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As the U.S. Senate considers strategies to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases under the “cap-and-trade” system proposed by the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 2191), it must address the challenge of reducing transportation-related emissions. Our nation’s transportation sector produces one-third of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the U.S., and transportation is the fastest growing source of domestic greenhouse gas emissions. (1) To prevent potentially catastrophic increases in average global temperatures, the scientific community has determined that the emissions of all greenhouse gases must be reduced by as much as 85 percent below 2000 levels by 2050. (2) This paper offers background information and recommendations on how the Lieberman-Warner legislation could better reduce emissions from the transportation sector.
Approximately 85 percent of transportation sector emissions are related to the surface transportation system. (3) Research indicates that the projected growth in private motorized vehicle travel in the next 30 years will negate the emission savings from the recent changes in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and the low carbon fuel requirements contained in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140). (4) If that occurs, the burden of emission reductions will fall more heavily on other sectors of our economy. Public transportation investment, transit-supportive land-use policies and other strategies that promote transportation choices are proven ways to reduce emissions from the transportation sector.
Public transportation use already reduces CO2 emission by more than 37 million metric tonnes every year in the United States by reducing travel and congestion on roadways and supporting more efficient land use patterns. (5) The current emission reductions from public transportation are important, but much more can and should be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
Current transportation provisions in Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 2191)
(as reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works – December 5, 2007)
The current Lieberman-Warner bill dedicates 1 percent of allowance revenue to public transportation investment (§3304), and transit investment is one of eleven eligible uses for allowance revenue that is directed to states (§3303). While the transportation sector is responsible for one-third of CO2 emissions in the U.S., Lieberman-Warner dedicates less than 5 percent of allowance revenue to activities that reduce transportation emissions. Substantially more investment is needed to effectively reduce a significant amount of emissions from the transportation sector.
Lieberman-Warner would generate a significant amount of revenue from the sale and trading of emissions allowances related to transportation fuel consumption and other activities that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A larger portion of those funds should be directed to public transportation and other greenhouse gas reduction strategies which will provide mobility options for all Americans. To achieve increases in transit ridership necessary to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, Congress must begin to address the estimated $32.8 billion annual capital funding shortfall for public transportation and provide funding to offset projected increases in fuel and energy costs that public transportation operators will face under a cap-and-trade system. (6)
APTA Emissions Reduction Recommendations
In order to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through expanded public transportation, APTA urges Congress to dedicate no less than 6 percent of revenues from the Lieberman-Warner bill to direct investment in public transportation. Separately, we urge Congress to dedicate no less than an additional 4 percent of Lieberman-Warner revenues to support local, regional and state efforts to minimize transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, transit agencies should be allowed to compete for emission allowances under Lieberman-Warner’s proposed offset program. Our recommendations are detailed below.
Public Transportation Strategies
Funding recommendation: 6% of Lieberman-Warner Allowance Revenue
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Protect, preserve and expand public transportation service across the nation.
As Congress develops climate changes legislation, it must move to protect, preserve, and expand public transportation service across the nation. Public transportation ridership has increased by 32 percent since 1995. There were more than 10.3 billion passenger trips on public transportation in 2007. However, as ridership has increased, transit facilities across the country are often operating at capacity during peak travel times and transit providers are struggling to maintain the quality of their physical infrastructure and the reliability of their service. To achieve the increases in transit ridership that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, climate change legislation should begin to address the annual capital funding shortfall for public transportation.
Increase the availability of fixed guideway transit - subway, light rail, commuter rail, streetcar and bus rapid transit - which is essential to creating energy efficient land-use patterns that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Fixed guideway transit investments are essential to creating energy efficient land use patterns which produce greenhouse gas emission savings far beyond the immediate benefit of increased public transportation use. These investments have the potential to significantly improve the way we live and travel, reducing our individual carbon footprints while preserving and enhancing our mobility. Experience has shown that once fixed guideway transit investments are committed and station locations set, the public and private sector can plan transit-oriented developments which produce dramatic reductions in vehicle travel and transportation-related emissions. Households within close proximity of public transportation drive an average of 4,400 5 fewer miles annually than those with no access to public transportation.(7) However, according to U.S. Census data, 46% of American households have no access to public transportation.(8)
Promote energy efficient technology in public transportation systems to increase the already substantial CO2 savings from transit.
