What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project?
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s overall goal, according to their website, is to “reduce car dependency in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut”. As a non-profit advocacy organization, it combines a number of environmental, transportation, and other non-government organizations across the three states. Through the creation of more sustainable transportation policies this organization hopes to increase public safety and health by reducing crashes and toxic pollutant emissions. Their main focus is to reduce the amount of cars on the road in the belief that this will minimize crashes and release less greenhouse gases.
What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
Each year since 2003, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign releases articles on the different studies they perform in respect to transportation (Transportation Reports)
Through yearly articles, the campaign advocates for increased bus service and public transportation to reduce the amount of cars on the road. (New Bus Service)
Advocated for increased benefits for hybrid vehicles such as allowing hybrids in carpool (HOW) lanes.
Researched, gathered data on, and released reports on the amount of miles traveled by vehicles and transit, as well as corresponding greenhouse emissions and energy consumption. (Transportation Reports)
What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
Economics: Informed the public on how each state budget’s for transportation costs and still stress that maintaining roads is more important to commuters and the environment than adding lanes to roads (2003 – today)
Safety: Started out with data on “pedestrian safety” and keeping with that idea now releases yearly reports on the “most dangerous roads” or areas with the most pedestrian deaths due to automobile crashes (2005 – today)
Sustainability: Studies on greenhouse emissions and energy consumption led to articles giving suggested benchmarks for “Sustainable Transportation” for different locations in the Tri-State area including New York City (2005 – today)
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Expanded previous congestion studies to include possible reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the increased creation of bus transit systems and biking and walking lanes including in suburban New York (2009 – today)
2007: Janette Sadik-Khan appointed commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation after previous work as a board member for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
2007: Created and advocated for the creation of a mass transit part of the Tappan Zee Bridge Project (II) to entice more commuters to use public transportation. (Tappan Zee Bridge Plans)
Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches?
Tri-State Transportation Campaign focuses on presenting the public with information in concise and easy to understand articles as well as taking a three level approach to advocacy and change ("Impact Proven"). As stated in a recent blog post, "Impact Proven", advocacy groups must not only inspire officials to enact change but rather insert themselves into the governmental organization. For example, Janette Sadik-Khan was a former board member and as commissioner under the Bloomberg administration she pushed forward projects such as Citi Bike and the construction of greenways. This speeds up the process of implementing, in this case, advantageous transportation policies. In this way, Tri-State Transportation Campaign insinuates that other advocacy groups which tend to let the officials make the actual change without being directly involved are helping, but in a much longer time frame which may not impact the system as much.
What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
In regards to public health Tri-State Transportation Campaign's largest data collection is an interactive map of pedestrian fatalities which they use to designate the most dangerous areas to walk or bike. Although no interactive map is used, this data is later part of the compilation of vehicular greenhouse gas emission. (Pedestrian Fatalities )
Tri-State Transportation Campaign also creates charts of each state’s transportation budget and the areas in which the money is spent, including safety, bicycle and pedestrian areas, and bridge/road projects with bicycle and pedestrian aspects in another interactive map. (Transportation Budget)
Found in their yearly reports, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign collects data on the amount of miles traveled in personal vehicles and on public transit and the greenhouse gases emitted by and energy consumption of these vehicles. This data was placed in bar graphs to compare the different amount of travel on roadways as well as the amount traveled on bicycle and foot, and line graphs to compare the different modes of transportation. The other data was placed in line graphs in order to analyze it by yearly consumption.
What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade? What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
2014-2015: the research drawn on by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign so far has been on pedestrian fatalities in order to determine the most dangerous roads in the tri state area as well as gas taxes (specifically New Jersey) and transit fare history.
Since the 2000s, aside from the similar research on previous years of fatalities and economics, this organization has also drawn on research on mileage for personal vehicles, public transportation, bicycles, and pedestrians walking. Throughout different reports they also draw on research about the greenhouse gases emitted by and the energy consumption of all the different modes of transportation collectively.
What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
They rely heavily on their blog and yearly articles on the differing topics Tri-State Transportation Campaign discusses in order to get the word out to the public about transportation’s effects on our environment (Mobilizing the Region).
Public records of pedestrian deaths in vehicular accidents is also utilized significantly.
