Over 50 years ago, the first Earth Day was held across the country with over 20 million people attending the event to create awareness and appreciation for the natural beauty of the earth. One day out of 365 days to assess and protect the planet. Shouldn’t the earth be a concern … all a day? This is the thought process in HART. What we do has a natural connection to “green”, through getting cars off the road, reducing carbon emissions and providing more walkable communities.
In fact, US public transportation (APTA) shows that public transportation saves the United States 4.2 Billion Gallons of gas annually and saves a load of $ 13.7 billion Every year! As an organization, we feel it is necessary to be a responsible organization that focuses on environmental sustainability. Therefore we do not rely only on the numbers above. HART has taken a number of steps to ensure that as an organization we do our part for the planet. With over 800 employees and 200+ vehicles, the meat and potatoes are in the waste that HART recycles during the maintenance and day-to-day operation of our organization. organization.
Here are some of the steps HART is taking when it comes to our fleet vehicles:
- The entire fleet is EPA approved
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HART operates 69 CNG buses Starting a fleet transition to compressed natural gas (CNG) with a cleaner burner in 2014; Currently operates 80 CNG vehicles
- Since 2014, the HART fleet has reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20%, equivalent to taking 3,000 cars off the road!
- Waste oils, unused crushed oil filters, coolant, scrap metal, aluminum are all recycled
- Freon is reused after being captured by the return system
- HART purchases recycled and environmentally friendly coolants
- Use of synthetic oils, which prolong the life of the oil and minimize the number of times we have to empty it
- 80% of car wash systems are recyclable
Steps that HART takes in relation to our transportation facilities:
- Water-free urinals and equipment with low water consumption are in place
- Solar film has been installed at the Marion Transit Center to improve cooling efficiency
- Motion sensor lights in toilet facilities
- Electric hand dryers
- Fluorescent bulbs are crushed; Recycled glass and mercury residues
- All chemicals and detergents are green certified
- Use of non-spray sprays
- No-VOC dyes (volatile organic compound) that can have quite serious health effects (liver / kidney damage)
- Bus shelters use solar panels for lighting
- All office paper, batteries, copier toner cartridges and electronic circuits are recycled
With over 800 employees, more than 200 vehicles and over 7 million miles traveled by our service vehicles last year, you can imagine how much computerized waste.
HART also took “LEED” during the renovation of our HART operating facility to a certified Energy and Environment Planning (LEED) building. The redesign added a host of new windows to the building, taking advantage of natural lighting. Light emitting diode (LED) lighting (consumes 50% less electricity than fluorescent lighting) also appears throughout the building.
The name of the game is sustainability. Using public transportation is one of a variety of sustainable travel options, but know that beyond buses, vans and trams, HART does its thing for the environment!