Blogpost by: Sara Grilli
As a society, most of us agree we need to do our part to take care of our environment, ensuring future generations can enjoy it. Helping out the environment can start with small steps such as using a reusable water bottle, switching to paper straws and making a conscious effort to properly recycle materials that we use.
Another step we can take in the right direction is the way we travel. Different transportation methods have different impacts on the environment. Active modes of transportation such as walking and biking are the most ideal but are not always practical for long distance travel. Transit is the next best option that benefits the environment.
A bigger step in making environmentally-friendly choices is building infrastructure that makes it easy to choose transit. Transit and communities built close to transit provide a multitude of benefits to the environment including:
- Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions: One bus can replace up to 70 cars on the road.
- Alternative Fuels: The number of buses using alternative fuels increased significantly in the past 10 years, according to the U.S Federal Transit Administration. In April, the Government of Ontario committed to investing in a new pilot program that will allow York Region to purchase six, forty-foot electric battery-powered buses.
- Air quality: The more people use transit, the fewer cars there are on the road which will significantly improve the air quality.
- Protecting land: The Oak Ridges Moraine Act [2001] and the Greenbelt Act [2005] together protect 69% of York Region’s land. By building compact, transit-oriented development where growth should be, in our city centres, we help conserve the remaining 31% from suburban sprawl.
We have more projects to come, both bus rapid transit and subway, and they all contribute to making the environment better. We only have one earth; let’s do our part to take care of it.