The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) launched its Sustainable Transit for a Healthy Planet Challenge on June 15.
The challenge will encourage agencies to develop plans that will cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The challenge is designed to support President Joe Biden’s goal for the U.S. to reduce economy-wide net GHG pollution by 50-52 percent from 2005 levels.
FTA notes the transportation sector accounts for 29 percent of 2019 GHG emissions and transit plays a role in reducing GHG emissions in communities through transportation and land use efficiencies. FTA offers the example that one percent of the nation’s bus fleet was hybrid-electric in 2005; in 2019, the most recent year full data is available, 18 percent of the fleet was hybrid-electric.
Transit agencies that wish to participate in the challenge can commit through the FTA’s website. The requirements for the challenge are to develop a climate action or sustainability plan that details GHG reduction strategies and to submit this plan to FTA by April 22, 2022, which is Earth Day.
FTA encourages agencies of all sizes to participate. The administration plans to provide technical assistance to those agencies that commit to the challenge throughout 2021 and early 2022.
FTA says it will showcase the impact of the challenge on Earth Day 2022.