Climate change legislation should encourage new investment in energy efficient technology that could increase the annual CO2 savings from current public transportation services. Transit agencies, often using local funding, have already begun to invest in new vehicle technology, such as hybrid buses, and new energy efficient facilities. Federal support for such investment would speed the deployment of advanced technologies, increasing CO2 savings and simultaneously reducing the cost of transit operations, thereby freeing up resources to support expanded service.
Help public transportation agencies avoid fare increases or service cuts necessitated by increased fuel and electricity costs.
In addition to taking advantage of the benefits of capital investment in public transportation, climate change legislation should consider the operating needs of transit providers. Agencies across the country are currently under pressure to raise passenger fares or find other means to offset higher operating costs produced by rising fuel and electricity costs. At current prices, transit providers in the U.S. will spend more than $3.8 billion on diesel, electricity and other fuels for passenger operations in 2008, three times more than they spent in 2003, and federal climate change legislation will add to these rapidly escalating operating costs. A portion of revenues from Lieberman-Warner should be used to offset increased fuel and electricity costs, which may otherwise necessitate fare increases or service reductions that discourage transit use.
Local, Regional and State Efforts to Reduce Growth in Vehicle Travel
Funding Recommendation: 4% of Lieberman-Warner Allowance Revenue
Support local, regional and state efforts to increase mobility while reducing emissions from the transportation sector.
As part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, APTA supports the creation of a new source of funding for local, regional and state governments to advance mobility in ways that reduce the need for motorized vehicle travel. New funding could be linked to new performance-based goals and planning efforts that will capture maximum emission savings through the energy efficient land-use patterns, expanded transit availability and transit-oriented development. A new pool of funds at the regional and local level, when combined with a significant new investment in dedicated funding for public transportation infrastructure and operations, would offer communities the full complement of tools they need to fight congestion and expand mobility while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
Potential Eligible Uses:
Transportation Alternatives
public transportation projects;
on-motorized access to transit;
intermodal facilities and vehicle infrastructure integration;
bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, including trail networks integrated with transportation plans or bicycle mode-share targets;
design and retrofitting of streets for multi-modal access;
new intercity passenger rail service, including intercity corridor service;
programs to establish or expand telecommuting or carpool projects that do not include new roadway capacity;
Land Use
updating zoning and land use regulations to support, allow, or incentivize walkable or transit-supportive development patterns and land uses;
programs to plan, implement, and promote mixed-use infill, brownfields, historic preservation, and transit-oriented development, including land-banking and place-making initiatives, consistent with current federal funding authorities and linked to requirements for buildings to be high performance and that the development is projected to reduce vehicle miles of travel (VMT);
Planning and Capacity Building
improving of planning strategies to consider interaction between the transportation and land-use, and incorporation of public participation;
stablishing systems for coordination and correlation between land use and transportation within or between metropolitan planning organizations, municipal governments, designated grant recipients, and state governments;
Market Incentives
incentives for car or bicycle sharing, pay-as-you-drive insurance, parking cash-out, and other market-based strategies;
automated road-pricing, congestion pricing, and advanced traffic management systems if they are designed to ensure emissions reductions and support transit investments and do not involve construction of significant new roadway capacity.
Additional Recommendation
Make public transportation systems eligible for offset allowances.
Public transportation services are funded primarily by non-federal sources, and they create emission reductions that benefit all of society including persons who do not ride transit. These benefits could provide the opportunity for transit agencies to receive emission allowances that could be subsequently traded under Lieberman-Warner’s offset program. An APTA standards development committee is currently studying protocols for the inclusion of public transportation in carbon offset programs, and APTA would welcome the opportunity to work with Congress to reward transit agencies for investments that produce otherwise unrealized emissions savings.
About APTA
APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 public and private member organizations including transit systems and commuter rail operators; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products. Over ninety percent of persons using public transportation in the United States are served by APTA members.
For additional information on climate change issues, please contact Homer Carlisle of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4810 or email hcarlisle@apta.com.
Footnotes
Energy Information Administration, “Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2006,” November 2007.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (United Nations and World Meteorological Organization), “Summary for Policymakers, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC,” February 2007.
EIA, 2007
Urban Land Institute, “Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change,” Don Chen, Reid Ewing and Steve Winkelman, January 2008.
ICF International, “The Broader Connection between Public Transportation, Energy Conservation and Greenhouse Gas Reductions,” February 2008.
Cambridge Systematics, Inc., “State and National Transit Investment Analysis,” 2006.
ICF, 2008.
U.S. Census Bureau, “American Housing Survey for the United States: 2005,” August 2006.
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