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MTA will outline efforts to be more 'green'

By Matthew Sweeney | msweeney@am-ny.com

April 14, 2008

Harnessing wind power and growing grass on bus depot rooftops are just some of the proposals the MTA is considering to make public transportation more energy efficient and environmentally conscious, said officials familiar with the authority's "green" efforts.

The initiatives -- to be announced Monday at Grand Central Terminal -- are the result of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Sustainability Commission, created six months ago to plot a cleaner future in time for Earth Day, April 22. The announcement comes a week after state lawmakers killed the mayor's congestion pricing proposal to reduce emissions.

According to an MTA official who was briefed on the proposals, the commission's suggestions are a combination of new ideas as well as ongoing efforts to reduce the authority's carbon footprint.

The proposals include using aluminum, which is more conductive than steel, for the third rails - including those on the Second Avenue Subway; increasing the use of regenerative brakes on subway cars, which convert the heat from brake friction into electric power; harnessing wind power; using "vegetative" rooftops, which are good insulators and can catch rainfall, at the Far Rockaway bus depot and elsewhere; and replacing all the lights on the Verrazano Bridge with energy-saving LED lights.

The MTA can also be expected to continue ongoing projects by adding more hybrid buses and green bus depots, said a transit advocate familiar with the environmental efforts. Green bus depots, already in operation in Corona and on Maspeth, recycle rainwater to wash buses as well as use large windows to increase natural light, solar panels, and emission reducing technology.

Some of the efforts have yet to be budgeted and could face a challenge at a time when the MTA faces budget gaps. Although green building creates savings in energy costs, as new technology, it often costs more initially.

MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said yesterday he would not confirm which proposals the agency is considering.