| Local Policy Description: | Continue Police Units on Bicycle
The Brattleboro Police Department currently has four bicycles that are used for patrols. These patrols operate nine months out of the year, with heaviest use during the summer months. The police bicycle program has resulted in many benefits for Brattleboro. Moving police out of cars and onto bicycles reduces municipal fuel use and provides visible evidence that bicycling is a legitimate option for transportation. Bike police also have a positive impact on crime, as bicycles are more difficult to spot than cruisers, and allow access to areas inaccessible to cars. In addition, the patrols are good for public relations, as they make police more approachable and can be used for special events. The four mountain bikes have contributed to the annual elimination of 12 tons of CO2 and savings of $1,820 in avoided fuel costs.
Conversion of Fleet Vehicles to Biodiesel (Proposed)
The Town of Brattleboro could use biodiesel in diesel vehicles used by the Highway Department, Fire Department, and the Beeline bus service. Biodiesel is a clean, renewable diesel fuel substitute produced from agricultural resources such as soybeans or rapeseed. Vegetable oil from these plants, either used or virgin, is processed with lye and methanol to form biodiesel. It can be burned in any standard, unmodified diesel engine, most commonly as a 20% blend. Current biodiesel fleets have reported operational consistency over extended periods of use - engine performance, payload power and range are completely unaltered. If Brattleboro's 32 heavy trucks, equipment vehicles and buses currently running on diesel were fueled with biodiesel, 72 tons of CO2 could be eliminated. Brattleboro should also investigate low sulfur diesel, which reduces the particulate emissions associated with conventional diesel.
Efficient Vehicles Ordinance (Proposed)
The Town of Brattleboro could pass an ordinance requiring that all new vehicles purchased by the town for municipal use are the most fuel-efficient vehicle allowable for the job. Current vehicles in every department would be evaluated to determine if the size and the fuel type of the vehicles are appropriate based on the frequency and the type of usage. Where feasible, the town would purchase smaller vehicles for each department. When upgrading the fleet, the town would take into account the main use of the vehicle and will purchase the smallest and most fuel-efficient vehicle in the class required for the job.
Hybrid Gas/Electric Vehicles in Town Fleet (Proposed)
The Town of Brattleboro should encourage the use of hybrid and electric vehicles in the town vehicle fleet, including the Beeline bus service, wherever feasible. These vehicles would make the most sense for uses that do not require extra power or high speeds, such as parking vans.
Continue Bicycling/Walking Outreach Program Community Transportation
While Brattleboro cannot control weather or people's commuting distance, the town benefits from the walk-ability of its downtown and bike-ability of some roads in the area. In locations such as downtown where the infrastructure is in place, bicycling and walking trips can take the place of certain auto trips. Improvements such as new and expanded bike paths, wider road shoulders, bicycle storage facilities, safe sidewalks, and crossings can encourage more bicycling and walking in and around Brattleboro. The Windham Regional Commission's Bike/Pedestrian committee sponsors a week-long series of events each spring to promote increased bicycling and walking. Shifting an additional 10 trips from single-occupant automobiles to bicycles through the bicycle outreach program and new bike paths could reduce up to 14,052 pounds of CO2 a year and could save Brattleboro commuters up to $563 a year in fuel savings. The Windham Regional Commission is the department responsible for the Bicycling and Walking Outreach Program.
Extend Town and Regional Bus Service
The Town of Brattleboro currently operates the town bus system, called the Beeline. There are plans to expand the number of buses running in order to reduce the headways (time between buses), and possibly to reconfigure the route setup to create loops. Long-term plans are to have three buses running on three separate loops, connecting at a central hub at the town's new transit center. The buses will make connections at the train station and at planned park-and-ride facilities at each exit on I-91. These changes should make the bus service more practical and convenient as an alternative to car use. There is currently a regional service between Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, with plans to add a connection to a Brattleboro-Bennington route. Another possibility is a bus line serving the West River Valley (Route 30).
Bicycle Paths
Public Works' planned Whetstone Brook Pathway will run from Main Street to Sunset Lake Road by way of the Downtown Transportation Center, Living Memorial Park, and the Academy School. As the first stage of the project, a pedestrian bridge over Whetstone Brook was completed in summer 2003. The Connecticut River Pathway will run from the Fort Hill Bridge just south of the Vernon Road wastewater treatment plant north to the Hinsdale Bridge and to the Veteran's Memorial (North) Bridge on Putney Road, just across from the beginning of the West River Trail. The Fort Hill Bridge would connect over the Connecticut River to the extensive New Hampshire trail system. Once the new Hinsdale Bridge is constructed about 1/8 mile south of the existing bridge, the existing truss bridges will be turned over to bicycle/pedestrian use. This project will be completed in approximately 10 years.
Brattleboro - Bennington Bus Line
The Windham Regional Commission's proposed regional bus line would operate between Brattleboro and Bennington, with stops in Marlboro, Wilmington, Dover, Searsburg, and Woodford. The bus line would account for savings of 421 CO2 tons and $45,624 in avoided fuel costs. A Brattleboro-to-Bennington Feasibility Study was completed in March 2001. Since then there have been no new action steps towards connecting the two towns via public transit. In February 2003, the Vermont Department of Transportation alerted all Regional Planning Commissions that no new projects will receive funding, although changes in funding could be made in the future.
No Idling Campaign (Proposed)
The town, through Brattleboro Climate Protection, could institute a "no-idling" public education campaign and require a clause in its contracts with construction firms prohibiting idling. Vehicle idling is responsible for millions of dollars per year in wasted fuel. Idling for 10 minutes per day wastes an average of 26 gallons of gasoline per year. As part of the Main Street Reconstruction Project, a computerized, closed-loop system to coordinate traffic signals is planned. This will result in more efficient pedestrian and traffic flow, with less idling and delay. This project is scheduled to begin in 2007.
Continue Compact Development Zoning Ordinances
Brattleboro is characteristic of the network of compact, walkable, mixed-use centers and neighborhoods in older cities and towns scattered throughout New England. Mixed-use development and zoning in Brattleboro is designed to permit a variety of community activities, locales and services to co-exist in close proximity, thereby reducing the need for extensive automotive travel. Transit-oriented development brings potential riders closer to transit facilities rather than building away from population centers. Another beneficial impact of mixed-use and transit-oriented development is to reduce the need for excess parking. Open space in Brattleboro provides a variety of environmental and aesthetic benefits including more opportunity for landscaping with woody plants to promote the absorption of CO2. Paved land tends to reduce adjacent property values, increases water pollution and storm water flooding, reduces visual and acoustic privacy and causes urban heat islands (increased local temperature). The Town of Brattleboro encourages Planned Unit Developments, Planned Residential Developments, and mixed uses. The downtown (Urban Center) zoning was recently amended to eliminate minimum lot coverage percentage and setbacks, and reduce the minimum lot size. There are minimum new building height requirements, and a ban on new private off-street parking.
Lobby for Increased Federal/State CAFÉ Standards (Proposed)
The Selectboard of Brattleboro Climate Protection evaluated the impact of lobbying for increased CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, to 45 mpg for cars and 35 mpg for light trucks. The fuel economy of the average new passenger vehicle peaked in 1988 and is now less than it was 10 years ago. To reverse present trends and provide benefits to consumers and the environment, fuel economy standards need to be increased to over 40 mpg by 2010 and 55 mpg by 2020. A fleet of cars and light trucks that reach 40 mpg will cost consumers only about $1000 to $2000 extra per vehicle. However, the $2500 to $5300 saved on fuel over the life of the vehicle will more than compensate the consumer.
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