Governor Paterson and MTA Announce Sustainability Initiatives

Renewable Energy, Transit-Oriented Development and Green Standards Will Limit the Environmental Impact of a Transit System that Already Makes NY Sustainable Limited Edition "Green" MetroCards to Debut on Earth Day with Environmental Facts

Governor David A. Paterson today joined MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot G. Sander and Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger to announce a series of sustainability initiatives that the authority will pursue to further reduce its impact on the environment, including its carbon footprint. The initiatives were part of the interim recommendations released today by the Commission on Sustainability and the MTA. The Commission, chaired by Jonathan F.P. Rose, was created in September 2007 by the MTA to help the authority – which already plays a vital role in reducing the region’s environmental impact – take a leadership role in promoting sustainability.

“Thanks largely to our robust transportation network, the energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of New Yorkers are a quarter of the national average,” Governor Paterson said. “By capitalizing on the MTA’s network, we can further improve our energy efficiency and carbon footprints. That’s why I have created a Smart Growth Cabinet to pursue transit-oriented development in conjunction with the MTA, and why I convened the Renewable Energy Task Force. I am pleased to see that the thinking of the Task Force and the MTA’s Sustainability Commission are so well aligned.”

Elliot G. Sander, MTA Executive Director and CEO, said: “Sustainability is one of my top priorities for the MTA and I am delighted that the Commission has chosen to look at every area of our operations, and even beyond. Public transportation can play an important role as society works to achieve greater energy efficiency and smaller environmental impacts, and these far-reaching recommendations show how we in transportation can do even more.”

Among the more than 20 recommendations and projects identified in the interim report, the MTA has made the following commitments:

Derive 7 percent of its energy needs from solar, wind, and other renewable sources by 2015.

6 megawatts of solar power will be developed at MTA facilities through an RFP in partnership with the New York Power Authority and in cooperation with the Long Island Power Authority, creating the largest solar power project in Empire State history.
A substantial portion of the Roosevelt Island Subway Station will be powered by renewable tidal energy generated in the East River by Verdant Power.
Evaluating the feasibility of providing 14% of the power at the MTA Bus Company Far Rockaway Depot from wind turbines under an RFP process.
The MTA has received a $2.5 million grant from NYSERDA to develop and generate the next generation of energy efficiency technologies.

Create a partnership with the state agencies in the Governor’s Smart Growth Cabinet to promote transit-oriented development (TOD) in the MTA’s service territory.

Offer incentive packages from various state agencies to encourage development at or near MTA stations.
MTA will provide a web-based one-stop shopping opportunity for communities interested in TOD.

Develop green design standards for transit facilities based on the LEED ratings, using the rigor and experience of the U.S. Green Building Council.

The MTA is planning high-performance roofs at many facilities, including vegetated green roofs at the Metro-North Railroad’s Harmon Yard Support Shop, the MTA Bus Far Rockaway Depot, and the B&T Queens Midtown Tunnel Service Building Annex; and a white roof at the LIRR Hillside facility.
In addition, a community-visioning session for the Mother Clara Hale Depot will explore what kind of high-performance roof to include in the new design.
Initiate joint procurement programs for green products and services in conjunction with other major public entities.
The MTA has established a Smart Fleets Study Group, comprising lead rail-car designers from the MTA agencies, to identify opportunities to reduce rail-car weight and introduce other environmentally-friendly features while maintaining safety standards.

Map groundwater sources in MTA tunnels and properties and identify industrial and beneficial uses.

The MTA will evaluate current water usage and available best practices to reduce the amount of potable water used to wash vehicles.
NYC Transit will evaluate ways to utilize water harvested from the subway system for various beneficial uses, such as cooling of some transformers.

To underscore the importance that the MTA places on sustainability, the authority announced that it was temporarily changing the look of the MetroCard for the first time since MetroCard Gold was introduced in 1997. Five million special, limited edition cards, to be sold at vending machines beginning on April 22, will feature five informative messages celebrating Earth Day and describing transit riders’ role in making the New York region sustainable.

