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We must link growth to public transit

By Dianne Brake When people think of ways to reduce greenhouse gases, talk usually centers on solutions such as cutting industrial smokestack emissions, encouraging Americans to drive hybrid cards, building more "green" buildings, using solar power, and replacing incandescent lightbulbs with fluorescent ones.

By Dianne Brake

When people think of ways to reduce greenhouse gases, talk usually centers on solutions such as cutting industrial smokestack emissions, encouraging Americans to drive hybrid cards, building more "green" buildings, using solar power, and replacing incandescent lightbulbs with fluorescent ones.

But here's a key solution that rarely comes up when people discuss the climate crisis: better land-use planning that links smart growth to transit.

In the fight against greenhouse gases, most of the regulatory attention continues to focus on smokestacks and other "point" sources in the industrial sector. Government officials often feel helpless to address the portion of emissions that comes from the growing number of car and truck trips.

In New Jersey, this is a serious problem, since transportation accounts for the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions: Almost 40 percent of greenhouse gases come from cars, trucks and other vehicles, while industry is responsible for 16 percent of emissions, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Hybrid cars, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, and more-stringent tailpipe emission standards can help, but much more needs to be done. We must plan for increased use of transit by creating places that encourage more zero-car and one-car households and dramatically reduce the number and length of vehicle trips taken by everyone else.

Recently, Gov. Corzine introduced a measure to create "urban transit hubs" by offering tax credits to companies that build or lease office space located within a half-mile of a transit station. Such efforts are important, but much more needs to be done.

What can help? Regional thinking, since transportation is not something that can effectively be addressed on a town-by-town basis.

The next step is to work at the county level to help communities determine the best ways to get vehicles off the road. Here's where the land-use planning comes in. "Transit villages" and other pedestrian-friendly "Main Street"-style communities are ideal planning choices for reducing vehicle miles traveled.

Public-transit use has been identified as one of the best ways Americans can help to combat climate change. Research shows that if one person switches from driving to taking public transit, his or her household's annual carbon footprint can be reduced by 10 percent.

New Jersey is ahead of the game when it comes to transit. The state boasts one of the nation's most extensive public transportation networks and is second only to New York in the percentage of residents who commute to work by public transit, according to census data.

New Jersey is also at the forefront of a national movement to promote more transit-centered development. In 1999, the state established a Transit Village Initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Transportation, and has accepted 19 communities into the program, including Burlington City, Collingswood and Pleasantville. An official "transit village" designation results in priority funding from some state agencies, grant eligibility, less administrative red tape, and increased interest from developers following acceptance into the program.

The problem? Too many of the state's designated transit villages are not located in areas where jobs are projected to grow. In addition, many of the state's largest employers are not located near transit.

New Jersey needs to get its act together - and soon. We have the second-most-polluted air in the nation and, with 127 miles of coastline, we stand to lose more than $20 billion in tourism revenues from our Shore communities if ocean levels rise, as predicted, from global warming. Our three nuclear reactor plants are located near the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay as well.

Transit villages would provide a much-needed boost to our economy. With more and more New Jerseyans fleeing the state because of congestion and a lack of affordable housing, transit villages offer New Jersey a unique opportunity to create communities with homes that workers can afford in locations that are transit-friendly and close to the where the state's employment centers are.

Another fringe benefit? Transit village residents report being decidedly happier with their communities than are other New Jerseyans.