Skip to main content

New York transit joins Paris greenhouse gas initiative

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has joined the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris document seeks to keep a global temperature rise this century below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level and to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The SBTi is a joint partnership between United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute, World Wildlife Fund and non-profit
November 13, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

New York’s 1267 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has joined the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Paris document seeks to keep a global temperature rise this century below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level and to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The SBTi is a joint partnership between United Nations Global Compact, the 4722 World Resources Institute, World Wildlife Fund and non-profit organisation CDP.

The MTA is to set targets to reduce greenhouse emissions across its transportation and non-transportation activities. It will be required to meet these goals within the next 15 years.

The targets may include bus electrification, the electrification of diesel-powered commuter rail lines, increased energy efficiency at facilities and working with vendors to reduce emissions throughout its supply chain. Emissions per-passenger-mile can be reduced by looking into increasing capacity across public transport modes, MTA says.

In a separate move, MTA is to complete more than 75 energy efficiency projects with New York Power Authority by the end of 2020. It will also aim to convert its diesel bus fleet to electric by 2040.

Related Content

  • October 2, 2014
    TRL pledges support for global initiative at UN Climate Summit
    The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL)’s chief executive Rob Wallis, attending the United Nations Climate Summit in New York last week, was delighted to be able to pledge TRL’s support to the UEMI initiative, by UN-Habitat. “The UEMI initiative, aimed at substantially increasing the adoption of electric vehicles within urban environments, aligns strongly with TRL’s own strategy and current activities,” Wallis explained. “TRL is actively engaged in leading innovative research programmes to understan
  • January 9, 2018
    Authorities switch on to all electric buses as costs tumble
    Alan Dron looks at changes in bus propulsion as cities look to improve air quality and seek to reduce maintenance costs. Despite the ending of various incentives to adopt alternative fuels, the introduction of electric buses by US transit authorities is picking up speed as performance improves, costs drop and air quality considerations become increasingly significant. More US bus manufacturers are introducing zero-emission models and some recent contracts will see many more passengers getting their first
  • November 7, 2022
    Greener transit via Maryland microgrid
    Arup is involved in Montgomery County smart energy project in Maryland, US
  • February 27, 2019
    MTA announces finalists for Transit Tech Lab in New York
    The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and non-profit organisation Partnership for New York City have announced six finalists for the inaugural Transit Tech Lab programme. The eight-week project will allow the technology companies to introduce products to New York’s transportation agencies which are expected to improve subway and bus services. Participants will employ predictive maintenance to help reduce cost and subway delays, deploy a platform for transit network planning, utilise comp