Transportation Services awarded for commitment to clean air

Wednesday, November 18, 1998

Transportation Services awarded for commitment to clean air

ENVIRONMENT: Vanpools, monitoring system, buses earn kudos from
district

By Christine Byrd

Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA Transportation Services was awarded one of the 12 1998
Clean Air Awards by the South Coast Air Quality Management District
(SCAQMD) for its "innovative transportation project" at a special
ceremony in Los Angeles last month.

Mark Stocki, the director of Transportation Services, was on
hand to accept the award at the banquet at the Biltmore Hotel
downtown on Oct. 28. The award "recognizes our outstanding efforts
and commitment to innovative transportation programs that help
clean the air," he said.

Air quality management cited UCLA’s vanpool program, traffic
management system, compressed natural gas (CNG)-fueled buses and
on-site fueling station as points of commendation. UCLA
Transportation Services uses an integrated approach, said Sam
Atwood, spokesman for SCAQMD.

"Someone has obviously put a lot of time and thought into it,"
he said.

Atwood said UCLA has shown long-standing commitment to its
vanpool system. It is the nation’s largest college vanpool program
with 130 vans serving 1,362 faculty, staff and students each day,
according to Charles Carter, marketing coordinator for
Transportation Services.

The vanpool reduces pollution by over 200,000 pounds annually,
according to SCAQMD.

"They’re cleaning the air every day that they’re on the road,"
said Gordon Anderson, Transportation Services compliance
coordinator.

Atwood said there are less state regulations to encourage
vanpooling today, so it is refreshing to see large organizations
implementing programs like this.

UCLA has a state-of-the-art Campus Automated Traffic Monitoring
System (nicknamed Cat & Mouse). The system uses computer
technology to monitor automobile traffic entering and exiting UCLA,
and the impact it has on the community. In 1990, UCLA entered into
a traffic mitigation monitoring agreement with the city in which
UCLA guarantees to limit the traffic it generates as it develops.
Anderson said this requires Transportation Services to constantly
look for ways to deal with traffic that is created by new buildings
on campus.

Since UCLA was last honored at the first annual Clean Air Awards
in 1989, it has continued its efforts toward cleaner air by phasing
out its diesel fueled buses and replacing them with CNG buses.

An on-campus CNG fueling station was installed in 1994 to serve
other university vehicles that run on this cleaner burning fuel.
Last January, Transportation Services purchased 11 CNG-fueled buses
at $240,000 each to replace its outdated diesel fleet. This is the
typical cost for a new bus, Carter said.

The new buses seat only 33 ­ five less than the older
diesel buses ­ but have standing room for 10 to 15 more and
meet required guidelines for wheelchair capacity, said
Anderson.

"We hope all transit agencies will move to replace their diesel
buses with ones that run on cleaner burning fuel such as compressed
natural gas," Atwood said. These buses serve 1.4 million passengers
annually on the campus routes, according to Carter.

Although no black smoke pours from the tailpipes and there is a
special CNG insignia on the buses, many passengers still do not
realize they are riding buses run by cleaner burning fuel.

Karthik Vaidyanathan, a fourth-year microbiology student, said
that he takes the bus from Ackerman turnaround every day but had no
idea that it runs on CNG.

"It runs just like a typical bus. If it’s good for the
environment, then I think it’s a good idea," he said.

The Quick Charge L.A. program, of which UCLA is a member, was
also given a Clean Air Award by SCAQMD in the category of "model
community achievements." Quick Charge is a $3.5 million project
involving 29 public and private organizations to introduce electric
vehicles by installing 200 electric charging stations around Los
Angeles, including one on campus.

Transportation Services is in the process of purchasing two
electrically charged vehicles ­ a Ford Ranger and a Honda EV
­ both of which were featured at the UCLA Transportation Fair
in Westwood Plaza earlier this year.

The Ford Ranger will replace a parking enforcement vehicle, and
the Honda EV will be used for a variety of errands by
Transportation Services’ internal staff. As campus vehicles owned
by other departments need to be replaced, Transportation Services
will be encouraging them to purchase electric vehicles as well.

"This year’s winners represent the best and brightest in the
effort to achieve clean air," said William Burke, governing board
chairman for SCAQMD. "However, our work is far from
finished."CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin

The natural gas buses used by the UCLA Transportation Services
are one reason why the department was honored by the SCAQMD.

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