Oregon DOT Website Tracks GHG Emission Reductions

The Oregon Department of Transportation recently unveiled a website that tracks how the state’s public agencies are collectively reducing greenhouse gas or GHG emissions across Oregon.

[Above photo by the Oregon DOT]

The Oregon Transportation Emission website pulls together regulations, programs, funding, goals, and partnerships into one place, then rates progress across six transportation categories toward the state’s goal of reducing GHG emissions from the transportation sector to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Currently, Oregon is on track to reduce GHG emission to 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, according to Oregon DOT.

Overall in Oregon, emissions from transportation represent 35 percent of total statewide GHG emissions, according to the latest state data.

“Our objectives are to support reductions in how far and how often people drive, and for each mile driven to be clean,” noted Amanda Pietz, administrator for the agency’s policy, data, and analysis division, in a statement. “Overall, we’re doing well to reach our 2050 goals, and we have plans to improve in some areas to get us all the way there.”

The website was created by Oregon DOT in partnership with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Oregon Department of Energy, and the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. It is based on the Statewide Transportation Strategy: a 2050 Vision for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction, and progress is tracked against many of the strategy’s goals.

The Oregon DOT noted that recent state regulations governing GHG emissions from cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles or SUVs — alongside a shift to electric vehicles or EVs — should yield the “biggest reduction” in such emissions in the coming decades.

Meanwhile, areas with the “most room for improvement” where GHGs are concerned are reducing vehicle miles traveled — how far and how often people drive — as well as reducing GHG emissions from larger trucks and transit vehicles. The Oregon DOT said “progress can be made” in those areas via investing in active modes like walking, rolling and biking; improving transit services; pricing the transportation system; and enacting land use policies to support shorter trips.

States and localities are engaged in similar emission reduction activities across the country as outlined in a knowledge session held during the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2023 Washington Briefing, held February 28 through March 3 in Washington, D.C.

Concurrently, at the federal level, the U.S. Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Environmental Protection Agency signed a memorandum of understanding or MOU in September 2022 to reduce GHG emissions associated with the transportation sector while concurrently ensuring “resilient and accessible mobility options” for all Americans.

Colorado DOT Issues Grants for Local Mobility Projects

The Colorado Department of Transportation recently issued $617,400 in grants to support 12 local mobility programs across the state – helping cities and towns reduce traffic congestion while offering residents travel choices beyond driving in a car alone.

[Above photo by the Colorado DOT]

Those grants, issued by the Colorado DOT’s Office of Innovative Mobility, seek to help various local communities strengthen their “transportation demand management” efforts. Increasingly being adopted by cities and states, transportation demand management aims to provide travelers with more travel choices than simply single-occupant vehicle driving – choices that can include mode, route and time of travel and work location.

The agency said in a statement that common transportation demand management strategies focus on promoting transit usage; offering micro-mobility options, such as bikes and scooters; improving pedestrian infrastructure; crafting smart growth policies; deploying intelligent transportation systems; building managed roadway lanes; and encouraging telework and “e-work” options.

Colorado DOT said those approaches are used most often in large urban areas, but many smaller communities can benefit from them as well. Examples of the programs the agency is supporting this latest round of local mobility grants include:

  • $50,000 to the City of Denver to scale up its shared micro-mobility program, which now provides a bike- and scooter-share system.
  • $38,400 to the City of Durango to help it improve its transportation demand management software and launch the city’s first-ever e-bike rebate program.
  • $50,000 to the City of Fort Collins for a pilot project to subsidize carpool and vanpool programs for first- and last-mile travel, along with a separate $50,000 grant to help develop a web-based or app-based portal to allow paratransit clients to schedule their own trips and receive real-time information on vehicles.
  • $50,000 to Summit County and various partners to fund a micro-transit feasibility study to provide first- and last-mile service to transit-dependent and disadvantaged communities. This study builds on years of work between partners to target the most successful options for the least served communities.

State departments of transportation across the country regularly support a variety of local mobility projects via grants and other funding options.

Indeed, a panel of state DOT and local government executives convened during the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2022 Spring Meeting in New Orleans to detail how collaboration between federal, local, and tribal agencies – among other stakeholders – is critical to addressing a variety of mobility challenges nationwide.

