Assessing and Comparing Environmental Performance of Major Transit Investments (2012)

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation. It was conducted through the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, Transit Development Corporation, or AOC endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. DISCLAIMER The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research. They are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, or the program sponsors. The information contained in this document was taken directly from the submission of the author(s). This material has not been edited by TRB.

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iv Table of Contents Summary of Research Findings.......................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction and Overview ........................................................................................ 34 1.1 Overview ................................................................................................................ 34 History of Considering Environmental Benefits for Major Transit Capital Investments ................................................................................................. 35 Relationship between This Research and NEPA .............................................. 37 1.2 Research Products ................................................................................................. 39 2.0 Background Research Findings ................................................................................. 40 2.1 Literature Review .................................................................................................. 40 Published Literature ............................................................................................. 40 Environmental Performance Rating Systems and Tools ................................. 41 International Practice: Strategic Environmental Assessment ........................ 41 Review of Environmental Documentation for U.S. Transit Projects.............. 42 2.2 Stakeholder Outreach ........................................................................................... 44 Uses of Performance Measures ........................................................................... 45 Types of Performance Measures ......................................................................... 45 Recommendations for Performance Measures ................................................. 47 3.0 Screening, Testing, and Evaluation Process ............................................................ 48 3.1 Environmental Performance Categories and Dimensions .................................. 48 Performance Categories ....................................................................................... 48 Performance Dimensions ..................................................................................... 49 3.2 Development and Screening of Candidate Metrics .......................................... 50 3.3 Testing of Metrics .................................................................................................. 51 4.0 Assessment of Metrics ................................................................................................. 54 4.1 Summary of Findings ........................................................................................... 54 4.2 Metric Values ......................................................................................................... 60 4.3 Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions ..................................................... 65 4.4 Air Quality and Public Health............................................................................. 74 4.5 Ecology, Habitat, and Water Quality ................................................................. 83 4.6 Other Metrics ......................................................................................................... 88 5.0 Most Promising Metrics .............................................................................................. 91 5.1 Summary of Most Promising Metrics ................................................................ 91 5.2 Limitations of the Metrics and the Current Evaluation Framework ............. 93 6.0 Next Steps and Issues for Further Research ............................................................ 96 6.1 Next Steps for Implementation ........................................................................... 96 6.2 Issues for Further Research .................................................................................. 97

v Table of Contents (continued) Appendix A – Data Collection for Pilot Projects............................................................. A-1 Appendix B – Calculation of Energy and GHG Metrics................................................ B-1 B.1 Procedure for Calculating Metrics ...................................................................... B-1 B.2 Sensitivity Testing of Energy and GHG Metrics............................................... B-18 Appendix C – Calculation of Air Quality and Public Health Metric .......................... C-1 C.1 Overview of Calculation of Emissions and Air Quality Metrics .................... C-1 C.2 Detailed Description of Procedures for Calculating Emissions and Air Quality Metrics ...................................................................................................... C-7 C.3 Forecast New Daily Nonmotorized Access Trips (Metric IIE) ....................... C-24 Appendix D – Calculation of Ecology, Habitat, and Water Quality Metrics ............. D-1 D.1 Metrics IIIA-IIID – Land Use-Based ................................................................... D-2 D.2 Metric IIIE – Adequacy of State, Regional, and Local Habitat Protection Plans ........................................................................................................................ D-16 Appendix E – Level of Service and Other Measures for Assessing Pedestrian and Bicycle Access to Transit ............................................................................................. E-1 E.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... E-1 E.2 Level/Quality of Service Measures .................................................................... E-2 E.3 Design Guidelines ................................................................................................. E-10 E.4 Area-Level Walkability Indicators ...................................................................... E-10 E.5 Previous Research for FTA on Pedestrian Accessibility Measures ................ E-12 E.6 Technology Applications for Level of Service Measures ................................ E-16 E.7 Conclusions Regarding LOS and Walkability Metrics in Transit Project Evaluation .............................................................................................................. E-17 Appendix F – Environmental Performance Rating Systems for Transit Agencies and Projects .................................................................................................................... F-1 F.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... F-1 F.2 Overview of Rating Systems ............................................................................... F-1 F.3 Examples of Application to Transit Project Evaluation ................................... F-6 F.4 FHWA Sustainable Highways Self-Evaluation Tool........................................ F-14 F.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ F-18 Appendix G – Model of Construction GHG Emissions from Rail Transit Capital Projects ............................................................................................................................ G-1 G.1 Model Development ............................................................................................. G-1 G.2 Rail Case Studies ................................................................................................... G-24 G.3 Application to Hypothetical Projects ................................................................. G-32 G.4 References ............................................................................................................... G-38

vi Table of Contents (continued) Appendix H – Appendix H – List of Candidate Environmental Performance Metrics ............................................................................................................................ H-1 Appendix I – Literature Review ......................................................................................... I-1 I.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... I-1 I.2 Summary of Literature Review ........................................................................... I-2 I.3 Annotated Bibliography ....................................................................................... I-4 I.4 Environmental “Best Management Practice” Assessment Tools .................... I-10 I.5 International Approaches to Transportation Environmental Assessment ... I-19 Appendix J – Indicators of Ecological Impacts of Land Development ....................... J-1 J.1 Relative Ecological Impacts of Different Land Use Patterns .......................... J-5 J.2 Assessing Ecosystem Protection Plans ............................................................... J-10 J.3 References ............................................................................................................... J-13 Appendix K – Stakeholders Interviewed and Interview Guides ................................ K-1 K.1 Contacts for State-of-Practice Survey ................................................................. K-1 K.2 Stakeholder Interview Guides ............................................................................. K-3

