Determines the 12 goals of SEPTA for environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The aim is for all or most goals to be completed by 2015.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
SEPTA is the public transportation network of the city of Philadelphia, including buses, trolleys, subways, and a commuter rail.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
The initial argument of the report is that in the Delaware River region, from 1980 to 2007, car use has increase significantly and public transportation has decreased. This proposes environmental problems to the city of Philadelphia and economic problems for SEPTA.
Relevant goals relating to air pollution.
Goal 1: Improve greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant emissions performance.
SEPTA argues that although public transportation reduces CO2 emissions by decreasing vehicle density on the road (for one GHG unit produced by SEPTA, 3 units would be produced elsewhere, via car travel), there are actions to be taken to decrease the air pollution produced and the contribution to climate change.
Target: 5% increase per year until 2015.
Will approach this issue by spending more in renewable energy and alternative energy vehicles, installing updated technology (Low-NOx boilers), using control technologies to limit air pollution, and "complet[ing] a vulnerability and risk assessment"
Goal 3: Improve energy intensity performance.
SEPTA uses energy and fuel for every one of its functions. The total annual energy used is 4.5 mmBtu (4.5 million BTU). From 2006-2009, energy use has increased by 7.6% annually for heating buildings and <1% annually for vehicle power. This displays that different types of actions will have more impact on reducing overall energy consumption.
Target: 10% total increase until 2015
Will approach this issue by building with LEED Silver standards and energy efficiency, getting employees LEED certified and teach energy frugality, using LED and motion sensor lights, as well as natural light, update heating and air conditioning systems but also make use of natural ventilation, retrofit or replace motors and "transformers" for ones that have a lower energy performance, and "Implement wayside energy storage systems"
Other 10 goals contribute to reduce waste of water and other resources, developing more transit stops to reach broader communities, establishing farmers markets, increase popularity and accessibility of SEPTA systems, improve transportation infrastructure,
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
The initial argument that from 1980-2007 public transportation use in Philadelphia has decreased significantly compared to car use was supported by data presented by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.
To support the arguments of each goal, statistics and facts about each topic are used to support the initiative.
Each goal was also supported by a partnership with another regional plan encouraging sustainability, shown in the table below. The 'linkage' column shows what other plan or plans encourage this type of change as well. Supporting reports are the APTA Sustainability Commitment, SEPTA Strategic Business Plan, and Greenworks Philadelphia.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
"SEPTA empowers residents to achieve financial independence to develop healthy lifestyles, and to reside in clean and livable communities. For these reasons, we believe SEPTA is the key to our region’s long-term sustainability."
"Applying the American Public Transportation Association’s standard methodology for calculating GHG emissions, the net result of SEPTA’s GHG impact is a reduction in emissions by a factor of three – for every unit of greenhouse gas that SEPTA emits, three units are displaced throughout the region."
"Recent studies show that residents of transit-served communities have a lower cost of living and live healthier lifestyles than those who depend on cars for mobility."
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
The data presented in the report were from previous plans or information gathered by APTA, US Census or Greenworks Philadelphia.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
The report describes the health and economic benefits of using public transportation. SEPTA development in a region can help a community develop.
SEPTA wants to work with Greenworks Philadelphia to meet their standards of having 75% of Philadelphia's residents living within 10 minutes of a local food source (farmers market).
"SEPTA’s substantial capital budget gives it a strong market power in the region and an ability to have a positive impact on regional business equity by issuing a portion of its contracts to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs), small businesses owned by minorities and women."
SEPTA is working to minimize disparities of public transportation and local food access, and between local business success.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
US organization called Growing Food Connections posted a link to the report, because one of its goals is proper food distribution throughout Philadelphia.
APTA (American Public Transportation Association) gave SEPTA the Gold Recognition Level of the APTA Sustainability Commitment program.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
Other plans cited:
Great source (FUTURE ANNOTATION): Greenworks Philadelphia, city of Philadelphia plan to make it the "greenest city in America by 2015." Includes an entire section on air quality, a government plan.
This report seems to be a compilation of ideas from different regional and national sustainability goals, applied to the transportation system of Philadelphia.
Analyzes the progress in terms of achieving the sustainability goals of the original Sep-tainabile report.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
SEPTA is the public transportation network of the city of Philadelphia, including buses, trolleys, subways, and a commuter rail.
The annual report was written by SEPTA's Sustainability Working Group.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
Goal 1 Evaluation:
Slight increase in the past year "largely a result of an unusually cold and snowy winter."
Although there was an increase in annual emissions, all modes of SEPTA transportation produce less than car travel per passenger mile.