H. Dale Hemmerdinger, MTA Chairman, said: “The MTA already makes an irreplaceable contribution to sustainability simply by taking 8.5 million people each day out of their cars and onto public transportation. We are now taking the opportunity to go even further and lead by example, and I thank the MTA staff and the Commission for undertaking this initiative.”

Jonathan F.P. Rose, Chairman of the MTA Sustainability Commission and President of Jonathan Rose Companies LLC, said: “The MTA’s emerging climate and environmental strategy is driven by a bold vision of a greener, connected, competitive region. Green mass transit is an essential element of any region’s climate reduction strategy, its strategy to be globally competitive, and to be locally equitable. America is projected to grow by 90 million people over the next 40 years. If this growth is not clustered around green transit, we will not only overwhelm our climate, but also destroy much of our nation’s biodiversity. Green mass transit is the key to a green future.”

Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, said: “The steps MTA is taking toward lessening its impact on the environment and reducing its carbon footprint illuminate a vision we at USGBC share with MTA: creating an environmentally and socially responsible infrastructure that improves the quality of life today – and for generations to come.”

Priscilla Almodovar, President and CEO of the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA), said: “Building housing near transit means people can live closer to where they work, thereby reducing the amount of energy consumed by their daily commute. At HFA, we continue to work with our partners at the MTA to find suitable sites for transit-oriented development, both in New York City and the surrounding metropolitan region, where affordable housing can provide commuters a decent place to live and proximity to mass transit.”

Roger B. Kelley, President and CEO, New York Power Authority, said: “The MTA and the New York Power Authority have together implemented more than $35 million in clean energy projects ranging from hybrid electric buses to a large roof-mounted solar system at a Bronx bus depot and a fuel cell for a Queens maintenance shop. We will build on these efforts with the MTA, a major customer of Power Authority electricity, to help fulfill Governor Paterson’s renewable energy goals for New York State with projects including energy-efficient lights for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and expanding solar power to more MTA facilities.”

Paul D. Tonko, President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), said: “NYSERDA looks forward to working with the MTA to further the goals of this important sustainability initiative. We welcome the opportunity to support the Governor’s Smart Growth Cabinet, promoting efficient transit-oriented development. NYSERDA and the MTA will be working jointly to develop and test advanced energy systems that can further reduce the energy consumption of what is already an efficient mode of transportation. New York’s electrified commuter rail and subway system uses over 2 billion kWh a year and represents a 1,100 MW demand in the New York metro area. Development, qualification and deployment of advanced technologies for the electrified rail system could reduce peak demand by as much as 100 MW. We will be working with the MTA and the New York Power Authority to realize this level of innovation and efficiency to make the New York City Passenger Mass Transit system not only the largest public transit system in the U.S. – but the greenest.”

The Commission on Sustainability and the MTA, created in September 2007 by MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot G. Sander, will continue to meet throughout the year and will produce its final set of recommendations at the end of the year. In order to organize inquiry into a broad and far-reaching subject, the commission members are meeting in working groups on energy and carbon, facilities, materials flow, water management and smart growth/transit-oriented development.

Members of the Commission are experts and thought leaders in the field of sustainability from all regions of the MTA service area. They are: Jonathan F. P. Rose (chair), Jonathan Rose Companies, LLC; Rohit Aggarwala, NYC Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability; Julie Belaga, CT League of Conservation; Marcia Bystryn, NY League of Conservation Voters; Peter Cannito, MTA Metro-North Railroad; Cecil Corbin-Mark, WE ACT for Environmental Justice; Robert Fox, Cook + Fox Architects; Emil Frankel, independent consultant; Ashok Gupta, Natural Resources Defense Council; Sarah Lansdale, Sustainable Long Island; Kevin Law, Long Island Power Authority; Emily Lloyd, NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection; Alex Matthiessen, Riverkeeper; Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC Dept. of Transportation; Ned Sullivan, Scenic Hudson; Michael White, Long Island Regional Planning Board; Robert Yaro, Regional Plan Association.

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