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February 25, 2014 |
Environment: New York/New Jersey
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The Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on February 19 approved the purchase of more than 200 "green" vehicles, bringing the number of alternative-fuel, environmentally-friendly cars and trucks to approximately 85 percent of the agency’s fleet.
New York/New Jersey: Port Authority’s Vehicle Fleet Goes Green
The Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on February 19 approved the purchase of more than 200 "green" vehicles, bringing the number of alternative-fuel, environmentally-friendly cars and trucks to approximately 85 percent of the agency’s fleet.
The port authority continues replacing many of its older, gasoline-powered cars and trucks with a variety of low-emissions vehicles, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-certified SmartWay, hybrid, electric, natural gas and clean diesel vehicles. Recently, the agency’s fleet of roughly 2,000 on-road and off-road vehicles ranked the third greenest among 38,000 federal, state and local agencies, according to a survey issued by The 100 Best Fleets in North America™ and Green Fleet Magazine.
"Today’s investment of $28 million is just part of our ongoing, multimillion-dollar commitment to environmentally-friendly and clean energy projects," said Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Deborah Gramiccioni. "The steps we are taking to reduce vehicle emissions and to improve air quality around the region have proven to be effective, and we are committed to continuing to reduce our carbon footprint wherever possible."
According to the port authority, its fleet of "clean energy" vehicles eliminates more than 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the air annually. That fleet includes biodiesel, compressed natural gas, Ethanol-85 and hybrid electric on-road vehicles, as well as a smaller off-road fleet that includes use of electricity, propane and solar power.
The 100 Best Fleets in North America™ and Green Fleet evaluated the fleets of numerous agencies across the United States in key categories such as fleet composition and utilization, fuel usage and staff support and education. This is the fourth straight year the port authority’s green fleet has been in the magazine’s top 50 fleet rankings and is the highest position to date.
Recently, port authority’s vehicles also were certified by Empire Clean Cities, a coalition of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program, another public acknowledgement of the agency’s sustainable initiatives.
With the price of alternative-fuel vehicles falling and the cost of fossil fuels rising, purchasing these vehicles also will help the Port Authority save on costs, while reducing its carbon footprint – the main goal of the agency’s Clean Air Strategy.
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