Goal 3 Evaluation:
Again, there was an increase at FY2014 for the tough winter, but overall action to produce energy efficiency has been effective.
Actions that have been made:
Began switching to LED lights
replacing diesel buses with hybrid buses (effect shown above)
Established second wayside energy storage device on the Market-Frankford Line:
"The wayside storage devices are projected to generate $250,000 in economic value annually through energy savings and market revenue. SEPTA is planning to install an additional 10 storage units throughout the system by leveraging market revenue as a source of capital for the build out."
Market Street headquarters has 3 retrofits for energy efficiency: "overglazing" of southern windows to reduce sun heating, LED light replacements and sensors, powering the station with natural gas instead of steam.
Energy Saving Company (ESCO) action
Other improvements: increase in use of SEPTA for work transport
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
Support is established by the data displayed showing transformation.
With links to the reports referenced.
With examples of projects that are going on.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
"In September 2013 SEPTA’s Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS) received a certification under the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 14001:2004 standard for environmental management. Two years after achieving ISO 14001:2004 certification, environmental management and sustainability are still top priorities for SEPTA."
"SEPTA has already begun to allocate Capital funding to address climate adaptation. SEPTA received $87 million in grants through FTA’s Emergency Relief Program and Disaster Relief Appropriations. The funds will go toward rail infrastructure improvements and resiliency projects such as slope and shoreline hardening as well as power system reliability."
"In FY 2014 SEPTA began to receive delivery of new 40 foot and 60 foot hybrid-electric buses to replace aging diesel buses. SEPTA’s hybrid fleet is 30 – 40 percent more efficient than its diesel fleet."
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Performance metrics display the evolution of SEPTA:
Passenger miles traveled (PMT) = total distance traveled by all passengers = A productivity measure that accounts for the combined effects of vehicle miles, vehicle capacity, and passenger occupancy. This measure will demonstrate efforts to improve efficiency by increasing utilization of existing services.
Vehicle miles (VM)= VM is mileage traveled from the time a vehicle pulls out from its garage to the time it pulls back into the garage, including “deadhead” miles (the time that vehicles spend traveling while out of service, such as returning to a garage or storage facility).
An efficiency measure that accounts for the combined effects of fuel economy and overhead reductions (e.g., office buildings or train stations
Revenue Vehicle Hours (RVH)= RVH is hours traveled from the time a vehicle enters revenue service to the time it leaves revenue service (i.e., the time when a vehicle is available to the general public and there is an expectation of carrying passengers), excluding “deadhead” miles.
An efficiency metric that accounts for the combined effects of deadhead reductions and roadway congestion. By excluding deadhead hours, this metric will capture efforts to reduce inefficiencies through improvements to scheduling, routing or other service planning changes. By accounting for the time spent in service rather than the distance traveled, this metric reflects any local congestion effects, which will depress performance per unit of time in revenue service.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
Health disparities are discussed in the same way as the report above.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
I cannot find anywhere that this annual report has been discussed besides within the SEPTA website.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
There is no listed bibliography.
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
On SEPTA's website there is a box to input the miles you plan on traveling and your car's average MPG. From there it calculates the amount of carbon that would be produced by public transportation (SEPTA) compared to a single car ride. Cool resource.
US DOT: "Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (FHWA/FTA): A jointly authorized program geared towards non‐attainment areas of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and has broad eligibility criteria for funding projects that mitigate congestion and provide air quality benefits. In the Philadelphia region, competitive CMAQ funds are administered by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)."
PA DEP: "Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant (AFIG): Prioritizes air quality improvements and the reduction of the use of imported oil products through the use of alternative fuels."
Many more
"Cost savings were calculated for each fleet based on average energy savings per mile as determined by vehicle testing results and the average annual car miles for each fleet. "
1) SEPTA is supporting a project by The Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation ( TEC) to teach locals about sustainable farming and involve them in practicing it on SEPTA territory. In addition, there will be solar panels set up to run the irrigation system, designed by people at Drexel University.
2) Market Street headquarters energy transformation: "Between 2008 and 2011, 1234 Market reduced energy use by approximately 2 million kWh, saving SEPTA and other building tenants a total of $200,000 over the 4-year period." This building is now EnergyStar certified.
One method of decreasing energy use was having cleaning hours during the day. Cut light hours (saved $125,000 2008-2011)
3) Wayne Junction, use of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD): increasing availability of jobs, stores, and the city by developing transit stops in communities. Encourages car-less living. A TOD project also includes revitalization of a town and development of affordable housing with bikeable/walkable places to go. "Nicetown CDC spearheaded the construction of Nicetown Court II, building upon their success at Nicetown Court I, a nearby mixed-use apartment building. This $19 million project created 50 new units of affordable housing and 6,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space on a long-vacant block of Germantown Avenue across the street from Wayne Junction Station."
