Riverside named as the greenest

By BETH ANNE BRINK-COX | The Municipal

We hear the term “green” used for so many things these days that it might not register as the important issue it represents. But Riverside, Calif., sure knows the meaning and definition of “green,” having recently been named by the National Association of Fleet Administrators as the No. 1 greenest fleet for 2022.

NAFA is the vehicle fleet industry’s largest membership association, a nonprofit trade association for professionals who manage fleets of automobiles, SUVs, trucks, vans and a wide range of specialized mobile equipment for organizations in the United States and Canada. These vehicles are the foundation of many businesses and can range in type from taxi cabs, rental cars, trucks, buses and more. The Green Fleet Awards recognize sustainability efforts and honor the fleets that have enhanced practices to make a more positive impact on the environment.

The achievement of this award is truly something to be proud of, and Riverside is justifiably so. It takes the overall green picture very seriously: the Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan calls for Riverside to reach carbon neutrality by 2040. In keeping with that, in January, the city of Riverside began requiring most new buildings of three stories or fewer to be all electric. By 2026, all new buildings, regardless of height, will have to meet this requirement.

Jessica Spiking, administrative analyst for the fleet department, knows her work well and explained more about what all this means, and why it’s important to keep moving beyond fossil fuels.

“Fleet vehicles are ranked accordingly: light, medium or heavy duty. We have everything from small sedans, like Honda Civics, to trash trucks and tractors.” If you’re not used to thinking of tractors in any capacity but farming, Spiking said, “They’re used for street maintenance, repair jobs, things like the park division. Say the water department is replacing water lines; the tractors are used to break the ground, break up the dirt, so the next steps can be made more quickly.”

As for the city’s ranking, Spiking said, “We’ve placed in high positions before. We usually finish in the top 10, and we got No. 1 in 2012. So it’s been a while, and we never stop working toward that goal. We have that strategic plan previously mentioned, Envision Riverside 2025, and part of that is environmental stewardship, reducing the carbon footprint. We all need to do that. So for the