Today, we released The Good Haul, a report that highlights how clean freight innovations improve reliability, while also reducing freight-related health and environmental risks.

The U.S. freight system needs to be modernized in a way that reduces environmental impacts. The Good Haul [PDF] profiles 28 projects, programs, and technologies around the U.S. and internationally that do just that. That is, they have simultaneously increased freight reliability while lowering air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

These cases studies include practice changes, like eco-driving, as well as new technologies, like the Port of Virginia’s hybrid diesel locomotive. The case studies also include large, planned freight hub clean up projects, such as the CREATE program in Chicago and the Clean Air Action Plan at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

None of the projects highlighted in The Good Haul are industry standards or have been adopted broadly, but they ought to be.

Funding is one of the barriers to widespread adoption of these practices, technologies and projects. Smart, directed, public investments that demand a better freight transportation system that also reduce pollution, can chip away at this barrier. The federal transportation bill now being drafted by Congress is one place to begin this smart approach.

Freight is the fastest growing transportation sector, and as we discussed in a post last week, pollution from freight—everything from trucks to tugboats to rail locomotives—is a huge health and environmental challenge.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll profile several of the innovations highlighted in our report. Stay tuned for examples that prove that that U.S. freight system can be cleaner and more efficient at the same time.

Chicago Transit Authority has laid off 1,067 workers and has drastically cut service. Photo courtesy of Flickr user: TheeErin

Over the last several months, we've written occasionally about the need to solve the impending transit funding crisis. For longer than that, we've worked around the country, but especially in California and New York, to find new and innovative ways to advance transit service. Lately, we've also implored Congress to provide emergency funding to keep drivers employed as legislators have considered jobs bills. 

So far, our efforts as well as the work of our allies, to keep drivers driving, mechanics working, the transit system available—and ultimately keep some of the worst tailpipe emissions in check—have been frustratingly unsuccessful.   

New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and countless other metropolitan regions are facing a transit disaster. Grappling with huge budget deficits as a result of public funding cuts, transit agencies are slashing service, laying off workers, and raising fares.  

• In New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which operates the city's buses and subways, as well as suburban rail lines, bridges and tunnels, is facing an $800 million deficit as a result of cuts in state aid and low payroll tax revenues. They expect to layoff 1,130 employees (out of their 70,000 person staff), including 500 station agents. The MTA has ended free fares for students and has reduced salaries by 10%.
• In Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority has laid off 1,067 employees in order to balance a $300 million deficit.
• In San Francisco, the city expects to see a second fare increase in 4 months in order to balance a $12.1 million deficit, with additional service cuts. SFMTA plans to lay off 230 employees, 175 of which are bus and Muni metro drivers. 
• In Washington, D.C., where trains are bursting during rush hour, WMATA plans to lay off 60 employees and eliminate another 90 positions that are not filled. They also expect service cuts and fare increases to fill their $40 million budget gap.
• Just this weekend, in Sacramento, CA, the local newspaper reported that the regional transit agency is planning to put 300 workers on notice that they'll likely be laid off as the agency grapples with a two-year $25 million deficit. Service after 8pm and on weekends could be cut as well. This deficit has been made worse as a result of state policymakers’ decision last year to shift the state fuel tax, designated for transit operations, to other important state services, which have been jeopardized by the overall state budget crisis.

And here's an example of how these cuts add up, changing people’s commuting choices. Quoted from the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco resident MPR Howard, who has lived in San Francisco and ridden Muni for 28 years, will now be back behind the wheel:  

I will not be renewing my Muni disabled pass…. I will be putting my 45-year-old car (a 1965 Dodge Dart) back on the road. She may not be pretty or environmentally clean, but at least she gets me from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time. I've given up on Muni. 

Confirmed U.S. Public Transportation Industry Layoffs, 2009-2010

* = Transit Manufacturer

** = Rescinded after passage of 10% provision in supplemental appropriations bill

Projected Upcoming Layoffs

 Prepared by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Legislative Department. Updated March 1, 2010.  For more information, contact Jeff Rosenberg at jeffr@atu.org, courtesty of Scott Bogren at the Community Transportation Association of America (bogren@ctaa.org).   

This post was co-authored by Camille Kustin.

Freight—nearly everything we buy, eat, manufacture, or build with—is carried to us by a complex system of shipping routes, rail lines, highways, ports, and rail yards.

West Coast ports are expected to see a 138% increase in container traffic by 2035. Source: Port of Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, pollution from moving all this freight is significant, and growing. Truck, locomotive, and ship engines spew greenhouse gases, toxic diesel soot, and other dangerous pollutants. These emissions contribute to global warming and are responsible for serious health problems. This is the first in a series of posts about how to address the huge environmental and public health costs of moving goods around the country.

