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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 06/19/2017 South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington Meeting Minutes for Special Meeting to Discuss Opportunities to Reduce CO2 from Transportation June 19, 2017 Committee members present: Marcy Murray (Chair), Linda McGinnis, Keith Epstein, Sam Swanson, Fred Kosnitsky, Don Cummings, Committee members absent: James Mount, Karen McKenny, Patty Tashiro, Jeremy King Community members present: Grant Taylor, Rosanne Greco City staff present: none Comments from the Public: Rosanne discussed her request to city council to support the Paris Accord. The committee agreed this was something we wanted to support and several committee members will work out an approach as to how to best make this happen. Discussion to understand “Causes” of Transportation CO2 and to Determine Committee’s Future Approach: Our approach was to first identify “causes” or sources of CO2 to find areas where we might focus. The thinking was that each of these different “causes” of CO2 may need different solutions or approaches to reduce them. We used Fishbone diagrams to help identify and organize the various causes of Transportation CO2 starting with major contributors: Residential, Commercial (which include municipal) and Fuel Cost. We then broke those down further to identify more detail causes. After considerable discussion, the general sense was that we probably have more opportunity to develop projects and outreach to go after residential “causes” of CO2. This was broadened to consider that businesses and schools could play a very large roll in finding ways to reduce CO2 for residents and students commuting to work. Additionally, many of the commuting issues are regional and thus working with other communities and Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission would be very important. Lastly, there may be initiatives underway by others and we will look forward to understanding these and lending support where we can. A good example of this is Tom Chittenden’s efforts on trash pickup. For the sake of trying to keep the minutes brief I have summarized areas where we might help in a bulleted list in the attached list. This includes general approaches and some specific ideas for projects. I have also included bulleted lists of causes. Please review if you have time to see if you can come up with more project areas that we can work on. South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Next scheduled meeting: Thursday, July 6th, at 6:30 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the South Burlington Police Station (19 Gregory Drive • middle entrance) Potential Approaches to Reducing Resident’s Transportation CO2 Broad General Themes for Energy Committee Action: • Increase involvement with Planning Communities: local and regional to reduce transportation CO2 • Reach out to Employers to help influence the commuting choices of their employees. • Motivation may be even more important than new programs – continue to seek innovative ways to engage South Burlington to create awareness and motivate people to act. Overall Effort to Change People’s Thinking – “Motivating Change” • Outreach - Persuasive messaging to motivate people to change their behaviors; That Climate Change Is Real, and that each of us can do something about it • More Incentives • More Disincentives General Areas we might focus on for Vehicles: • Promote Cars/Trucks that produce lower CO2/mile o Electric vehicles o Hybrid Vehicles • Investigate Solar Parking Lots – they could power electric vehicles and perhaps the buildings near by. • Promote better driving habits Specific Project Suggestions for Vehicles: • Work to influence where the state’s share of the VW settlement goes: Perhaps to get electric or hybrid GMT buses or electric school buses • Work with Municipal/School Administration to develop purchasing & operational strategies to reduce CO2 from vehicles. • Work with Gas stations for a Free Air Day to ensure everyone’s tires are properly inflated and put signs at Gas Pumps with tips for increasing gas mileage. South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington General Areas we might focus on for Commuting: • Work to increase Car/Van pool participation Specific Project Suggestions for Commuting: • Work with Employers/Schools for preferential parking for Low CO2 commuting options. Perhaps we could Purchase signs and encourage employers to use them. • Identify large employers or areas with dense commercial development to look for opportunities (for example Technology Park & surrounding area). • CATMA program- get Employers/Schools together to talk about transportation issues (encourage SB businesses to participate) • Encourage Charging Stations at employers and schools –investigate Incentives (GMP - Tier III) • Incentives/disincentives to reduce students driving to school General Areas we might focus on to Improve Public Facilities that promote low CO2 travel: • Improve Public Transit: more buses better routing. • Low CO2 Public Transit vehicles • Smaller more efficient buses for lower use routes • More and better carpooling options • Better walking & Biking facilities • More & larger Park & Rides and Intercept Lots with Public Transportation connections Specific Project Suggestions for better Public Facilities: • Work with CCRPC & other communities to create a regional approach to “transit” planning focused on lowering CO2 • Work with Planning Commission & Development Review Board to see if we can create opportunities for Park & Rides. Perhaps sharing space in the Hannaford Parking Lot • Explore possibilities for city to buy property for siting Park & Rides • Explore possibilities for city to reduce taxes on Park & Rides General Areas we might focus on to change Development Patterns (Higher density, near public transit) • Zoning requiring higher density • Density incentives • Regulations limiting parking • Housing near transportation, shopping and services • Transportation options required near new housing See at the bottom of these minutes for more detail on “Causes” of Transportation CO2 so you can help us come up with more ideas to drive down CO2. We Then Discussed What’s Next? South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington • Identify some initial projects (high value, doable and where someone is in interested in working) • For each Project Area • Need a Champion to follow-up & coordinate efforts • Find partners could help (people and organizations) • Investigate further to fully understand the problems/causes • Develop proposals for solutions • Flesh out a plan to implement Detail Breakdown on Root Causes of CO2 for Transportation: Residential “Causes”: • Commuting to Work • Commuting to School • Trips to Services • Purchasing behaviors o Trips for Shopping o Online shopping • Recreation o Local trips o Long Distance Trips Commercial “Causes”: • Shipping and Delivering of Goods (some driven by shopping behaviors) • Service Providers o Trades people o City services (plowing etc) o Trash Pickup o other • Business Travel o Local trips o Long Distance Trips • Employees Commuting to Work Fuel Cost “Causes”: • Lower Fuel Costs drive increased consumption and CO2 It then seemed that breaking down Commuting (to Work or School) might also lead to better understanding of causes and thus solutions: • Commuting by Car o Single Occupancy o Car/Van Pool South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington o Inefficient fossil fuel vehicle o Poor Driving habits • Public Transport o Inefficient public transport vehicles o In efficient public transit routing • Development Patterns – causing longer commutes o Low Density Development – zoning regulations o Limited affordable housing near work centers o Cultural preferences (desire to live in the country) We used this same Fishbone diagram to show ways to commute that cause no or significantly reduced CO2: • Biking • Walking • Work at Home • Electric Vehicles We then looked at How Vehicles Used in Transportation “cause” CO2, as each these “causes” may have different solutions: • Inefficient Vehicles (High CO2 per mile personal cars, commercial vehicles, public transportation vehicles) • Poor Driving Habits • Number of miles driven • Fuel Type We then looked at Where People Were Going as these “causes” may have different solutions: • From South Burlington • To South Burlington • Within South Burlington • Through South Burlington