Sustainability commitment.
Sustainability commitment.
TARTA has been practicing sustainability for several years with its continued use of domestically-produced biodiesel fuel, a green paratransit facility featuring solar and geothermal technology, and maintaining bus routes and schedules with efficiency in mind. With the GreenTown kick-off event on October 26, 2012, and with the guidance of the Toledo-Lucas Sustainability Commission, TARTA is partnering with other organizations for a sustainability plan for the region. Most recently, TARTA has made a Sustainability Commitment with the American Public Transportation Association.
Sustainability, preserving the environment, being socially responsible and maintaining economic viability, with an overall contribution to quality of life, is integral to what we do and what we provide as the public transportation industry. Many APTA members have already made sustainability a strategic objective and have made great strides to increase the sustainability of their own organizations, in great part as a way to become more resource efficient, engage more with employees and customers and grow ridership, market share and funding support. And the drive towards sustainability is increasing as issues such as climate change, energy independence, preservation of resources and quality of life rise to the forefront in the public and political arenas.
The APTA sustainability commitment aims to give APTA members credit for the efforts they are already making as well as support those who are taking first steps. The commitment sets out common sustainability principles, an action plan and a course for progress. The commitment also supports the exchange of good practice and aims to mark the achievements in sustainability the public transportation industry is making overall. Through the commitment, the public transportation industry is demonstrating its significant contribution to and measurable leadership on sustainability.
All APTA members, whether from the public or private sectors, are eligible to sign the APTA sustainability commitment on a voluntary basis. APTA members who sign on commit to putting core internal processes and actions into place which set the basis for continuous improvement on environmental, social and economic sustainability. Signatories can obtain higher recognition levels of the commitment by achieving additional actions, putting long-term processes into place and attaining reduction targets for a series of set indicators.