Finally traffic patterns for both public and personal transport are utilized to judge congestion as well as greenhouse gas emissions and therefore air pollution
What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma? Tri-State Transportation Campaign does not deal directly with asthma but rather in traffic patterns which lead to conclusions about greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. In general, this organization looks at the big picture across three states in order to attempt to reduce the amount of vehicles on the road across state lines including public transportation between Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Their focus is primarily on safety, from compiling data on pedestrian deaths due to crashes or data on greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health? Tri-State Transportation Campaign is heavily focused on safety for pedestrians, especially in the city. The sheer amount of pedestrian deaths seem to have motivated them to take a closer look into all safety aspects of such a large volume of vehicles on the roads. From there the fact that one-fifth of toxic pollutants are emitted by cars and trucks and highways destroy much of the natural habitat led to a more environmentally focused outlook.
What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health? Tri-State Transportation Campaign, as a non-profit organization which boasts a 100% tax deductibility, relies mostly on donations from the community in order to support the research and actions taken. A few board of directors have gone on to become leaders of transportation in the government, especially New York City which may impact their view as they are constantly thinking in the big picture, not a specific borough. This organization, mostly through their yearly reports, gets a lot of publicity so although they still boast progressive ideas for transportation reform, a lot of care is taken to keep the C in the public’s good graces. Although it appears they are impartial a lot of stress is placed on getting people in and out of the city, such as the bridge project through public transportation, and attempting to convince people in the city to walk or bike. The different goals based on the different areas are pretty clear.
What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health? The primary founding groups are listed as being transportation focused NGOs, although specific names are not listed, which may have been a key factor in the beginning for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign to be primarily focused on pedestrian deaths and congestion instead of pollution. A previous board member, Janette Sadik-Khan who notably became commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation from 2007-2013 also had an interest in the environmental aspects as a political science major. Her environmental understanding was seen as Transportation Commissioner with her programs such as the bike shares program (Janette Sadik-Khan). The current director who began work in 2007, Veronica Canterpool, used to work for the Rainforest Alliance as well as the New York City Department of Environmental Protection which most likely influenced the continued change in looking at environmental factors as well as safety on roadways.
What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health? The Tri-State Transportation Campaign seems to find the ignorance of the general population due to restricted data or confusing reports challenging as well as the current slow rate of change occurring due to policy makers. They are very big on getting the information out there in an easy to understand fashion and inserting themselves directly into the policy making process. Especially since they noticed that people were getting asthma and knew the air quality was bad, but never linked the two together until they were told.
What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health? Although not directly stated, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign seems to call for a reduction of the amount of vehicles on the road and at times, a reduction in the amount of paved roadways. Through stressing public transportation, fixing instead of making new roads, and converting roads to bike lanes or sidewalks it is clear this organization believes with less vehicles on the roads comes increased safety for the public.
How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization? The Asthma Files can especially supplement the goal of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign of giving the public access to easy to understand knowledge in order to improve safety from the bottom up. This organization also stresses the idea that you can always do something.
Sustainable South Bronx
What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project?
Sustainable South Bronx is being profiled due to its increasing advocacy about cleaning up the South Bronx, especially in regards to air pollution as each weekday 15,000 trucks pass through the neighborhood. This organization is of particular interest due to air pollution from these trucks being one of the top concerns.
What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
South Bronx Greenway: Members of Sustainable South Bronx are started and are still engaged in the development of the South Bronx Greenway which was developed as a safe link between Hunts Point residential areas and waterfront parks along the area. Previously the area had been too populated by trucks to be safe. (Greenway)
Environmental Restoration: Sustainable South Bronx hosts a volunteer clean-up of green spaces and encourages the planting of gardens. They are also firm advocates of expanding the amount of green space in the area and promoting the parks and green spaces already there. (Earth Day )
BEST (Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training): Trains residents for jobs in the city while teaching skills necessary to protect the environment in their respective work and restoring urban green spaces to hopefully make New York’s buildings greener. (BEST)
Recycling: Received a grant to increase recycling in apartments as South Bronx receives 100% of the Bronx’s waste, transported by trucks, and 23% of the city’s commercial waste. (South Bronx Recycling )
Hunts Point Hustle: A celebration of the Greenway, the Hunts Point Hustle is a 5k Run/Walk between two parks along the greenway. It doubles as raising awareness of the greenway and parks in South Bronx. (Hunts Point Hustle)
What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
Ongoing: Starting in 2003, Sustainable South Bronx started the BEST, Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training, to educate the public on sustainable methods to hopefully make the Bronx a greener, less polluted space. So far it is very popular and a few studies on air quality are currently in the works due to BEST students.
