Submitted by Whatcom Transportation Authority
One of the best ways for Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) to reduce carbon emissions is by helping people replace some of their car trips with bus trips. This clears the air we breathe, helps to ease traffic, and saves bus riders money. It can build physical activity into a rider’s day and even improve their mood.
Another way WTA is reducing carbon is by transforming its fixed route fleet. The transformation began with the purchase of eight hybrid-electric buses back in 2012. Since then, WTA has purchased 11 more hybrid-electric buses and 12 electric buses. Thanks to grants from the Federal Transit Administration, with support from our members in Congress, WTA will order an additional 17 hybrid-electric buses in the next couple of years.
Currently, 40 percent of WTA’s fixed route fleet is low- or no-emission. By 2030, that will increase to over 50 percent. In addition, a recent switch to renewable fuel means WTA no longer powers any of its fixed route buses using fossil fuels.
What is renewable fuel? According to the US Department of Energy, it’s “a fuel made from fats and oils, such as soybean oil or canola oil, and is processed to be chemically the same as petroleum diesel.” Renewable diesel “reduces carbon intensity on average by 65% when compared with petroleum diesel.” As a result, each of WTA’s conventional (diesel) buses is nearly as carbon efficient as a hybrid-electric bus.
In addition to helping Whatcom County residents replace car trips with bus trips and transforming its fixed route fleet and fuel source, WTA has several other initiatives to help lower carbon emissions.
By partnering with Whatcom Land Trust and Whatcom Million Trees Project, WTA is preserving local forested lands and wetlands. To date, these efforts have resulted in the preservation of 66 acres in Whatcom County. The purchase of an additional 20 acres is planned for this year.
Of this, WTA’s Board Chair and Ferndale City Council Member Ali Hawkinson said, “As WTA works toward reducing its own carbon emissions, and towards helping reduce transportation emissions throughout our community, they’re also building innovative partnerships. Importantly, this partnership benefits air, trees, water, salmon, and other wildlife-not just ‘somewhere,’ but right here in Whatcom County.”
WTA is also investing in ways to attract more and more people to ride the bus.
For example:
- Planning for “Rapid Transit,” with a bus coming every 10 minutes on key corridors in Bellingham.
- Partnering with Whatcom Council of Governments on their Smart Trips program, which provides tools and incentives to increase walking, biking, sharing rides, and riding the bus.
- Through its Transit Access Fund, partnering with local jurisdictions to improve access to WTA bus stops, for example, by building sidewalks, improving Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility, and providing secure storage for bikes.
- Facilitating shared rides for long commutes through the Rideshare (formerly Vanpool) program.
- Leading a community project to enable Transit Oriented Development in downtown Bellingham, to include housing, an expanded transit hub and improved multimodal connections.
- Working with an experienced non-profit to enable a “transit-friendly” affordable housing community at our Lynden Station.
Each of these serves a dual aim: they help to reduce emissions while supporting WTA’s primary purpose of connecting people to opportunity.
For more information on these and other initiatives, visit here.
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