Making public transit accessible, safe and convenient is a ‘primary focus’ of Seattle’s new Climate Change Response Framework

Written by Andy Castillo

As administrators of American cities work to meet climate-related fossil fuel reduction goals, creating a longterm roadmap is a critical first step. Seattle, Wash. is the latest city to do so with the creation this month of its Climate Change Response Framework (CCRF).

“This framework acts as a critical input into the Seattle Transportation Plan (STP), our 20-year vision for the future of our transportation system,” reads an explainer about the initiative from the Seattle Department of Transportation. Notably, transportation is responsible for 61% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s designed to meet the carbon footprint reduction goal set out in Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2022 One Seattle Transportation and Climate Justice Executive Order, which among other things calls for zero-emission city-owned fleets by 2030 and shared use paths for cyclists and walkers. More broadly, the city wants to become carbon neutral by 2050.

The plan centers around climate justice and collaboration. It aims to make short trips throughout the city safer, and to ensure they’re affordable and carbon-free.

“Most emissions in Seattle come from short trips under 3 miles,” the brief says. “We are working with communities to design our streets and provide programs to make it easy and safe to take transit, bike, roll or walk these short distnace trips much more often.”

Earlier this year, Seattle received a $1.2 million grant through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program to plan for low-pollution neighborhoods and reduce transit emissions.

The plan also prioritizes transit options by creating safe and convenient connections to buses, light rail, and streetcars. Public transit is the “primary focus of our climate response,” the brief continues. “Transit offers the best sustainable option for longer trips and will become even more convenient as new light rail services launch and bus services are redeployed to better get you where you want to go. “

The plan also aims to enable climate-friendly travel choices—like walking, and biking—to improve freight efficiency, and to electrify private and commercial vehicles throughout the city.

The climate plan follows the announcement of a pilot program in August that’s intended to incentivize the electrification of heavy duty trucks. The program will provide rebates covering 40 percent of costs (up to $180,000 per truck) for elligible drivers and fleet managers.

Approximately 9 percent of the city’s total carbon emissions comes from freight.

“There are 4,000 trucks serving the Port of Seattle, and right now all of them are running on high-polluting diesel engines,” said Jessyn Farrell, director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment in a statement about the heavy trucks program. “Through the Electric Trucks Pilot, we aim to support drivers in bringing the first electric trucks in the City by 2024, while working in partnership with State and Federal governments to further bring down the cost of zero-emissions vehicles and creating the needed infrastructure to support them.”

Among specific strategies outlined in the plan, the city’s transportation department wants to explore launching an e-bike rebate program, reduce the cost of shared micromobility, build more bus-olny lanes, impliment on-street parking reforms, increase the number of commercial vehicle loading zones, and generally support the electrification of personal and freight vehicles.

“A successful climate response means making it easier to walk, roll, bike or take transit for most trips, while electrifying as many remaining necessary car and freight trips as possible,” the plan reads. “ The CCRF outlines strategies that we and our partners need
to implement to effectively respond to climate change—while maximizing impact by creating significant community benefits.”

For more information and to view the complete plan, visit Seattle Department of Transportation’s website.