Ongoing: Starting in 2005, Sustainable South Bronx helped in the development of and continues to take care of the Greenway which promotes safe bicycling or walking between green areas and parks in South Bronx.
2008: Sustainable South Bronx utilized a project called FabLab to encourage and teach about sustainable design, the program ran for 6 years and was a hands-on approach to learning about sustainable design and most of the students are out in the work force now.
Ongoing: Starting in 2011, Sustainable South Bronx started the SmartRoofs project which include installing green roofs on warehouses, other nonprofit organizations, and schools.
Ongoing: Starting in 2012, Sustainable South Bronx began an initiative to coat roofs with a white reflective coating in order to increase energy efficiency in the buildings.
2012: SmartRoofs restored four acres of tidal wetlands in South Bronx.
2014: Through Sustainable South Bronx’s BEST program partnering with AirCasting to use their sensors in order to find pockets of poor air quality in the Bronx. (AirCasting)
2014: Sustainable South Bronx calls for the initiation of emission standards for commercial trash trucks. (Trash Trucks)
Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches?
Sustainable South Bronx boasts the BEST program (Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training) which it claims better educates low-income individuals in growing fields while incorporating environmental and sustainable aspects. In this way, this organization believes it is better educating the public on sustainable issues while giving them the tools to have a hand in how these issues may one day be remedied. This organization partners with other organizations to give those community members this knowledge as well which does not fault the other approaches, but rather says they just think they are better.
What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
Data has been collected on the amount of trucks which pass through the South Bronx each day, estimated at 15,000 trucks each weekday.
Data has also been collected on the percentage of waste which is processed in South Bronx, 100% of all waste in the Bronx and 23% of the city’s total commercial waste.
Asthma data is also utilized as a method to show how detrimental the trucks and power plants are on the public’s health in South Bronx.
Recently data is starting to be collected on air quality around the Bronx in order to determine if there are any pockets of particularly bad air quality.
Research on the amount of toxins, specifically nitrous oxide, released from trucks which haven’t been updated to meet the EPA’s emission standards, an estimated 2,188 tons per year is used to show the significance of all the trucks in the South Bronx.
Research on the amount of waste that transfer stations, 13 in total, handle each day, about 1,200 tons, to prove just how series the waste issue is in the city.
Research on air quality and how it may pertain to asthma in the South Bronx specifically is also used, although not as much as it is just stated as fact that South Bronx has a severe asthma issue.
What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
Research on the amount of toxins, specifically nitrous oxide, released from trucks which haven’t been updated to meet the EPA’s emission standards, an estimated 2,188 tons per year is used to show the significance of all the trucks in the South Bronx.
Research on the amount of waste that transfer stations, 13 in total, handle each day, about 1,200 tons, to prove just how series the waste issue is in the city.
Research on air quality and how it may pertain to asthma in the South Bronx specifically is also used, although not as much as it is just stated as fact that South Bronx has a severe asthma issue.
What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
Sustainable South Bronx relies on partnerships with other companies and organizations to help spread the word about the pollution and transportation issues in the South Bronx. They also rely heavily on volunteers to clean up the green spaces and South Bronx citizens whom they educate through BEST. Through this education comes the use of technology such as the most recent, AirCasting. They also utilize green roof technology to further implement sustainable design.
What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma?
Sustainable South Bronx is very community based and this is reflected in their community outreach programs which are primarily focused on South Bronx. Their asthma and air quality studies are based in South Bronx and are utilized to encourage action in those areas. The greenway could easily be used as a template for other areas in New York City but for now, Sustainable South Bronx is focusing on the South Bronx community.
What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health?
