City Downtown Transit Receives Clear Air Award
Dateline:
05/01/2008... recently by Breathe California at their 18th Annual Clean Air Awards ceremony. Mayor Tony Santos accepted the award on the city’s behalf.
The city was one of 10 Bay Area businesses, organizations and individuals to be recognized for their leadership in efforts that improve air quality and reduce global warming pollution.
San Leandro’s TOD, which was adopted by the San Leandro City Council last fall, received an Honorable Mention in the Green Building/Smart Growth category.
The TOD creates a long-term vision for how San Leandro can accommodate future growth using land use and development strategies that promote healthy living and a clean environment by encouraging greater transit use and at the same time enhance the city’s downtown as a destination.
San Leandro’s downtown is served by enhanced AC Transit bus service and an existing BART station, and is the city’s prime location for higher density, mixed-use development.
Such development, when combined with innovative parking and travel demand strategies as well as streetscape and circulation improvements, can help increase transit ridership and reduce traffic and air quality impacts, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions that would typically be associated with increased development.
“While we see the TOD as an important tool in enhancing our downtown, we recognize that sustainable development also plays a crucial role in reducing global warming pollution,” said Mayor Santos. “Our goal is simple — to get people out of their cars and to take transit more than they now do. The city’s TOD will move us toward that goal by bringing together the places where people live, work and shop and reducing the need to drive. We are excited to move this plan forward and hope it serves as a model for other communities.”
A San Leandro company called Cleaire was one of the other nine recipients of the 2008 Clean Air Awards.
Cleaire produces advanced emission control devices that reduce particulate matter in diesel buses and trucks. For more information, contact Breathe California at (650) 994-5868, or visit www.cleanairawards.org.
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