Trinity Metro is one of the main organizations that is currently participating in the sustainability challenge nationwide.
The main goal is to push public transportation agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which ultimately trap heat and contribute to global warming.
According to the latest Environmental Protection Agency data release, transportation accounts for over 29% of total greenhouse gas emissions each year.
The plan went as follows; organizations had three options: they could submit their existing climate action plans, explain their strategy for developing one, or create an entirely new plan for the challenge.
Lori Clark, an air quality program manager for the council of governments, offered much-needed support to agencies regarding the different strategies they could use to transition their fleets to cleaner fuel sources, whether that be through pursuing federal grant funding to purchase electric buses or improving energy efficiency within their facilities.
Lori Clark also leads the Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities program, which the U.S. Department of Energy established in 1995 to help local governments reduce fossil fuel consumption.
“Our fleets were very early adopters in making that switch to natural gas and getting into cleaner fuels. Now they’re going to be early adopters to making that additional switch from natural gas to even cleaner electricity. It’s got the same benefits in terms of reducing ozone-forming pollutants, with the extra benefit of being even more impactful in terms of greenhouse gasses.” Clark says.
Under the Biden administration, federal funding to transition bus fleets to electric vehicles has increased. The two main sources are the Low or No Emission Vehicle Program as well as the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program, both are overseen by the Federal Transit Administration.