The founder, Majora Carter, credits her move to environmentalism from the closing of the Staten Island landfill and the original plan to divert that waste into the South Bronx. As she states in an interview, “we already handle 40 percent of the city’s commercial waste, and that would bring in another 40 percent.” Thus started Sustainable South Bronx’s initial campaign against the amount of waste being trucked into South Bronx. Instead of allowing more garbage dump areas along the Bronx River, the idea for more parks and a greenway began. It became clear to Carter that people didn’t necessarily link the asthma to the air pollution so education became a larger part of the organization as well. Throughout it all, South Bronx had been known for its high asthma rates so expanding to air pollution from all these sources was a logical step until Sustainable South Bronx is where it is now, an educational environmentally conscious organization. (Majora Carter )
What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health?
Sustainable South Bronx relies heavily on donations and fundraisers in order to both raise awareness and keep their programs running. On such fundraiser is the Hunts Point Hustle 5K race which promotes the greenway, is only $5 entrance fee, and boasts a free community party afterwards and specifically asks for environmental or local groups to sponsor the race. As such a community-backed organization, Sustainable South Bronx heavily focuses on the community and not the surrounding areas.
What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health?
The group started out as small-time activists under Majora Carter before coming together to form Sustainable South Bronx. The campaign against all the waste being dumped in the South Bronx turned to the trucks themselves once the asthma levels became clearly tied to the poor air quality, and the trucks as a leading cause. However, many community members did not understand this relation so educational programs were also developed. The largest project, which was just an idea in the beginning, of the South Bronx greenway combined all the aspects of the organization in its increase of the amount of parks, decrease of trucking roads, and increase of public safety.
What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
The main challenge seems to be getting policy makers to listen for the larger projects which are not only based in South Bronx. For example, the data is out there on the garbage trucks not meeting EPA emission standards however Angela Tovar of Sustainable South Bronx has repeated testified about it, and barely anything has been done. (Emissions )
What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health? Sustainable South Bronx calls for regulations to not only be in place, but to be followed in respect to the emissions released from the garbage trucks coming into the South Bronx.
How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization?
South Bronx is considered one of the worst areas for asthma and air quality and few areas realize it is because of not necessarily the waste, but rather the trucks brining in the waste which so negatively impacts the community. The Asthma Files can help expand the practices currently going on by Sustainable South Bronx to other areas as well as give more publicity to the problem of the garbage truck emissions.
Timeline:
In 2013, in an effort to reduce the amount of air pollution New York City announced a new law requiring all waste vehicles to be equipped with an engine that meets the 2007 engine standard established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 2020. The law technically states that commercial trash removal trucks must be equipped with the 2007 engine as stated before or retrofitted with the best technology which will be announced at least 18 months in advance. This law does not only include the 2,000 municipal garbage trucks but also the 8,300 private collection trucks. These engines produce approximately 90-percent fewer emissions than the current engines. In fact, it is predicted that particulate matter emissions would be reduced by 796 tons if the garbage trucks are retrofitted by 2020.
On May 11, 2005 in order to reduce emissions from school buses and other vehicles which transport children to school, New York City announced that those vehicles must use Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel (ULDF) by September 1, 2006. It also included the provision that these vehicles must also use the best available retrofit technology. However, the best available retrofit technology will be determined by the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. These best available retrofit technologies must reduce emissions for the specific engine in these vehicles. However, it must not cost more than 30% to other available technologies with respect to that type of engine. In general, it’s another way to reduce toxic emissions due to diesel fuel vehicles.
By 1903 the elevated railways aboveground in Manhattan and Brooklyn shifted from steam to electric power which offered a smoother, cleaner ride. Elevated railways transformed the way New York City citizens lived, most of whom were within a ten-minute walk from one of the rails. It started the current way of living where working and living in different parts of the city was a completely plausible idea. People were able to travel quickly and cheaply through the city for the first time.
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s overall goal, according to their website, is to “reduce car dependency in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut”. As a non-profit advocacy organization, it combines a number of environmental, transportation, and other non-government organizations across the three states. Through the creation of more sustainable transportation policies this organization hopes to increase public safety and health by reducing crashes and toxic pollutant emissions. Their main focus is to reduce the amount of cars on the road in the belief that this will minimize crashes and release less greenhouse gases.
