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| Regional View Newsletter | |||||
| March 2008 [pdf version] | |||||
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Table of Contents |
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Region Plans Ahead to Address Climate Change The Puget Sound Regional Council is preparing for how best to incorporate anticipated new state and federal climate change policies into long-range regional transportation and growth planning, as well as how best to capitalize on the region's growing clean technology economy and the jobs it creates. The State of Washington, King County, and 32 local cities, including Auburn, Bellevue, Bremerton, Everett, Seattle and Tacoma, have already set the pace on addressing climate change by adopting policies and measures to reduce emissions. Emerging planning practices to address climate change are following two tracks: adaptation, which is determining how to adapt current infrastructure to a warmer climate, and mitigation, which focuses on slowing climate change through reduced emissions. According to 2004 data, transportation accounted for 28 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington state. In 2002, transportation accounted for 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Puget Sound region. Nationally, transportation accounts for a lower share of emissions due to the prevalence of coal-based electric power, which emits higher amounts of greenhouse gases than the hydroelectric power used in Washington. Possible impacts of climate change in Washington and the region could include:
Source: Washington State Department of Ecology, UW Climate Impacts Group Impacts to transportation infrastructure include:
Source: USDOT, U.S. Climate Change Science Program, Pew Center on Global Climate Change To mitigate climate change in terms of transportation, reducing emissions involves three types of programs: vehicle efficiency, alternative fuels, and demand reduction (vehicle miles traveled). Combining these approaches offers greater opportunities and added flexibility to reduce emissions. Other mitigation efforts include reforestation, use of renewable resources, and sustainable development practices. What PSRC is doing The Puget Sound Regional Council is working to integrate climate change policies and considerations in each of its regional planning functions: growth management, transportation, data, and economic development. The Regional Growth Strategy VISION 2040, which is slated for adoption in April, includes the goal of reducing the region's overall production of elements that contribute to climate change. For the first time, the region will have specific multicounty planning policies to address greenhouse gas production and climate change. In addition, the Regional Growth Strategy has been designed to emphasize development that requires less energy use per capita compared to lower density development patterns. PSRC and its member organizations will work in coordination with the state to create a Regional Climate Change Action Plan, including a benchmark program. Transportation Planning Climate change has already been identified as a key issue for the update to the region's long-range transportation plan. PSRC received over 900 public comments during the scoping process, and concern for climate change was a top transportation priority. The Transportation Policy Board has directed the update process to examine climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, energy consumption issues, and ways to meet the state emission reduction goals. Better Data Analysis Tools PSRC received a FHWA grant for improvements to the travel demand model to more accurately answer questions related to the impacts on climate change from various strategies such as tolling, travel demand management and land use for evaluating alternatives to consider in long-range plans. PSRC is also working with FHWA and the EPA on access to the new, improved emissions model (MOVES) to analyze carbon dioxide emissions by varying speeds. The newly established Climate Change Technical Working Group will help with technical work that includes model improvements and regionally consistent analysis methodologies. PSRC is also participating with the Volpe Institute in a case study on best practices for integrating climate change into planning processes.
The Prosperity Partnership has identified clean technology as an important regional industry cluster with tremendous growth potential. Clean Technology is one of the five initial industry clusters in the Regional Economic Strategy. The cluster features companies that work in sustainable development, clean energy, renewable fuels, energy efficiency environmental services and more. Bolstered by the accelerating commitments of consumers and businesses to address climate change, clean technology is a growing field. For more information about the climate change policies at PSRC, please contact Kelly McGourty at 206-971-3601 or kmcgourty@psrc.org. For more information about the Clean Technology cluster, contact Joan Chen at 206-389-2889 or jchen@psrc.org. General Assembly to Adopt VISION 2040, Awards Will Feature Bill Ruckelshaus This year's program includes the adoption of VISION 2040, the region's new long-range growth, transportation and economic strategy, action on an enhanced Destination 2030 and PSRC's supplemental budget and work program, and the election of new officers. The General Assembly convenes on Thursday, April 24, 2008. At the dinner we will celebrate this year's VISION 2020 Award winners. The awards are a highlight of the Assembly and are a great opportunity to honor and learn about some of the very best work being done to achieve our growth management, economic and transportation strategy. Highlights will include special guest William D. Ruckelshaus. An agenda and registration form will be mailed to Assembly members early in April. Register online after March 15 at psrc.org. 
Comparing Population, Commuter and Freight Patterns in Puget Sound and Five Peer Regions A recent comparison of the metropolitan area of central Puget Sound with the metropolitan areas of Portland, San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, and Atlanta found that compared to these other regions, the central Puget Sound region has:
In 1970, the population of the central Puget Sound region was larger than all regions but the San Francisco Bay Area. By 2006, both the Phoenix and Atlanta regions were larger than the central Puget Sound region. Over that time period, only the San Francisco Bay Area grew more slowly than the central Puget Sound region. The population of the central Puget Sound region now is about the same as the population of San Francisco in 1970 (Figure 1).
In 2002, Smart Growth America published the report "Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact." Analysts created indices for four factors which con-tribute towards sprawl, including "Mixed Use" (mix of job types and household access to jobs and other needs) and "Centeredness" (clustering of residential density relative to a single regional center). Figure 2 shows how these six regions compare, on a scale where 100 is the average of the 83 metropolitan regions considered in the report. According to these calculations, the central Puget Sound region has less mixed use than all but Atlanta, and is less centered than the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, and Denver. Carpooling is remarkably consistent at about 11 percent for all regions (Figure 3). The central Puget Sound region's rate of transit us-age for commuting is exceeded only by the San Francisco Bay Area, which also has higher percentages of walk, bike, and work-at-home. Because the central Puget Sound region and San Francisco Bay Area have similarly constricted geographies, including major bodies of water, it is possible that an increase in mixed-use neighborhoods and transit service could accommodate the central Puget Sound region's growth over the next 30 years in a way that would result in the central Puget Sound region in 2040 resembling the San Francisco Bay Area today.
Freight transportation is one measure of the vitality of a region's economy. The value of freight flowing into and out of the various regions is approximately proportional to their populations. But the central Puget Sound region has a greater value of international freight flowing through it than any other region in this comparison. The San Francisco Bay Area is a distant second (Figure 4). For additional comparisons of these and other regions, see www.psrc.org. For more information about these comparisons, contact Larry Blain at lblain@psrc.org or 206- 971-3287.
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