4) SEPTA's Environmental and Sustainable Management System (ESMS) has achieved the Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2004 standard for environmental management systems. "With the certification, SEPTA becomes one of only eight U.S. transit agencies to achieve this rigorous global standard for environmental management."
Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?
The tools, methods and findings of air pollution research travel broadly, forming an international community that may be consolidating into an “epistemic community” (Hass 1990).
SEPTA is working to
Scientific capacity to link air pollution to economic impacts has also grown dramatically.
Across sites, there is growing recognition of a need to improve understanding of air pollution, health impacts, and mitigation opportunities at the neighborhood level.
SEPTA is working to make its transportation system more sustainable
Confidence in capacity to decrease air pollution and associated health impacts varies across settings.
Full citation and abstract?
- Citation:
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Sep-tainable: The Route to regional sustainability. January 2011. Accessed November 22, 2015. http://www.septa.org/sustain/pdf/septainable11.pdf
- Abstract:
- Determines the 12 goals of SEPTA for environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The aim is for all or most goals to be completed by 2015.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.- SEPTA is the public transportation network of the city of Philadelphia, including buses, trolleys, subways, and a commuter rail.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?- The initial argument of the report is that in the Delaware River region, from 1980 to 2007, car use has increase significantly and public transportation has decreased. This proposes environmental problems to the city of Philadelphia and economic problems for SEPTA.
- Relevant goals relating to air pollution.
- Goal 1: Improve greenhouse gas and criteria air pollutant emissions performance.
- SEPTA argues that although public transportation reduces CO2 emissions by decreasing vehicle density on the road (for one GHG unit produced by SEPTA, 3 units would be produced elsewhere, via car travel), there are actions to be taken to decrease the air pollution produced and the contribution to climate change.
- Target: 5% increase per year until 2015.
- Will approach this issue by spending more in renewable energy and alternative energy vehicles, installing updated technology (Low-NOx boilers), using control technologies to limit air pollution, and "complet[ing] a vulnerability and risk assessment"
- Goal 3: Improve energy intensity performance.
- SEPTA uses energy and fuel for every one of its functions. The total annual energy used is 4.5 mmBtu (4.5 million BTU). From 2006-2009, energy use has increased by 7.6% annually for heating buildings and <1% annually for vehicle power. This displays that different types of actions will have more impact on reducing overall energy consumption.
- Target: 10% total increase until 2015
- Will approach this issue by building with LEED Silver standards and energy efficiency, getting employees LEED certified and teach energy frugality, using LED and motion sensor lights, as well as natural light, update heating and air conditioning systems but also make use of natural ventilation, retrofit or replace motors and "transformers" for ones that have a lower energy performance, and "Implement wayside energy storage systems"
- Other 10 goals contribute to reduce waste of water and other resources, developing more transit stops to reach broader communities, establishing farmers markets, increase popularity and accessibility of SEPTA systems, improve transportation infrastructure,
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.- The initial argument that from 1980-2007 public transportation use in Philadelphia has decreased significantly compared to car use was supported by data presented by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.
- To support the arguments of each goal, statistics and facts about each topic are used to support the initiative.
- Each goal was also supported by a partnership with another regional plan encouraging sustainability, shown in the table below. The 'linkage' column shows what other plan or plans encourage this type of change as well. Supporting reports are the APTA Sustainability Commitment, SEPTA Strategic Business Plan, and Greenworks Philadelphia.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?- "SEPTA empowers residents to achieve financial independence to develop healthy lifestyles, and to reside in clean and livable communities. For these reasons, we believe SEPTA is the key to our region’s long-term sustainability."
- "Applying the American Public Transportation Association’s standard methodology for calculating GHG emissions, the net result of SEPTA’s GHG impact is a reduction in emissions by a factor of three – for every unit of greenhouse gas that SEPTA emits, three units are displaced throughout the region."
- "Recent studies show that residents of transit-served communities have a lower cost of living and live healthier lifestyles than those who depend on cars for mobility."
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?- The data presented in the report were from previous plans or information gathered by APTA, US Census or Greenworks Philadelphia.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?- The report describes the health and economic benefits of using public transportation. SEPTA development in a region can help a community develop.
- SEPTA wants to work with Greenworks Philadelphia to meet their standards of having 75% of Philadelphia's residents living within 10 minutes of a local food source (farmers market).
- "SEPTA’s substantial capital budget gives it a strong market power in the region and an ability to have a positive impact on regional business equity by issuing a portion of its contracts to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs), small businesses owned by minorities and women."
