According to the EPA, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation account for about 27 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions. Not only does this make it the largest contributor in the U.S., but it’s also the fastest growing source of GHG emissions. Between 1990 and 2020, GHG emissions in the transportation sector increased more in absolute terms than any other sector.
But there is good news. More and more cities are expanding the choices and opportunities available to its residents in where they live, how they travel and the impact of those decisions on the global environment.
Most people think of high-profile solutions like electric vehicles, mass transit, or carpooling as the solutions to reducing carbon emissions from transportation. But there are other creative approaches some cities are taking.
Roundabouts
The New York Times reports on how Carmel, Indiana is using roundabouts to increase safety and reduce carbon emissions. The city of just over 100,000 people has 140 roundabouts - more than any other American city - and they have plans to add over a dozen more.
The city estimates each roundabout saves about 20,000 gallons of fuel annually. Referencing another study of two roundabouts in Mississippi, a 56% decrease in carbon dioxide emissions was reported. Another calculation found a cumulative decrease at six roundabouts of between 16 percent and 59 percent. While the article stresses these are just estimates, the Federal Highway Administration has found roundabouts cause fewer emissions than intersections with traffic signals and said the difference can be “significant.”
As a bonus, because roundabouts don’t need stoplights, cities use less electricity.
School Transportation
The local newspaper in the town of Wellesley, Massachusetts reports on a recent climate study that found 30% of traffic in Wellesley is school-related transportation. Wellesley participates in the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School program. This state program uses a collaborative, community focused approach to bridge the gap between health and transportation. It encourages the community to walk, bike or bus to school, reducing the number of cars used every day,
LED Street Lights
Not every opportunity in the transportation sector has to do with reducing carbon emissions from vehicle exhaust. There are many energy consuming systems supporting the transportation infrastructure. Six cities in Maine, New York and Massachusetts were part of a project to replace existing streetlights with LEDs. The findings showed power consumption across the six cities was reduced by 69 percent. The LED streetlights also resulted in a collective savings in electricity use of nearly $1 million per year.
At paleBLUEdot, transportation initiatives are front and center in all the Climate Action Plans we generate for our clients. We define goals with specific action steps for a city to decrease the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by residents and increase the use of alternative fuel vehicles - starting with the city fleet. While the scope varies by the size of the city and the resources it has available to implement recommendations, transportation has the biggest potential impact on any plan to reduce GHG emissions.
The paleBLUEdot team provides a wide range of expert consultant services supporting community resilience, including Climate Action Planning, Sustainability Consulting, and Renewable Energy Planning.
Paul, founder of Nicholas Marketing, supports paleBLUEdot’s marketing and communications planning and implementation efforts.