Sen. Gounardes to New York Focus: "My Green Transportation Bill is About Giving People Options"

New York Idles on Green Transportation Plan

As the state has backpedaled on congestion pricing, it has made no progress on nearly half of its other transit-related climate goals.

...One bill introduced last year would seek to reduce the total amount of driving in the state — measured in “vehicle miles traveled,” or VMT — by one-fifth by 2050. It would require planners to evaluate whether a highway project would increase or decrease driving and offset increases by shifting funds to public transit and pedestrian and bike infrastructure.

Modeling by the clean energy research group RMI found that a 20 percent reduction in driving would not only shave emissions, but also save the lives of thousands of New Yorkers each year by reducing crashes, improving air quality, and promoting exercise.

The bill’s backers say the key to achieving that shift, and the state’s wider climate goals, is better infrastructure.

“People don’t want to change their behaviors because the options that they’re presented with are not good,” said Senator Andrew Gounardes, who sponsors both the VMT and vehicle weight bills. The legislation is not about “cars versus no cars,” he continued.

“I drive a car pretty often. I also take the bus, and I take the railroad, and I take the ferry,” said Gounardes, who represents a stretch of the Brooklyn waterfront. “It’s about providing people options.”

Read the full article here.