Using Transit Oriented Development As A Global Warming Reduction Strategy

"Not only could high-density housing development encourage more walking, biking and transit use, it could help the state reach its ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 25 percent, to 1990 levels by 2020, said Ted Droettboom, regional planning director for a joint committee on smart growth.

And while transit-oriented development is not a silver bullet, convincing drivers to give up their cars addresses, head-on, the largest source of greenhouse gases in the Bay Area and California, James Corless of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission said. An estimated 50 percent of all greenhouses gases in the Bay Area — more than twice that from local industry — comes from personal vehicles, a new study on "Climate Change and the Bay Area" shows."

"As a first step to getting a grip on the problem, the Joint Policy Committee voted unanimously Friday (Nov. 17) to move forward with a comprehensive analysis of what traffic and Bay conservation agencies as well as local governments need to do to begin reducing greenhouse gases. Warning there is no time to lose and adopting the state's 25 percent reduction model as a goal, the analysis is expected to be complete in six months, Droettboom said."