Tri-State Transportation Campaign focuses on presenting the public with information in concise and easy to understand articles as well as taking a three level approach to advocacy and change ("Impact Proven"). As stated in a recent blog post, "Impact Proven", advocacy groups must not only inspire officials to enact change but rather insert themselves into the governmental organization. For example, Janette Sadik-Khan was a former board member and as commissioner under the Bloomberg administration she pushed forward projects such as Citi Bike and the construction of greenways. This speeds up the process of implementing, in this case, advantageous transportation policies. In this way, Tri-State Transportation Campaign insinuates that other advocacy groups which tend to let the officials make the actual change without being directly involved are helping, but in a much longer time frame which may not impact the system as much.
Tri-State Transportation Campaign does not deal directly with asthma but rather in traffic patterns which lead to conclusions about greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. In general, this organization looks at the big picture across three states in order to attempt to reduce the amount of vehicles on the road across state lines including public transportation between Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Their focus is primarily on safety, from compiling data on pedestrian deaths due to crashes or data on greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
Tri-State Transportation Campaign is heavily focused on safety for pedestrians, especially in the city. The sheer amount of pedestrian deaths seem to have motivated them to take a closer look into all safety aspects of such a large volume of vehicles on the roads. From there the fact that one-fifth of toxic pollutants are emitted by cars and trucks and highways destroy much of the natural habitat led to a more environmentally focused outlook.
Tri-State Transportation Campaign, as a non-profit organization which boasts a 100% tax deductibility, relies mostly on donations from the community in order to support the research and actions taken. A few board of directors have gone on to become leaders of transportation in the government, especially New York City which may impact their view as they are constantly thinking in the big picture, not a specific borough. This organization, mostly through their yearly reports, gets a lot of publicity so although they still boast progressive ideas for transportation reform, a lot of care is taken to keep the C in the public’s good graces. Although it appears they are impartial a lot of stress is placed on getting people in and out of the city, such as the bridge project through public transportation, and attempting to convince people in the city to walk or bike. The different goals based on the different areas are pretty clear.
The primary founding groups are listed as being transportation focused NGOs, although specific names are not listed, which may have been a key factor in the beginning for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign to be primarily focused on pedestrian deaths and congestion instead of pollution. A previous board member, Janette Sadik-Khan who notably became commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation from 2007-2013 also had an interest in the environmental aspects as a political science major. Her environmental understanding was seen as Transportation Commissioner with her programs such as the bike shares program (Janette Sadik-Khan). The current director who began work in 2007, Veronica Canterpool, used to work for the Rainforest Alliance as well as the New York City Department of Environmental Protection which most likely influenced the continued change in looking at environmental factors as well as safety on roadways.
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign seems to find the ignorance of the general population due to restricted data or confusing reports challenging as well as the current slow rate of change occurring due to policy makers. They are very big on getting the information out there in an easy to understand fashion and inserting themselves directly into the policy making process. Especially since they noticed that people were getting asthma and knew the air quality was bad, but never linked the two together until they were told.
Although not directly stated, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign seems to call for a reduction of the amount of vehicles on the road and at times, a reduction in the amount of paved roadways. Through stressing public transportation, fixing instead of making new roads, and converting roads to bike lanes or sidewalks it is clear this organization believes with less vehicles on the roads comes increased safety for the public.
The Asthma Files can especially supplement the goal of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign of giving the public access to easy to understand knowledge in order to improve safety from the bottom up. This organization also stresses the idea that you can always do something.
Sustainable South Bronx
Sustainable South Bronx is being profiled due to its increasing advocacy about cleaning up the South Bronx, especially in regards to air pollution as each weekday 15,000 trucks pass through the neighborhood. This organization is of particular interest due to air pollution from these trucks being one of the top concerns.
Sustainable South Bronx boasts the BEST program (Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training) which it claims better educates low-income individuals in growing fields while incorporating environmental and sustainable aspects. In this way, this organization believes it is better educating the public on sustainable issues while giving them the tools to have a hand in how these issues may one day be remedied. This organization partners with other organizations to give those community members this knowledge as well which does not fault the other approaches, but rather says they just think they are better.
