TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS The GHG emissions from commuting accounts for approximately 28% of URI’s total emissions (Figure 1). This does not include the campus vehicle fleet, which accounts for just 1% of total emissions. Therefore, the majority of proposed transportation projects and policies in this Climate Action Plan address issues related to commuting behavior. Many of the commuting projects do not pay back over the project durations since these projects typically mean, for example, that fewer parking passes will be purchased, resulting in revenue losses. These losses could be partially or totally recovered by increasing parking fees. These nopayback projects can also be supported by cost savings from other projects that have quick and substantial paybacks.
Biodiesel Transition
Transitioning to a B10 (10% biodiesel) ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel for URI’s fleet vehicles would significantly mitigate carbon emissions, as well as diesel pollution. Blends of up to 20% biodiesel require no modifications to both existing machinery and pumping equipment. Small scale biodiesel use was piloted during the summer of 2009 at the University with no negative effects observed. If URI were to transition to a B10 diesel fuel for the University fleet, this project’s initial investment would need to include the installation of a new biodiesel fuel station and tank, and purchasing 10% biodiesel blended fuel. The University fleet consumes roughly 10,000 gallons of diesel per year. A 3.1% annual price increase was assumed based on projections in the Energy Information Administration’s 2009 Annual Energy Outlook report. Therefore, the estimated cost of biodiesel would be 20 cents per gallon greater than the price of petrol diesel, based on current costs. As the University fleet is considered part of the state fleet, all vehicles on campus must be refueled at state designated refueling stations. While URI has a state diesel filling station on its main campus, current state purchasing policy shows no support for purchasing and distributing a biodiesel blended diesel fuel. While updating this policy may present a challenge, new legislation is being proposed that could mandate the use of biodiesel for state vehicles in the near future.
Transportation Demand Management
The concept behind transportation demand management principles is simple: rather than increasing the supply of parking to meet increasing demand, work to lower demand for parking. URI could initiate a thorough transportation demand management (TDM) study to identify measures to reduce singleoccupancy vehicle commuting and, subsequently, lower greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Several recommended options are described below.
RIPTA Bus Trip Frequency
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) provides bus service to URI’s main campus via the 66 route, which travels from Providence to Galilee, and via the 64 route, which travels from Newport and stops at both main campus and the Bay campus. Currently, most of the ridership is on the 66 line from Providence to URI. The other portion of the 66 route, which runs from URI to Galilee, has lower ridership despite a large population of URI students living in the Galilee area. In order to increase RIPTA bus trip frequency, this project would add two buses per day to this route so that a 66 bus would stop at URI every hour. A review of the current bus schedule, including the location of bus stops, and how it can be adjusted to better serve rider needs should be conducted to encourage preference
URI Climate Action Plan
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