International Transportation (70) 1 | 2018 6 City of Seattle: Climate Action Plan 2018 Emission, Pollution, Transportation systems, Transportation choice On 4 April 2018 the Mayor of the City of Seattle, Jenny A. Durkan, published a new “Climate Action Plan”. Seattle, Washington State, is the largest City in the Northwest of the United States of America. The population is 705,000 residents in the city and 3,800,000 people in the Metropolitan Area effective 2016 - still growing. That is why Jenny Durkan fights for the citizens’ mobile but fossil fuel-free future. Andreas Kossak T he Climate Action Plan 2018 [1] follows the Action Plan of 2013 [2] - in a series of comparable activities since 2008 [3]. In her introduction the Mayor refers explicitly to the fact, that President Trump removed the U.S. in 2017 from the Paris Climate Agreement: “Here in Seattle, we don’t wait for others to tell us what our future is going to look like - we create it … the City is committed to upholding the pollution reduction targets in the Agreement… we must lead with bold solutions that reduce pollution while strengthening our economy and ensuring that the benefits of a clean energy economy are shared throughout our city. Even as our city continues to grow, we must move beyond incremental change and fundamentally reshape our building and transportation systems… Seattle has never shied away from confronting challenges, which is why- our City will act and do what is right even in the face of such failure from our President …” In this context it should be mentioned, that Seattle is as well one of the worldwide leading cities pursuing the “Vision Zero” approach regarding road transport fatalities and the “Transit Oriented Development” strategy in urban and regional land use planning. The headlines of the main chapters of the actual Climate Action Plan (see figure 1) are: • Greenhouse Gas Emissions • Recent Climate Actions • Near Term climate Action Priorities Below selected passages of these chapters are cited or substantial reported, focused on the road transport sector [1]. Photo: pixabay Figure 1: The Seattle Climate Action Plan published in April 2018 STRATEGIES City planning City planning STRATEGIES International Transportation (70) 1 | 2018 7 Greenhouse Gas Emissions I n this chapter it is referred to a local analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions by sector in 2014 (see figure 2) showing that the share of “Road Transport” is clearly dominating (two third): • 50 % “passenger vehicles” (cars, light duty trucks, SUV’s and buses) • 16 % “freight vehicles” (medium and heavy-duty trucks) The remaining one third is attached to “Buildings” (14 % Residential, 17 % Commercial) and Waste (3 %). The total road transportation emissions declined in Seattle since climate change actions have been started in 2008 until 2014 by two percent as a whole and by 12 % per person “due to a combination of more fuel-efficient vehicles and fewer vehicle miles traveled per person as a result of increasing the transit services and improving the walking and bicycling infrastructure”. The respective reduction of the emissions equals with a yearly average rate of only 0.5 % while the population grew by 13 %. To achieve the 2030 goal of reducing passenger transportation emissions by 82 % Seattle would have needed to reduce emissions from passenger vehicles by an average of 7.5 % each year from 2008 onwards. Recent Climate Actions R ecent policies and programs provide a strong foundation on which to build the next generation of climate actions. Much progress has been made in improving the efficiency of energy use in the transportation System. Below are highlights of ongoing climate work. These actions reflect the strong commitment of the community, elected officials, and staff across City government to climate action (Figure 3). Smart growth is the foundation of effective transportation policy, and Seattle‘s nationally recognized urban village strategy, adopted in 1994, provides the essential foundation for Seattle‘s climate-friendly transportation policies. The passage of the 2015 Levy to Move Seattle and the 2016 regional Sound Transit 3 levy, are accelerating and expanding Investments in transit, bicycling, and pedestrian infrastructure and service. And, King County has committed to an all-electric bus fleet by 2040. The overall approach to reducing GHG emissions from transportation is to leverage changes in technology and our increasingly dense city to fundamentally change how people get around. The future of transportation is smart, shared, electric, and ultimately autonomous, and our policies are driving these changes in Seattle in ways that align with our goals to improve connectivity, health, and safety. We are implementing a coordinated strategy of: • Expanding transit, bicycling, and pedestrian infrastructure and services, • Expanding charging infrastructure to foster increased adoption of electric vehicles, • Guiding growth to walkable and transitaccessible neighborhoods, and • Providing price signals that reflect the true cost of driving and incentivize shared and electric transportation choices. Highlights of recent transportation actions are: Transportation Choices Local and