / passenger mile
- San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Light Rail carbon emissions: 0.146 pounds CO2/passenger mile
Environmental Life-cycle Assessment of Passenger Transportation
Sustainable-Transportation
An Evaluation of Automobiles, Buses, Trains, Aircraft, and High Speed Rail in the United States.
Dr. Mikhail Chester and Professor Arpad Horvath have completed an environmental life-cycle inventory of passenger transportation modes in the United States. This analysis is the first comprehensive environmental life-cycle assessment of automobiles, buses, trains, and aircraft in the United States. The study inventories energy consumption and emissions (greenhouse gas, criteria air pollutants, and volatile organic compounds) for vehicle, infrastructure, and fuel components from material extraction and processing through use and maintenance.
Fast Facts
Every extra one-mile stretch of lane added to a congested highway will increase climate-warming CO2 emissions more than 100,000 tons over 50 years.
Source: Sightline Institute
MoveNews #102 was edited by Carolyn Chase and published by Move San Diego, Inc. as a service to our members. You may subscribe, unsubscribe, or send article suggestions by sending an email request to: info@movesandiego.org
NOTE: if there is no link provided to an item, then there is no additional content on that item. All links were current as of the date of publication.
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