As the primary provider of public transportation services in the region, VIA Metropolitan Transit has long recognized its role as a steward of the environment. The agency’s recent certification by the International Standards Organization (ISO) for the Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS) has been presented to the nation as a model to emulate.
VIA began developing the ESMS in 2013. Its Board of Trustees adopted the current policy in December 2014 to focus on pollution prevention, regulatory compliance practices, and continual improvement. VIA’s ESMS earned an ISO 14001 certification, making it the first agency to earn such certification in the Federal Transit Administration’s five-state Region 6.
VIA’s sustainable business practices were the topic of a presentation at the American Public Transportation Association’s 2016 Sustainability and Public Transportation Workshop in Austin, July 24-26. VIA’s Environmental/Facility Sustainability Coordinator Alison Buck gave the presentation to highlight the agency’s environmental initiatives and the sustainability program as a whole.
“VIA is fully focused on contributing to the environmental sustainability of our region in every aspect of our business operation,” said VIA President/CEO Jeffrey C. Arndt. “VIA's strong ESMS policy has earned the agency this prestigious ISO certification, and we are the lone public transit provider in the Southwestern U.S. to have received this certification."