The freight sector alone represents nearly a quarter of the transportation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, or approximately 8% of total US carbon dioxide emissions according to the U.S. EPA (see pages 130-132). To make matters worse, freight's greenhouse gas emissions have been steadily increasing, even faster than other transportation sectors' emissions. According to the same EPA report, freight's emissions have increased almost 60% since 1990. Meanwhile, passenger travel’s greenhouse gas emissions have increased 24% from 1990 to 2007.   

This increase comes with dangerous health risks for American communities. The fine particle pollution from U.S. diesel engines—the most common engines used in freight –is estimated to shorten the lives of nearly 21,000 people each year. And in California, the California Air Resources Board estimates that freight-related pollution was responsible for about 2,400 premature deaths, 2,000 respiratory-related hospital admissions, 62,000 asthma and lower respiratory cases, 360,000 lost work days, and 1.1 million lost school days in 2005 alone.  

By 2020, 90.1 million tons of freight per day are expected to move throughout the U.S., a 70 percent increase from 2002.

The $64,000 question is: Can we keep growing freight transportation and also reduce the damage it does?

We think so — but only if freight's environmental performance is given the attention it demands.

The federal transportation bill provides a good opportunity to modernize country's freight system in a way that also reduces pollution. The bill can steer money to forward-looking gateways and corridors that are planning their infrastructure in a way that gets measurable and sustainable environmental benefits. Freight system improvements that achieve measureable benefits—such as cleaner air, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, less noise for surrounding communities—should be first in line for funding. That alone will motivate other bidders for those dollars to pay attention to their environmental bottom line.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be sharing some examples of great innovations several freight haulers, gateways, hubs and states have used to simultaneously improve efficiency and environmental performance. They prove it can be done, and these projects ought to be emulated. Federal policy and funding can help turn the U.S. freight system into the most advanced—and cleanest—system in the world.

Source: Amazon.com

We'd like to thank David Roberts of Grist for posting on two transportation books that blew his mind:

Tom Vanderbilt's: Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), which looks at human behavior and how it affects traffic, safety, and all those accidents in parking lots.  

William Mitchell, Christopher Borroni-Bird, and Lawrence Burns' ("three brilliant supergeeks, two from GM’s advanced auto division; one from MIT's Smart Cities program"): Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century, which discusses the need to transform the DNA of the automobile and our automobile culture.

While we disagree with Grist and think that the transportation genre is the most exciting in the world, we agree that you should check these out!

Out of the car and enjoying the Sacramento sunshine. Photo: C. Denning.

Some of you may remember our December 2 posting in which I mentioned a dinner guest who drives eight blocks to work to take advantage of free parking. Well, there’s good news.

I saw the acquaintance at an office party earlier this week. The good news is that he has started walking to work most days. He was proud of his new commute choice and credited the change to the persuasiveness of his housemate (who happens to work at EDF). He’s getting exercise and the local air and traffic are benefitting.

Mark one up to the power of persuasive housemates.

Earlier today the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a report, The Labor Market Impact of Transportation for America’s Jobs Plan, which models Transportation for America’s (T4's) jobs proposal. The $34.3 billion proposal, focusing predominately on Fix-it-First transportation infrastructure repair and public transportation, would create 480,000 jobs.

These jobs would help out Americans who need it most. Low-wage workers, including workers without college or high school degrees, would benefit the most from this jobs package. In fact, 70% of these jobs would help Americans without college degrees.

 T4’s proposal calls for the following funding split:

• $8 billion in Fix-it-First bridge repair and interstate highway maintenance
• $16 billion for transit (split between rehabilitation, new starts projects, intercity bus routes, and capital funding, which could be flexed for operations)
• $1.3 billion for Amtrak
• $2 billion for clean air and technology
• $2.5 billion for High Speed Rail
• $3 billion for TIGER performance-based grants (split between new roads, transit, and technology)
• $1.5 billion for Fix-it-for-All: Livability and bicycle/pedestrian improvements

These jobs are immediate. And no one region benefits- these jobs are located across the U.S., in both rural and urban areas.  

EPI’s report shows us that prioritizing transit, Fix-it-First, and funding transit operations creates immediate, good jobs for all Americans and benefits the environment. The Senate is drafting its version of a jobs bill. This report should be recommended reading for these bill drafters.

Play Foursquare, ride BART, win discounted passes and maybe the envy of your friends. Courtesy: BART.

While Facebook helps you keep in touch with friends and Twitter provides real time sharing of articles and news, Foursquare, the latest social media game, puts socializing on a whole new geographic level, and they’ve just teamed up with Bay Area Rapid Transit.

So how does Foursquare work? Instead of telling friends what you’re doing or what you’re reading, Foursquare let’s you tell your friends where you are and makes neighborhood exploring a game. As a user, you can check-in at a hip new restaurant and let your friends know what the best dish is. Do this enough times, and you can earn the “Local Badge.” Better yet, become the most frequent visitor, and you can become the “Mayor.”