regional Investments in transit and bike and pedestrian infrastructure have led to significant reductions in single occupant vehicle (SOV) use in Seattle. The period when Seattle has experienced some of its most rapid growth, 2010-2017, has also seen significant progress in commuter mode shift toward more sustainable modes of transportation. During this seven-year period, downtown Seattle has added 45,000 jobs and become more residential, but only 2,255 new drive-alone trips have been added to downtown streets. The overall SOV mode share of commuter trips declined by 10 points to 25 % and the share of transit trips has steadily increased from 42 % to 48 % . Meanwhile, walking to work increased 1.8 basis points to 7.7 % and the bike share grew to over 3 % . Building - Commercial 17% Freight Transport (Road) 16% Passenger Transport (Road) 50% Building - Residential 14% Waste 3% Figure 2: 2014 Seattle greenhouse gas emissions by sector. Source: [1] Figure 3: City Mayor Jenny A. Durkan (left) fosters public transport systems to decrease GHG emissions from transportation. Source: http: / / durkan.seattle.gov STRATEGIES City planning International Transportation (70) 1 | 2018 8 Electric Vehicle Charging in the Right of Way Visible and ready access to charging infrastructure is essential to expanding vehicle electrification. To meet that need, in 2017, a pilot program was initiated to permit the Installation of publicly-available electric vehicle charging stations on non-residential streets in urban villages, urban centers, and commercial streets. To date, over 60 applications have been received from three applicants, including Seattle City Light, who installed the first station in February 2018. The pilot program has strict siting and data sharing guidelines, and applications are reviewed against criteria which will ensure alignment with City policy goals including supporting shared vehicle use and meeting travel needs not wellserved by transit. Pilot program results will be reviewed in mid-2018. Seattle City light Charging Program In response to customers increasing desire for electric vehicles and to understand how best to manage the impact of vehicle charging on the electrical grid, Seattle City Light is designing and implementing two charging infrastructure pilot programs. The programs will expand public fast charging availability and support residential charging at home. Through the right of way charging pilot program described above, City Light is installing 20 public fast charging stations to increase access, while also ensuring that charging is distributed more equitably around the city. The residential program will offer customers access to in-home charging at a manageable monthly cost and is expected to launch in the fall of 2018. Pending legislation will determine if program funding will leverage a lease or incentive model. Electrical Code In 2017, the Seattle Electrical Code was amended to ensure new parking is built to facilitate future electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The code requires adequate electrical capacity to serve one electric vehicle charging station per parking space and that construction documents show the location of equipment and conduit for future installation of electric vehicles charging stations. New Mobility Playbook How we get around is undergoing a sea change, and Seattle is preparing for a transportation future that is shared, electric, and autonomous. As transportation becomes increasingly shared, active, selfdriving, electric, and data-driven, Seattle is planning ahead to ensure the fast-paced changes in mobility help us create a safe, equitable, sustainable city serving our diverse needs. The 2017 New Mobility Playbook sets out a course for how Seattle will ensure that future of transportation in Seattle aligns with our city‘s goals and values and will position Seattle to encourage and guide innovation in transportation technology, reorganizing our streets to grow healthy communities and vibrant public spaces. Shared Mobility Hubs Seattle‘s Shared Mobility Hub program will aggregate transportation connections, travel information, and other mobility amenities into a seamless, understandable, and on-demand travel experience. The Seattle Transportation Department is developing a dense network of shared mobility hubs throughout the city, colocated with major transit facilities and in places where frequent transit Services intersect. A key objective for shared mobility hubs is to advance the use of electric car share and ride hail vehicles by accommodating fast charging at or very near hub locations (see figure 4). Municipal Fleet Seattle was one of the first cities in the country to buy conventional hybrids (early 2000s) and the battery electric Nissan Leaf (2011), install hybrid systems on ambulances, and use a 20 percent bio-diesel blend from sustainable feed-stocks in all heavyduty vehicles. The Green Fleet Action Plan guides the City‘s efforts to meet the goal to reduce municipal fleet emissions by 50 percent by 2025 by increasingly electrifying the fleet, using cleaner fuels when electrification is not feasible, increasing efficiency in how vehicles are used, and setting standards for vehicle procurement. The