The principles of sustainability have been gaining ground in the public transportation industry. Sustainability, at its core, is a way to make our communities more livable by integrating and balancing economic, social and environmental needs.
What Is Sustainability?
Sustainability is about practices that make good business sense and good environmental sense. It is balancing the economic, social and environmental needs of a community. For the public transportation industry, this means:
Employing practices in design and capital construction, such as using sustainable building materials, recycled materials, and solar and other renewable energy sources to make facilities as 'green' as possible.
Employing practices in operations and maintenance such as reducing hazardous waste, increasing fuel efficiency, creating more efficient lighting and using energy-efficient propulsion systems.
Employing community-based strategies to encourage land use and transit-oriented development designed to increase public transit ridership.
Launch of APTA Sustainability Commitment
APTA members can sign up for the 2009 pilot phase. For further information, click here, and for the application form, click here.
Next APTA Sustainability Workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah
International Association of Public Transport (UITP)
APTA has also signed on to UITP's Charter on Sustainable Development.
Articles and Reports
For articles on sustainability in Passenger Transport, as well as reports, click here.
Other Links
Some of these pages may include links to documents in the Adobe PDF format. Please download the Adobe PDF reader if you have not already done so.