To aid in those efforts, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory – a division of the U.S. Department of Energy – introduced a new online tool in October 2022 to help transportation planners design more efficient and environmentally friendly mobility systems for both urban and rural areas.

Environmental News Highlights – March 22, 2023

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

FEDERAL ACTION

FHWA Activates Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program – AASHTO Journal

What is in House Republicans’ energy policy package? – The Hill

Activists Slam Biden Administration for Reversing Climate and Equity Guidance on Highway Expansions – Inside Climate News

USDOT Opens Applications for First Round of $2.5 Billion Program to Build EV Charging in Communities and Neighborhoods Nationwide – FHWA (media release)

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Navigating toward clean transportation and lower environmental impacts – Maine Monitor

Moore recommits Maryland to highest national climate goals for electric vehicle sales – Maryland Matters

The booming American Sunbelt may be a victim of its own success as soaring traffic congestion jeopardizes economic growth – Fortune

Generation EV | Getting Warmer With Kal Penn Episode 7 – Bloomberg (video)

New fire risks as a result of electric and hybrid buses – Mass Transit (opinion)

AIR QUALITY

Ports of LA, Long Beach Join Bid to Be Hydrogen Fuel Hub – Los Angeles Daily News

Bill aims to create clean transportation standard in Minnesota – Biodiesel Magazine

This Tractor Runs on Cow Manure – Bloomberg Green

Scaling carbon removal requires a portfolio approach – The Hill (opinion)

NATURAL RESOURCES

Researchers urge policymakers to build pedestrian greenspaces – Virginia Public Media

E-bikes raise management concerns in some parks, public forests – Bay Journal

Researchers To Explore Wildfires, Drinking Water Quality – Texas A&M

MoDOT Seeks Volunteers for No MOre Trash Bash – Missouri DOT

Weathering Lake Tahoe’s Storms – Tahoe Daily Tribune (opinion)

CULTURAL RESOURCES

Car-Free Living Takes Off in Car-Centric Cities – Hyperdrive

The ‘Green Amendment’ is well-intended – but that’s not enough – Nevada Independent (opinion)

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Oklahoma DOT Putting Active Transportation Plan Together – AASHTO Journal

Plazas, two-way bike lane on tap as NYC public space push begins – WPIX-TV

Chicago City Council approves using cameras to catch drivers who block bike and bus lanes downtown – WBBM-TV

ATX Walk Bike Roll plan presented to boards and commissions – Austin Monitor

TxDOT launches safety campaign after increase in pedestrian, bicycle crashes – KVEO-TV

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

TRB Webinar: The Jury is Still Out – The Latest on Recycled Plastic Waste in Asphalt – TRB

Getting Safely to the Other Side: Decision Support for Wildlife Crossing Programs – TR News (link to PDF)

Rutgers CAIT Partners with NJ TRANSIT and International Association on North American Regional Training Center – Rutgers University

Door to Door: Microtransit in the Twin Cities – Move Minneapolis (link to webinar registration)

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Rail Transportation Projects – FRA (Notice)

Approval of John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Noise Compatibility Program – FAA (Notice)

Roundtable on Environmental Justice and Equity in Infrastructure Permitting; Second Supplemental Notice of Roundtable – Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Notice)

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests; Idaho; Clearwater National Forest Travel PlanningForest Service (Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement)

California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Ocean- Going Vessels At-Berth and Commercial Harbor Craft; Requests for Authorization; Opportunity for Public Hearing and Comment – EPA (Notice)

Release of Draft Policy Assessment for the Reconsideration of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards – EPA (Notice of availability)

White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council; Notice of Charter Renewal – EPA (Notice)

Request for Nominations to the Good Neighbor Environmental Board – EPA (Notice)

Lands Chief, National Trails Land Resources Program Office; Delegation of AuthorityNational Park Service (Notice)

Notice To Reopen the Advisory Council for Climate Adaptation Science Call for Nominations – U.S. Geological Survey (Notice)

Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Whitewater River Groundwater Replenishment Facility, Riverside County, CA – Bureau of Land Management (Notice)

Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Tampa Harbor Navigation Improvement Study, Hillsborough County, Florida – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Notice)

Regulated Navigation Area; Tampa Bay, Tampa, FL – Coast Guard (Notice of proposed rulemaking)