Life Cycle Environmental Impact of Houston METRO System – Evaluation of Electric Alternatives

In the Greater Houston Area, mobile sources (on-and off-road vehicles) contribute the largest share of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and second-highest share of volatile organic (VOC) emissions. The Houston METRO system is a key element in Houston\u27s infrastructure that can be expanded to lower emissions of criteria air pollutants (CAPs) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) and improve regional air quality. Currently, there is no comparative study for relative emissions and environmental impacts between passenger automobiles and METRO routes in Houston. Our research addressed this critical gap and developed environmental life cycle assessment for conventional diesel buses, diesel hybrid buses, and alternative electric buses in Houston using the GREET model. The life cycle GHG emissions of electric buses are slightly lower than the other two types of buses. However, all the other major emissions such as CO, NOx, PM10, PM2.5, VOCs, SOx, N2O, CH4, black carbon and primary organic carbon associated with electric buses are higher than diesel buses, thus causing higher environmental cost of electric buses than diesel buses. The life cycle costs of buses are very sensitive to future diesel and electricity prices. The results from this project would serve as a guiding framework to evaluate the effects of the decision to expand the METRO system and estimate the contribution of the METRO system in realizing the Greater Houston Area\u27s environmental objectives

Lifecycle Environmental Impact of High-Speed Rail System in the Houston-Dallas I-45 Corridor

Texas has the highest rate of the U.S energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and transportation is one of the major contributors. The Houston–Dallas corridor is the busiest routes in Texas. Recently, the development of an intercity High-Speed Rail System (HSR) with Shinkansen N700 series trains has commenced. This study builds the life cycle inventories for vehicles and infrastructure in the HSR system, and conducts a preliminary environmental life cycle assessment. Results indicate that over the design life of the HSR system the total GHG emissions from the vehicle life-time are 9.695 kgCO2eq/VKT, and fossil-fuel usage during vehicle operation is the primary contributor (97%). For the infrastructure, total life-time GHG emissions are 239 kgCO2eq/VKT, out of which, 94% are from the construction stage. Infrastructure is the dominant contributor to end-point impacts in human health category, with 58% of total impact across all damage categories

Lifecycle Environmental Impact of High-Speed Rail System in the I-45 Corridor

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18PPPVU01. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference: The Houston-Dallas (I-45) corridor is the busiest route among 18 traffic corridors in Texas. The expected population growth and the surge in passenger mobility could result in a significant impact on the regional environment. This study uses a life cycle framework to estimate the net change in environmental impact with the development of a high speed rail system (HSR) along the I-45 corridor. The study follows ISO 14040 principles and standards of life cycle assessment and uses SimaPro 8.5® software and the Ecoinvent 3.3 inventory database. Infrastructure construction, vehicle manufacturing, system operation, and end of life phases are included in the life cycle assessment. The energy and emissions of the system are evaluated per vehicle/passenger-kilometers traveled and compared with the existing transportation modes. The vehicle component accounts for 14.50 kgCO2eq/VKT, of which fossil-fuel usage during operation is the primary contributor with 98% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For the infrastructure component, 56.76% of GHG emissions result from the material extraction and processing phase (23.75kgCO2eq/VKT). Life cycle CO2 emissions of this system are 40% lower than comparable systems in Europe, Asia, and North America. The minimum ridership levels required to offset the environmental impact from conventional modes of transport are around 12% and 27% for GHG emissions and NOx emissions respectively. For the stakeholders, policymakers, and community leaders, this study recommends the construction of HSR system between Dallas-Houston, since it does not only save time, reduces traffic jam, and improve passengers’ mobility, but it also saves energy, which benefits the regional environment

Lifecycle Environmental Impact of High-Speed Rail System in the Houston-Dallas I-45 Corridor

Texas has the highest rate of the U.S energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and transportation is one of the major contributors. The Houston–Dallas corridor is the busiest routes in Texas. Recently, the development of an intercity High-Speed Rail System (HSR) with Shinkansen N700 series trains has commenced. This study builds the life cycle inventories for vehicles and infrastructure in the HSR system, and conducts a preliminary environmental life cycle assessment. Results indicate that over the design life of the HSR system the total GHG emissions from the vehicle life-time are 9.695 kgCO2eq/VKT, and fossil-fuel usage during vehicle operation is the primary contributor (97%). For the infrastructure, total life-time GHG emissions are 239 kgCO2eq/VKT, out of which, 94% are from the construction stage. Infrastructure is the dominant contributor to end-point impacts in human health category, with 58% of total impact across all damage categories

