CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 5
In the four years since the launch
of the GreenDOT Policy, MassDOT
has made significant progress in the
pursuit of sustainability. The 2010
GreenDOT Policy Directive established
a strong vision for MassDOT’s
leadership on promoting sustainability
in the transportation sector. The 2012
GreenDOT Implementation Plan set an
ambitious agenda for MassDOT action
on promoting sustainability, including
specific tasks and targets, with a major
focus on MassDOT’s internal business
operations.
This 2014 GreenDOT Report provides a
comprehensive update on the results of
MassDOT’s efforts since the launch of
the GreenDOT Policy. It also represents
two shifts in the focus of the GreenDOT
Policy and its related initiatives. First,
the 2014 GreenDOT Report reorients
the principal focus of the GreenDOT
Policy toward sustainability of the
transportation sector as a whole,
and the impacts of our customers’
travel behavior, while still recognizing
the importance of sustainability in
MassDOT’s business practices. Second,
the 2014 GreenDOT Report establishes a
performance management system for the
GreenDOT Policy that tracks a focused
set of performance measures, including
measures of critical MassDOT inputs
and actions, as well as the important
outcomes of those actions, for both the
transportation sector as a whole and for
MassDOT’s business operations.
Figure 5-1: Photo of MassCleanDiesel event at Paul Revere Innovation School in Revere
December 2014
The GreenDOT Report
Moving forward,
greenhouse gas
the tracking of
(GHG) emissions
from the transportation sector, and
MassDOT’s actions to reduce these
emissions, will be key measures for
MassDOT and state government as a
whole. In working to achieve the GHG
reduction targets required by the Global
Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) of 2008,
the Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) in 2010
published the Clean Energy and Climate
Plan for 2020 (CECP). This document
outlines the required GHG emission
reductions by each sector in order to meet
the goal to decrease GHG emissions by
25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
The transportation sector is responsible
for 7.6 percent of this total reduction, of
which 1.2 percent was projected to result
from GreenDOT policies.
MassDOT is working with EOEEA and
other agencies to update the CECP,
which is expected to be completed by
the end of 2015. As part of the CECP
update process, MassDOT is working
with EOEEA to adapt the Federal
Highway
Administration’s
(FHWA)
Energy and Emissions Reduction Policy
Analysis Tool (EERPAT), which will
enable the modeling of the effectiveness
of various approaches to reducing
transportation sector GHG emissions.
The EERPAT tool will help MassDOT
model the GHG impacts associated with
capital investments, and examine system
adjustments for both transit and roadway
operations. Additionally, the EERPAT
tool may allow for the modeling of GHG
impacts of education and encouragement
policies designed to encourage mode
shift, carpooling, and eco-driving. The
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results of this modeling and other analysis
will be used to refine the transportation
sector strategies included in the CECP.
As part of the implementation of the
GWSA, the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued
a draft regulation governing MassDOT
actions and reporting requirements under
the GWSA. The draft regulation, Global
Warming Solutions Act Requirements
for the Transportation Sector and
the Massachusetts Department of
Transportation, is expected to be adopted
by the end of 2014. The draft regulation
stipulates that MassDOT demonstrate its
commitment and progress towards the
targets set out in the CECP. As discussed
in Chapter 3, MassDOT is primarily
able to influence transportation sector
GHG emissions through three areas:
transportation system development,
including long-range planning, capital
investment, design standards, and support
for smart growth development; traveler
education and encouragement, through
promotion of mode shift, carpooling,
and eco-driving; and system operations,
including congestion management and
transit optimization. As such, MassDOT
expects to track progress in these three
areas to the extent they are included in the
CECP update; report the transportation
sector’s progress toward emission
reduction targets set under the CECP;
and identify supplemental measures that
could achieve these reduction targets in
the event that not all planned initiatives
can be fully implemented.
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In addition to MassDOT’s reporting on
the implementation status of various
CECP initiatives, the draft regulation
has two other principal requirements.
The first is that MassDOT and the
Commonwealth’s
13
metropolitan
planning organizations (MPOs) project
and track the GHG emissions impacts
of Regional Transportation Plans (RTPs),
Transportation Improvement Programs
(TIPs),
and
State
Transportation
Improvement Program (STIP). Second, the
MPOs, in consultation with MassDOT,
are required to include GHG emissions
and impacts in the prioritization and
selection criteria of projects.
As detailed in this 2014 GreenDOT
Report, MassDOT has been working
diligently to reduce GHG emissions,
promote healthy transportation, and
lead in the area of environmental
stewardship. However, in order to meet
the ambitious GHG reduction goal of the
Global Warming Solutions Act, as well as
the Mode Shift Goal to triple the amount
of walking, bicycling, and public transit
travel, much work still lies ahead.
MassDOT’s
efforts
related
to
environmental stewardship, in the spirit
of Leading by Example, have made the
agency a national leader in greening
the operations of a state department
of transportation. By making changes
in all aspects of MassDOT’s operations,
from fleet management to energy
use, MassDOT helps to advance
transportation sector best practices and
December 2014
The GreenDOT Report
further the development of markets for
environmentally preferable goods and
services. This is important work and
MassDOT is dedicated to continuing to
do its part to protect the environment
and the precious resources of the
Commonwealth.
To achieve significant change in GHG
emissions reduction, MassDOT will
continue to shift the primary focus
of our sustainability efforts beyond
our own operations and onto the
transportation sector as a whole, which
is now responsible for over one third of
Massachusetts’ total GHG emissions.
Recognizing that MassDOT has influence
over some factors related to the sector’s
share of these harmful emissions,
GreenDOT goals will be further
embedded into these areas, including
capital planning, project prioritization,
and
project
selection.
Improved
performance metrics will be essential
in tracking progress toward GreenDOT
goals. Climate change adaptation will
also be of critical importance in the
coming years and decades, as MassDOT
strives to identify risks and protect the
transportation infrastructure on which
residents and visitors depend each day.
By focusing on GreenDOT principles,
MassDOT is working toward creating a
healthier, safer, and more prosperous Bay
State.
Figure 5-2: Photo of Red Line traveling over the Longfellow Bridge in Boston with sail boats underneath
on the Charles River (photo courtesy of the MBTA)
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