- SEPTA is working to minimize disparities of public transportation and local food access, and between local business success.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)- Cited by a book: Energy Savings Strategies for Transit Agencies
- Grid Philly ( News) wrote about on SEPTA's report
- US organization called Growing Food Connections posted a link to the report, because one of its goals is proper food distribution throughout Philadelphia.
- APTA (American Public Transportation Association) gave SEPTA the Gold Recognition Level of the APTA Sustainability Commitment program.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?- Other plans cited:
- Great source (FUTURE ANNOTATION): Greenworks Philadelphia, city of Philadelphia plan to make it the "greenest city in America by 2015." Includes an entire section on air quality, a government plan.
- Delaware Valley regional sustainability plans
- America Public Transportation Association plan for Sustainable Commitment
- US Census information cited
- This report seems to be a compilation of ideas from different regional and national sustainability goals, applied to the transportation system of Philadelphia.
Sep-tainable Annual Report, April 2015Full citation and abstract?
- Citation:
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Sep-tainable Annual Report. April 2015. Accessed November 22, 2015. http://www.septa.org/sustain/pdf/septainable15.pdf
- Abstract:
- Analyzes the progress in terms of achieving the sustainability goals of the original Sep-tainabile report.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.- SEPTA is the public transportation network of the city of Philadelphia, including buses, trolleys, subways, and a commuter rail.
- The annual report was written by SEPTA's Sustainability Working Group.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?- Goal 1 Evaluation:
- Slight increase in the past year "largely a result of an unusually cold and snowy winter."
- Although there was an increase in annual emissions, all modes of SEPTA transportation produce less than car travel per passenger mile.
- Goal 3 Evaluation:
- Again, there was an increase at FY2014 for the tough winter, but overall action to produce energy efficiency has been effective.
- Actions that have been made:
- Began switching to LED lights
- replacing diesel buses with hybrid buses (effect shown above)
- Established second wayside energy storage device on the Market-Frankford Line:
- "The wayside storage devices are projected to generate $250,000 in economic value annually through energy savings and market revenue. SEPTA is planning to install an additional 10 storage units throughout the system by leveraging market revenue as a source of capital for the build out."
- Market Street headquarters has 3 retrofits for energy efficiency: "overglazing" of southern windows to reduce sun heating, LED light replacements and sensors, powering the station with natural gas instead of steam.
- Energy Saving Company (ESCO) action
- Other improvements: increase in use of SEPTA for work transport
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.- Support is established by the data displayed showing transformation.
- With links to the reports referenced.
- With examples of projects that are going on.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?- "In September 2013 SEPTA’s Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS) received a certification under the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 14001:2004 standard for environmental management. Two years after achieving ISO 14001:2004 certification, environmental management and sustainability are still top priorities for SEPTA."
- "SEPTA has already begun to allocate Capital funding to address climate adaptation. SEPTA received $87 million in grants through FTA’s Emergency Relief Program and Disaster Relief Appropriations. The funds will go toward rail infrastructure improvements and resiliency projects such as slope and shoreline hardening as well as power system reliability."
- "In FY 2014 SEPTA began to receive delivery of new 40 foot and 60 foot hybrid-electric buses to replace aging diesel buses. SEPTA’s hybrid fleet is 30 – 40 percent more efficient than its diesel fleet."
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?- Performance metrics display the evolution of SEPTA:
- Passenger miles traveled (PMT) = total distance traveled by all passengers = A productivity measure that accounts for the combined effects of vehicle miles, vehicle capacity, and passenger occupancy. This measure will demonstrate efforts to improve efficiency by increasing utilization of existing services.
- Vehicle miles (VM)= VM is mileage traveled from the time a vehicle pulls out from its garage to the time it pulls back into the garage, including “deadhead” miles (the time that vehicles spend traveling while out of service, such as returning to a garage or storage facility).
- Revenue Vehicle Hours (RVH)= RVH is hours traveled from the time a vehicle enters revenue service to the time it leaves revenue service (i.e., the time when a vehicle is available to the general public and there is an expectation of carrying passengers), excluding “deadhead” miles.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?An efficiency measure that accounts for the combined effects of fuel economy and overhead reductions (e.g., office buildings or train stations
An efficiency metric that accounts for the combined effects of deadhead reductions and roadway congestion. By excluding deadhead hours, this metric will capture efforts to reduce inefficiencies through improvements to scheduling, routing or other service planning changes. By accounting for the time spent in service rather than the distance traveled, this metric reflects any local congestion effects, which will depress performance per unit of time in revenue service.
- Health disparities are discussed in the same way as the report above.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)- I cannot find anywhere that this annual report has been discussed besides within the SEPTA website.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?- There is no listed bibliography.
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?