Sustainable South Bronx relies on partnerships with other companies and organizations to help spread the word about the pollution and transportation issues in the South Bronx. They also rely heavily on volunteers to clean up the green spaces and South Bronx citizens whom they educate through BEST. Through this education comes the use of technology such as the most recent, AirCasting. They also utilize green roof technology to further implement sustainable design.
Sustainable South Bronx is very community based and this is reflected in their community outreach programs which are primarily focused on South Bronx. Their asthma and air quality studies are based in South Bronx and are utilized to encourage action in those areas. The greenway could easily be used as a template for other areas in New York City but for now, Sustainable South Bronx is focusing on the South Bronx community.
The founder, Majora Carter, credits her move to environmentalism from the closing of the Staten Island landfill and the original plan to divert that waste into the South Bronx. As she states in an interview, “we already handle 40 percent of the city’s commercial waste, and that would bring in another 40 percent.” Thus started Sustainable South Bronx’s initial campaign against the amount of waste being trucked into South Bronx. Instead of allowing more garbage dump areas along the Bronx River, the idea for more parks and a greenway began. It became clear to Carter that people didn’t necessarily link the asthma to the air pollution so education became a larger part of the organization as well. Throughout it all, South Bronx had been known for its high asthma rates so expanding to air pollution from all these sources was a logical step until Sustainable South Bronx is where it is now, an educational environmentally conscious organization. (Majora Carter )
Sustainable South Bronx relies heavily on donations and fundraisers in order to both raise awareness and keep their programs running. On such fundraiser is the Hunts Point Hustle 5K race which promotes the greenway, is only $5 entrance fee, and boasts a free community party afterwards and specifically asks for environmental or local groups to sponsor the race. As such a community-backed organization, Sustainable South Bronx heavily focuses on the community and not the surrounding areas.
The group started out as small-time activists under Majora Carter before coming together to form Sustainable South Bronx. The campaign against all the waste being dumped in the South Bronx turned to the trucks themselves once the asthma levels became clearly tied to the poor air quality, and the trucks as a leading cause. However, many community members did not understand this relation so educational programs were also developed. The largest project, which was just an idea in the beginning, of the South Bronx greenway combined all the aspects of the organization in its increase of the amount of parks, decrease of trucking roads, and increase of public safety.
The main challenge seems to be getting policy makers to listen for the larger projects which are not only based in South Bronx. For example, the data is out there on the garbage trucks not meeting EPA emission standards however Angela Tovar of Sustainable South Bronx has repeated testified about it, and barely anything has been done. (Emissions )
South Bronx is considered one of the worst areas for asthma and air quality and few areas realize it is because of not necessarily the waste, but rather the trucks brining in the waste which so negatively impacts the community. The Asthma Files can help expand the practices currently going on by Sustainable South Bronx to other areas as well as give more publicity to the problem of the garbage truck emissions.
Timeline:
In 2013, in an effort to reduce the amount of air pollution New York City announced a new law requiring all waste vehicles to be equipped with an engine that meets the 2007 engine standard established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 2020. The law technically states that commercial trash removal trucks must be equipped with the 2007 engine as stated before or retrofitted with the best technology which will be announced at least 18 months in advance. This law does not only include the 2,000 municipal garbage trucks but also the 8,300 private collection trucks. These engines produce approximately 90-percent fewer emissions than the current engines. In fact, it is predicted that particulate matter emissions would be reduced by 796 tons if the garbage trucks are retrofitted by 2020.
On May 11, 2005 in order to reduce emissions from school buses and other vehicles which transport children to school, New York City announced that those vehicles must use Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel (ULDF) by September 1, 2006. It also included the provision that these vehicles must also use the best available retrofit technology. However, the best available retrofit technology will be determined by the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. These best available retrofit technologies must reduce emissions for the specific engine in these vehicles. However, it must not cost more than 30% to other available technologies with respect to that type of engine. In general, it’s another way to reduce toxic emissions due to diesel fuel vehicles.
By 1903 the elevated railways aboveground in Manhattan and Brooklyn shifted from steam to electric power which offered a smoother, cleaner ride. Elevated railways transformed the way New York City citizens lived, most of whom were within a ten-minute walk from one of the rails. It started the current way of living where working and living in different parts of the city was a completely plausible idea. People were able to travel quickly and cheaply through the city for the first time.