City‘s fleet includes over 200 electric vehicles and over 300 hybrid vehicles. Between 2013 and 2016, GHG emissions from the municipal fleet decreased by 11.5 percent and total fuel use decreased by five percent. Near Term Climate Action Priorities G uided by the 2013 Climate Action Plan and a review of recent emissions trends and climate actions, we have identified a suite of nearterm priority actions, which will help the City remain on track to meet our climate protection goals. These actions alone will not be sufficient to meet our targets; however, they are the essential next steps which will allow us to make substantial progress and will lay the foundation for continued progress. The actions are transformative, helping us to meet the needs of our rapidly growing Figure 4: Pioneer Square station with light rail train and, at right, a King County Metro bus. Photo: Steve Morgan/ Wikimedia City planning STRATEGIES International Transportation (70) 1 | 2018 9 city. When fully implemented, they will significantly reduce emissions and catalyze an even broader suite of actions over the coming years. It is essential that we implement these actions in the near term to meet the challenge and realize the opportunities of a climate-friendly future ... Transportation related fossil fuels are a significant source of air pollution, particularly impacting people who live near roadways and other pollution sources. As Seattle rapidly grows, policies must aim to rapidly replace fossil fuel vehicles with fully electric options and move single occupancy trips to shared transportation. The overall strategy is to increase active and shared transportation (including biking and transit), accelerate car, bus, and truck electrification, and improve the efficiency of the roadway system to reduce idling and unnecessary driving. The actions are: • Improving mobility through pricing Announce that the City will develop and release a strategy to address congestion and transportation emissions through pricing, coupled with investments in expanded transit and electrification in underserved communities. • Electric vehicle readiness ordinance for new construction Pass a new electric vehicle readiness ordinance in 2018, which will ensure new construction or renovation of parking structures is built with electric vehicle infrastructure. • Charging station network map & strategy Release map of optimal distribution of charging infrastructure in 2018. • Ride share and taxi fleet electrification Work with community and business stakeholders to develop recommendations for making all new for-hire-vehicles in Seattle electric. • Green Fleet Action Plan update Create a new Green Fleet Action Plan, by the end of 2018, to accelerate the electrification of the municipal fleet and phase out fossil fuel use in municipal vehicles. • Assess GHG Emissions Impact of City decisions Issue an Executive Order directing City departments to assess the GHG emissions impact of City plans, policies, and major investments. Some of these actions will be implemented immediately, while for others implementation or funding options will be explored over the next year with an aim for implementation soon after. Conclusion T he Seattle Climate Action Plan 2018 is very complex, ambitious and challenging. However, defining and following up such type of an approach is urgently needed in order to reach at least a reasonable portion of the defined goals. US-wide - and internationally as well - it is primarily taken notice of the intention to introduce urban road-pricing and congestionpricing respectively. Road and congestion pricing in metropolitan areas has been intensively discussed in the US since at least 15 years. However, it has not yet implemented anywhere. Such an approach in Seattle is in particular remarkable taking into account, that (opposite to nearly all comparable cities / metropolitan areas in the US) not only the number of cars is still growing, but also the car-ownershiprate. Finally it should be mentioned, that the Seattle Climate Action Plan is concentrated on reducing the emissions being caused within the area of responsibility of the City of Seattle (Figure 5). It does not refer for example to the emissions of the “Seattle Seaport” and the “Seattle-Tacoma International Airport” or the total emissions of producing all system-components of e-mobility. Nevertheless it is highly recommendable to take over and adapt the approach of the Seattle Action Plan in as much major cities as possible all over the world. ■ SOURCES The complete documents together with background informations to the Seattle Climate Action Plans can be found in the web. [1] Climate Action Plan 2018. http: / / durkan.seattle.gov/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2018/ 04/ SeaClimateAction_April2018.pdf [2] Climate Action Plan 2013. http: / / www.seattle.gov/ Documents/ Departments/ Environment/ ClimateChange/ 2013_CAP_20130612. pdf [3] http: / / www.seattle.gov/ environment/ climate-change/ climateplanning/ climate-action-plan Andreas Kossak, Dr.-Ing. Kossak Research and Consulting, Civil Engineering Lab, Hamburg (DE) drkossak@aol.com Figure 5: Downtown Seattle with Space Needle and Mount Rainier. Photo: Daniel Schwen/ Wikimedia