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ENERGY SAVINGS STRATEGIES FOR TRANSIT AGENCIES Transit agencies can help individuals reduce energy use by providing alternatives to travel in personal vehicles. They also consume significant amounts of energy providing this ser- vice. Reducing energy consumed by transit agencies can lower costs, reduce environmental impacts, and improve customer service. This study describes how transit agencies are reducing energy use and is based on survey responses from 51 diverse agencies across the country, a literature review of a variety of academic and professional publications, and case examples of four agencies. Transit agencies use energy to power, clean, maintain, and repair their revenue and non- revenue vehicles. They also use energy to provide heating, cooling, and electricity to stations, stops, administrative buildings, garages, and other facilities. Finally, agencies indirectly con- sume energy embodied in construction materials, water, and waste. These different uses of energy represent opportunities for transit agencies to reduce their energy use and expenditures through strategies that range from the very simple (such as switching to more energy-efficient light bulbs) to more complicated (such as operating a wind farm on agency right-of-way). These strategies can reduce both an agencyâs costs and its environmental footprint, and some can also improve service quality. Agencies wishing to implement energy-saving strategies are also interested in how to strategically plan for energy savings, including how to measure energy savings and how to finance strategies that require significant upfront investment. More than half of agencies surveyed have developed or are developing policy statements related to energy, and many also have goals and objectives related to the reduction of energy use. Key findings related to strategy planning and implementation included: ⢠Instead of creating specific plans to reduce energy use a number of agencies have articu- lated their energy goals in the context of sustainability or climate action plans. ⢠Environmental management systems are helping some agencies improve performance across a variety of environmental indicators, including energy use. These systems, and the training that is available to help agencies implement them, help build sustainability concerns into the institutional structure of an agency. They also provide valuable data that helps agencies apply for funding and select effective strategies moving forward. ⢠Agencies vary in the degree to which they quantify energy savings from the various strat- egies and in the formality of these evaluation procedures. Some agencies have conducted comprehensive prospective evaluations of energy-saving options in order to select the most effective strategies, whereas others only analyze strategies on an ad hoc basis using readily available data. Additionally, some strategies better lend themselves to measure- ment and estimation than othersâfor example, projecting alternative energy generation is easier than estimating fuel savings from a transit signal prioritization project. ⢠Although some energy-saving strategies save money in the long term, agencies often find the upfront costs required for many strategies to be a significant challenge and that it can take a long time to realize savings for some strategies. Many have used funding from federal grant programs to purchase new or retrofit existing vehicles, install renewable energy projects, and improve energy efficiency at facilities. SUMMARY
2 ⢠Lack of staff expertise and information on strategy effectiveness are significant barriers to energy-saving strategies and need to be addressed through further research. ⢠In addition to grant funding, some agencies are able to form collaborative partnerships with utilities, renewable energy companies, or energy performance contractors to perform energy efficiency retrofits or install renewable energy at transit facilities. These partnerships allow agencies to pay back upfront costs using savings from energy efficiency measures. ⢠In many agencies that have successfully implemented energy-saving strategies, respon- sibility for developing and implementing energy conservation projects does not reside within a single department but with staff from different departments, a committee, or a sustainability coordinator who works across divisions. This arrangement helps identify synergies between strategies and engages all departments in sustainability efforts. ⢠A number of the most effective strategies for reducing emissions rely on technologies that have emerged relatively recently and may become accessible to more agencies in the future. ⢠Agencies are interested in resources to help them understand the impact of available strategies and in what strategies might best fit their particular context based on agency size, services operated, and geographic locations. Smaller agencies could benefit from resources that help them identify low-cost feasible options. ⢠Many agencies recognize the importance of energy to their operations, and two-thirds of those surveyed reported that their boards of directors consider reducing energy costs to be important. All but one of the transit agencies that responded to the survey were implementing energy- saving strategies from one or more of the seven categories identified in this report. Table 1 summarizes these seven categories, with examples of strategies from each category. Category Examples of Strategies Transit Vehicle Technologies Hybrid-electric and battery-powered buses Efficient heating and lighting systems Regenerative braking for rail systems Lightweighting vehicles Vehicle Operations, Maintenance, and Service Design Idle reduction policies Driver training Route design Signal prioritization Non-Revenue Vehicle Efficiency Strategies Hybrid-electric vehicles Driver training Reducing fleet size Energy Savings at Stations and Stops Energy-efficient lighting Energy-efficient escalators Solar energy generation Energy Saving Strategies for Buildings Energy-efficient lighting Green building certification Energy management systems Strategies to Reduce Indirect Energy Use Employee commute programs Recycled construction materials Low-flow water fixtures Recycling programs Renewable Power Generation Solar power installations Wind power Geothermal TABLE 1 CATEGORIES OF ENERGY SAVING STRATEGIES AND EXAMPLE STRATEGIES
