Moving towards Sustainability: New York State Department of Transportation's GreenLITES Story

Abstract

Transportation is an essential component of a sustainable society, and its benefits and costs are well studied at the project level. However, while methodologies for assessing environmental impacts are well developed, commensurate tools for assessing how transportation investments contribute to a sustainable society and what the mechanisms are for adjusting transportation programs to support a sustainable society are lacking. Under the current construct, transportation agencies avoid impacts but find it difficult to quantify benefits and align transportation programs with the greater needs of a sustainable society. The New York State Department of Transportation’s (NYSDOT’s) GreenLITES (Green Leadership In Transportation and Environmental Sustainability) program is a tool to advance the Department’s efforts to better align sustainability efforts in planning, design, construction, and maintenance operations with long term needs. Though the Department has been incorporating sustainable elements into its transportation projects for years, GreenLITES promotes increased awareness and best practices across program areas to enhance sustainability. GreenLITES also gives the Department a way to measure our performance, recognize best practices, and identify needed partnerships. GreenLITES was initially designed to assess capital project environmental sustainability elements. However, as GreenLITES was put into use, its potential to address transportation investments across a range of program areas became apparent, and a more holistic approach to the “triple bottom line” of economy, society, and environment has been adopted. As a result, the GreenLITES program expanded to include a growing collection of tools (rating systems, spreadsheets, and other metrics) to assess projects, plans, operations and maintenance programs, and regional programs. This paper describes NYSDOT’s GreenLITES program evolution from its environmentally based beginnings to a more comprehensive approach in support of a more sustainable society. The paper covers program vision, goals, benefits, management, and evolving next steps.