Via the OTRAN list:
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Cutting Carbs: A workshop for transportation professionals looking to cut some greenhouse gas emissionsDecember 3, 2008
—————————————————————–Mark your calendars! On Wednesday, December 3rd, the Oregon Environmental Council (OEC) will host a workshop for transportation professionals. The goal: to build knowledge and skills for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation system.
Who should attend? Planners, engineers and project managers who have a day-to-day impact on transportation plans and projects around Oregon. We welcome consultants and clients alike and encourage teams! The workshop will focus on information and skills that you can use to boost your organization’s resources and improve Oregon’s environment.
What will you learn? How climate change and transportation legislation in Salem, Olympia and Washington, D.C. could impact your work. What tools you can use to measure or estimate GHGs from transportation projects. Which strategies can make the most cost-effective dent in GHGs. We’ll explore the leading edge in these areas, hear from the innovators, and work on how you can make a difference.
If you would like to be on OEC’s mailing list for this event, please send an email to Chris Hagerbaumer at chrish@oeconline.org. Look for more information in October.
Brought to you by: CH2M Hill, David Evans & Associates, HDR, Metro, ODOT, Port of Portland, Portland Office of Sustainable Development, TriMet, and URS.
Chris Hagerbaumer| Deputy Director
Oregon Environmental Council
5 responses to “Cutting Carbs”
Will this conference actually talk about all forms of transport, including making buses more energy efficient (through the use of high capacity articulated or double-decker buses, alternate fuel technologies such as hydrogen-cell, CNG/LNG, hybrid-electric, innovative bus designs for aerodynamics, BRT, trolleybuses, using smaller buses in neighborhoods in lieu of full-sized buses) — or will this be another example of “light rail and bike lanes everywhere, and Toyota Priuses for the elite who are too good for light rail and afraid of getting wet in the Oregon rain?”
I encourage these discussions as long as they don’t discriminate; sadly they seem to ignore the mass transit mode of choice by 2/3rds of Portland’s mass transit riders, and 100% of Salem, Eugene, Rogue Valley, and Bend’s transit riders (among many other, smaller, transit districts in Oregon). Eugene and Salem are unlikely to see anything more than a “heritage streetcar” in the next 50 years, so what solutions are going to be given to the 2nd and 3rd largest cities in Oregon to encourage more energy efficient, clean transportation?
light rail and bike lanes everywhere, and Toyota Priuses for the elite who are too good for light rail and afraid of getting wet in the Oregon rain?
A. I ride light rail. I ride buses. We bought a house (not in an “elite” neighborhood) to be near light rail and right on a bus line.
B. I own a Prius. Several people on our street do. And they still ride buses and light rail.
C. I was just out in the rain this morning. Without a jacket.
Why use divisive stereotypes? Spend some time hanging out on PriusChat.com and you’ll find that Prius owners as a whole are not elite, rich, or liberal, as the stereotype would imply.
PS… I sip lattes.
Back to your main point, given that several of the conference organizers were involved in some way with projects like Eugene’s EmX BRT system which uses articulated, hybrid-electric buses and Albany’s Multimodal Transportation Center (which has nothing to do with light rail), I’m reasonably confident that alternatives other than light rail or Prii will be discussed.
Bob R. wrote: A. I ride light rail. I ride buses. We bought a house (not in an “elite” neighborhood) to be near light rail and right on a bus line.
B. I own a Prius. Several people on our street do. And they still ride buses and light rail.
C. I was just out in the rain this morning. Without a jacket.
Bob, I congratulate you for actually having a balanced view of transportation in Portland.
If I could vote you in for a TriMet Board of Director or Metro Council position, I would. But unfortunately we have a group of folks in those agencies who do little if anything to promote or encourage bus usage.
As for a Prius, it costs $10,000 more than the car I currently own. And my household income is squarely in the “middle-class” bracket.
Speaking of “carbs” come ingest some carbs as we travel around Portland looking for the best bar:
http://adronbhall.com/blogs/my_transportation_obsession/post/2008/10/23/Transit-Beer-3.aspx