vii List of Tables 3.1 Environmental Performance Categories and Dimensions ...................................... 49 3.2 Description of Screening Factor Evaluation Criteria ............................................... 51 3.3 Pilot Project Characteristics ......................................................................................... 52 4.1 Description of Final Evaluation Factors ..................................................................... 55 4.2 Summary Evaluation of Metrics ................................................................................. 56 4.3 Energy Use and GHG Emissions Metrics .................................................................. 61 4.4 Air Quality and Public Health Metrics ...................................................................... 62 4.5 Ecology, Habitat, and Water Quality Metrics ........................................................... 64 5.1 Summary of Most Promising Metrics of Environmental Performance ................. 92 A.1 Data Items Requested ................................................................................................... A-2 A.2 Data Collection Outcomes ........................................................................................... A-7 B.1 Default Energy Consumption Rates by Mode .......................................................... B-3 B.2 Transit System Energy Consumption Data from the 2009 National Transit Database ......................................................................................................................... B-4 B.3 Highway Vehicle Energy and GHG Emission Rates ............................................... B-9 B.4 Default Fuel-Cycle Factors ........................................................................................... B-11 B.5 Fuel Energy and Carbon Content ............................................................................... B-13 B.6 Default GHG Scale Factors .......................................................................................... B-14 B.7 Sensitivity Testing of Energy and GHG Metrics ...................................................... B-19 B.8 Sensitivity of Change in Operating GHG Emissions to Modal GHG Intensity Assumptions .................................................................................................................. B-20

viii List of Tables (continued) C.1 Electricity Generation Emissions Projections ............................................................ C-3 C.2 Electric Rail Emissions per Passenger-Mile ............................................................... C-4 C.3 Daily AQI Indicators for Pilot Projects ...................................................................... C-10 C.4 Percent of Total VMT Made up of Passenger Cars and Passenger Trucks and Diesel Vehicles ............................................................................................................... C-15 C.5 Average Wind Speeds (m/s) ....................................................................................... C-18 C.6 Average A.M. Mixing Heights (m) ............................................................................. C-18 C.7 Average P.M. Mixing Heights (m) ............................................................................. C-19 C.8 Example Meteorological Data Chosen for City 2 ..................................................... C-19 C.9 AQI Parameters for Criteria Pollutant Index Calculations ..................................... C-21 C.10 Weighting Factors ......................................................................................................... C-21 C.11 Non-Cancer Health Benefits of Emissions Avoided ................................................ C-22 C.12 Cancer Risk Benefit of Emissions Avoided ............................................................... C-22 C.13 Data Used for Calculation of Ozone Index ............................................................... C-24 C.14 Nonmotorized Access Trip Forecasts......................................................................... C-30 D.1 Ecology, Habitat, and Water Quality Metrics ........................................................... D-1 D.2 Land Use Data Collected for Pilot Projects ............................................................... D-3 D.3 Land Use Reclassification ............................................................................................ D-4 D.4 Template for Assessment of State, Regional, and Local Habitat Protection Plans .... D-17

ix List of Tables (continued) E.1 Multimodal Level of Service Data Needs .................................................................. E-3 E.2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Level of Service ..................................................................... E-4 E.3 Landis (1997) Methodology for Bicycle Level of Service ......................................... E-6 E.4 Summary of Environmental Audit Instruments Reviewed .................................... E-8 E.5 Summary of Transit Level of Service Measures ....................................................... E-9 F.1 Greenroads Criteria ...................................................................................................... F-7 F.2 FHWA Sustainable Highways Self-Evaluation Tool Criteria ................................. F-15 G.1 Inputs for One Mile of 100 Pound Track with Continuous Rail ............................ G-7 G.2 Material Inputs of Rail Passenger Stations ................................................................ G-11 G.3 Material Inputs for One Parking Space of Garage Parking..................................... G-12 G.4 GHG Emissions of Process Fuels in g/MMBtu ........................................................ G-13 G.5 Material and Electricity Emission Factors ................................................................. G-14 G.6 Concrete GHG Emissions Assuming 12 Percent Cement, 82 Percent Aggregates, and 6 Percent Water ................................................................................ G-16 G.7 GHG Emission Factors for Creosote Pressure-Treated Timber Railroad Ties ..... G-20 G.8 Estimates of GHG Emissions for Rail System Components ................................... G-21 G.9 Non-Track Estimates of GHG Emissions ................................................................... G-22 G.10 DRTD West Corridor LRT GHG Emissions Inventory ............................................ G-24 G.11 GHG Emissions from Five New Jersey Transit Commuter Rail Lines .................. G-27 G.12 Ranges of Estimated GWP for Electrified and Nonelectrified NJT Commuter Rail Systems ................................................................................................................... G-30 G.13 Project Assumptions and Embodied GHG Emissions by Component for Hypothetical Projects .................................................................................................... G-36

x List of Tables (continued) H.1 Candidate Environmental Performance Metrics ...................................................... H-2 I.1 Transit’s Contribution to Quality of Life ................................................................... I-6 I.2 Greenroads Performance Categories .......................................................................... I-11 I.3 STAR Community Index Indicators ........................................................................... I-13 I.4 Global Reporting Initiative Categories and Indicators ............................................ I-15 I.5 Ska Rating Categories and Indicators ........................................................................ I-17 I.6 SILENT Categories and Indicators ............................................................................. I-18 I.7 Items in U.K. Appraisal Summary Table ................................................................... I-35 J.1 Environmental and Ecological Impacts Related to Land Development ............... J-2 J.2 Environmental Benefits by Land Use Category ....................................................... J-6 J.3 Ecological Impact by Development Pattern .............................................................. J-9 J.4 Key Washington State Natural Resource Agency Guidance Documents for Local Planning ............................................................................................................... J-11 K.1 Contacts for State-of-Practice Survey ......................................................................... K-1