By Kathryn Hebert
Transportation systems produce the largest percentage of greenhouse emissions in the US (more than 28 percent). President Biden is committed to addressing environmental issues through his multi trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal.
Last December, the governors of 13 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, plus the District of Columbia, signed an historic multi-jurisdictional memorandum of understanding called the Transportation Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P), which commits each state and identifies policies that advance environmental programs to improve quality of life, create jobs, and maintain critical mobility sources. The goal is to decrease greenhouse carbon emissions by 26 percent in 10 years and increase investments in an equitable, cleaner, and more resilient transportation system.
The TCI-P will cap carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline and on-road diesel fuel and require suppliers to purchase allowances for carbon emissions produced by fuel covered by the cap. It is expected that the cap will decline over time, which will translate into reduced emissions.
What does this have to do with parking? Parking is critical to the implementation of many environmental programs and projects and will continue to play a major role. During the pandemic, we all learned to pivot, adjust, repurpose, and leverage parking assets to create economic activity and opportunity. There is a huge opportunity for the parking industry to step up and be part of the process, the program, and the future. Vehicles are already transitioning to hybrid and electric and soon thereafter, autonomous vehicles will become mainstream. All these vehicles still need to be parked somewhere.
There are technical, infrastructure, and parking management opportunities everywhere. We are all now talking about curb management and mobility hubs that will safely and equitably manage all mobility sectors. Let’s get together and think outside the box! Read more here.
Kathryn Hebert is president and CEO of TPMConnect and a member of IPMI’s Board of Directors.
The face of commuting has changed drastically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March. Hesitancy toward transportation modes that put us close together with strangers in an enclosed space, a huge increase in working from home where possible, and even lower gas prices (for a time) have seen people reconsider the way they get from home to work and play. So what does that mean for transportation demand management (TDM)?
TDM–transportation demand management–is a concerted effort to get people to choose alternates to single-occupant vehicles (SOVs), including transit, micro-mobility, and shared rides, to get from place to place. When COVID-19 made social distancing a trend, TDM took a big hit. And now, with several vaccines in use around the world and a return to semi-normal living in sight, experts and leaders are planning for TDM’s recovery and seeing opportunity post-pandemic.
By Kathryn Hebert, PhD