Regular BART riders can earn a BART-themed badge and additional perks. This winter BART is awarding $25 tickets each month for Foursquare users who check-in at BART stations. Users can also become a mayor of one of BART’s 43 stations, and the competition is fierce. New mayors and ousted mayors are relayed via BART’s live twitter feed.

It’s not all just a game though. Users have noted some pretty cool things, like great local restaurants within walking distance of BART stations, quirky facts on street performers, and other interesting shops and kiosks.

At Way2Go, we’d like to see more collaborations that encourage transit use, like Foursquare and BART, as well as other social media tools, like San Francisco County Transportation Authority’s Cycletracks and New York MTA’s open source data app. These are great ways to get people out of their cars in a way that’s fun, social, and useful.

Small changes can make a big difference. EDF's Corporate Partnership Program recently teamed up with stresslimitdesign to create this short video on how small changes to companies’ vehicle fleets can result in savings of $700 per driver.

That might seem like a small number, but if you scale that number up to include all 3 million corporate fleet vehicles in the United States, these small changes could save American corporations over $2 billion per year and eliminate 45 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

You don't need to have an entire fleet to benefit from some of the small changes. Watch the video to find out how little things like smarter route mapping and tire pressure, make a big difference.

Check out EDF's Innovations Exchange for more information on the video with stresslimitdesign, EDF’s work on fleet vehicles and ways to improve both vehicle performance and help the planet.

Next week, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding three hearings across the country to hear what the public has to say about changing the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ground-level ozone.

This view of downtown Los Angeles is why we should all care about ozone standards. Photo: C. Denning.

Umm, what does that mean in English? Why should you or I care?

First, a little background: ground-level ozone is not usually emitted directly into the air. It comes from chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and sunlight. Gasoline and diesel-fueled vehicles in the transportation and goods movement sectors are the largest source of nitrogen oxide pollution. 

The problem is that ozone contributes to smog–that ugly, yellowish brown, cloudy mass you see hovering over city skylines. It almost makes you choke just looking at it. In fact, many that breathe this pollution have that problem. Numerous studies have linked ground-level ozone to asthma, lung tissue damage, respiratory illnesses, and even death. Children, older adults, and those who are active are especially at risk.

 The previous administration ignored the recommendations of the scientific community, and said a higher amount of ozone in the air was okay. The Obama administration, on the other hand, is looking at the science and is willing to act. Lowering the ozone standard could prevent as many as 12,000 premature deaths and have health benefit savings between $13 billion to $100 billion per year by 2020.

We all deserve to breathe clean air and live in a healthy environment. We hope that the EPA will revise the standard to be the most health protective as possible.

Last night’s State of the Union address focused on rebuilding the American economy and getting people back to work. In order to spur job growth, President Obama requested that Congress pass a second stimulus package, which could potentially include transportation and infrastructure spending.  

Let's get people back to work on projects that are good for the environment and enhance our local communities for drivers, pedestrians, and bike riders. Author's photo.

In early December, we championed the concept of Fix-it-First for the portion of the House's Jobs Bill (HR 2847) dedicated to highways, roads and bridges. Fix-it-First is the idea that rehabilitation and operation of existing transportation investments should be prioritized over building new roads and expanding highways. Be it the Senate's version of the jobs bill or a second stimulus, Fix-it-First provides immediate jobs and ensures that long-overdue repairs are made.

In addition to Fix-it-First, thanks to our friends at TransForm, a transportation advocacy group in the San Francisco Bay Area, we've learned a new term: "Fix-it-for-All." This principle goes beyond Fix-it-First, and includes cycling and pedestrian improvements. While we're spending public dollars to fix broken state highways and bridges, let's also improve local streets and roads so that drivers, cyclists and pedestrians can all get around. Let's help people get around in a way that is safer and reduces environmental impact.

Local planning agencies that receive federal funding should follow a Fix-it-for-All approach when divvying funds. These projects, which simultaneously reduce environmental impacts and give improvements to everyone–including stroller pushers and bike riders–ought to get funded first.

These two "Fix-Its" are complementary, and Congress should embrace these principles as they tackle a potential second stimulus, a jobs bill, or future transportation legislation.

• Fix-it-First's distribution of the jobs money assigned to highways and roads will move us away from hasty investments in projects that were planned decades ago—before we understood the link between transportation and climate change.

• Fix-it-for-All will ensure that the jobs money will help local systems upgrade and improve their own road, bicycle, and pedestrian networks to meet new economic and environmental standards.

Applying the two "Fix-Its" to the jobs bill is a no-regrets approach. It will help stimulate jobs without stimulating pollution.