The green lead

Narrator Says:

Every year in the U.S., the transportation sector contributes about 30 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, And that figure is even higher in the greater Seattle metropolitan area.

It’s a statistic that’s not lost on APTA, the American Public Transportation Association, and there was plenty of discussion about what can be done to reverse that trend at APTA’s 3rd annual Sustainability and Public Transportation Workshop held in Seattle in July.

King County Metro and Sound Transit hosted the event.

Global climate change and ways in which we can mitigate it are issues King County and its executive Ron Sims keep at the forefront.

While addressing those in attendance, Executive Sims again underscored what a pivotal time it is for transit, as it relates to the environment.

King County Executive Ron Sims Says:

Cause never at a time has transit been more important than now, you cannot talk about reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, without the expansion of public transit, you cannot, you cannot. Another critical strategy, one that is especially important to regional governments such as our own is to reduce the number of miles traveled on our roads. This is where transit is so essential, we can't get people out of their cars unless we offer an alternative, and transit is the best alternative we can mobilize in the short term and it is that reason why it is so critical.

Narrator Says:

Executive Sims addressed attendees for a little over a half an hour stressing the importance of acting now on global warming, a problem he calls ‘no less than a threat to humanity'.

That message certainly made an impression on the transportation leaders who gathered at the APTA conference from all over the nation.

TARC (Transit Authority of River City) Executive Director Barry Barker Says:

Transit in and of itself can make a contribution and by that I mean the more people who get on public transportation and ride public transportation improves the environment, but what I'm also getting is that that's not enough. What we need to be doing is looking at how we conduct business, how we make decisions about the types of buildings we build, and so forth so we've got to be as environmentally conscious as anyone else, but still remembering the more folks we get on buses and trains the more that's going to help global warming, climate change, energy conservation.

Narrator Says:

On top of the global warming emphasis, the conference focused on sustainability in public transportation.

How to ensure public transportation will be reliable over the long haul as a means of getting people where they need to go.

Hampton Roads Transit President Michael S. Townes Says:

Not only is it ecologically sensitive and responsible, it's just darn good business. If you do things in a sustainable fashion in the long term, you actually lower your business cost and you become more efficient overall, so you can feel good about the reduction of carbon emissions, you can feel good about, from a nationalist point of view, the reduction of the use of offshore resources, and the concurrent increase in our national security, by not depending on offshore resources but you can feel best because you have been a good business manager and you have made your business more sustainable from an efficiency and cost standpoint.

Narrator Says:

Transportation solutions become even more important when we consider population projections.

The Puget Sound Region will have a bigger population in the coming years and decades.

Commute times will increase and roadways will congest challenging transportation leaders to answer the call.

Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl Says:

Well when you look at the Puget Sound, we have about 3.2 million people living in the 3-county region, that Sound Transit is responsible for as a regional transit agency. And the growth projection is, by 2030 we'll grow by another 1.2 million people, so you look at our region today, we're already congested, and what we need to do is provide options for people to get around the region. So between King County Metro and its expansive bus network, with transit now they're going to be adding BRT, Sound Transit's light rail project is going to open here in Seattle in two years. We have 80 miles of commuter rail in operation, I'm actually a commuter in Tacoma, work in Seattle, take commuter rail, so collectively all the transit agencies in this region and Sound Transit are really working to give the traveling public, not just for work, but all-day, two-way transit options that's reliable, that's frequent, that's clean, that's safe and very pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly as we go about it.