Recruiting, Retaining, and Promoting for Careers at Transportation Agencies

State transportation agencies currently face complex challenges in recruiting and retaining the workforce necessary to function effectively. The situation exacerbates due to the number of employees from different generations that have to coexist with varying values, expectations, and principles. These agencies are primarily comprised of two generational groups: the baby-boomers, who are approaching retirement and occupy many managerial positions; and the millennials, who are demonstrating their interest in technology and demanding dynamism in their careers. This multiplicity of interest represents a challenge for human resources (HR) in addressing workforce issues and providing the necessary means to recruit and retain qualified employees within a transportation agency. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine the practices in recruiting, training, and retaining qualified employees at state departments of transportation (DOTs) primarily from Region 6 DOTs of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. A comprehensive literature review, including journal articles, books, and District 6 DOT documents, reports, and training manuals provided the basis to discuss current practices in recruitment and retention with Region 6 DOT human resources (HR) staff. A total of nine HR professionals were interviewed for this study. These interviews identified the most difficult to fill positions as engineers and engineer technicians. These positions also have high turnover rates within DOTs. The primary difficulty in retaining and recruiting staff in these positions was ascribed to the wage differences between the public and the private sector. The results of the HR interviews were used to compile a questionnaire that was distributed to current DOT District 6 employees. A total of 1,109 employee surveys were collected and reviewed to develop a recommended list of best practices for recruiting and retaining DOT employees. The list of best practices includes increased social media presence, quantification of overall benefit packages, implementation of flexible work schedules and telecommuting, clarification and restructuring of the promotions and incentives process, and increased communication and feedback between staff and management

Life-Cycle Environmental Impact of High-Speed Rail System in the I-45 Corridor [Supporting Dataset]

69A3551747106National Transportation Library (NTL) Curation Note: As this dataset is preserved in a repository outside U.S. DOT control, as allowed by the U.S. DOT's Public Access Plan (https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647) Section 7.4.2 Data, the NTL staff has performed NO additional curation actions on this dataset. The current level of dataset documentation is the responsibility of the dataset creator. NTL staff last accessed this dataset at its repository URL on 2022-11-11. If, in the future, you have trouble accessing this dataset at the host repository, please email [email protected] describing your problem. NTL staff will do its best to assist you at that time.The Houston-Dallas (I-45) corridor is the busiest route among 18 traffic corridors in Texas. The expected population growth and the surge in passenger mobility could result in a significant impact on the regional environment. This study uses a life cycle framework to estimate the net change in environmental impact with the development of a high speed rail system (HSR) along the I-45 corridor. The study follows ISO 14040 principles and standards of life cycle assessment and uses SimaPro 8.5\uae software and the Ecoinvent 3.3 inventory database. Infrastructure construction, vehicle manufacturing, system operation, and end of life phases are included in the life cycle assessment. The energy and emissions of the system are evaluated per vehicle/passenger-kilometers traveled and compared with the existing transportation modes. The vehicle component accounts for 14.50 kgCO2eq/VKT, of which fossil-fuel usage during operation is the primary contributor with 98% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For the infrastructure component, 56.76% of GHG emissions result from the material extraction and processing phase (23.75kgCO2eq/VKT). Life cycle CO2 emissions of this system are 40% lower than comparable systems in Europe, Asia, and North America. The minimum ridership levels required to offset the environmental impact from conventional modes of transport are around 12% and 27% for GHG emissions and NOx emissions respectively. For the stakeholders, policymakers, and community leaders, this study recommends the construction of HSR system between Dallas-Houston, since it does not only save time, reduces traffic jam, and improve passengers\u2019 mobility, but it also saves energy, which benefits the regional environment. The total size of the described zip file is 4.38 MB. Files with the .xlsx extension are Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files. These can be opened in Excel or open-source spreadsheet programs. Docx files are document files created in Microsoft Word. These files can be opened using Microsoft Word or with an open source text viewer such as Apache OpenOffice. PDFs are used to display text and images and can be opened with any PDF reader or editor