NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Hampton Roads leaders are on "Route Zero," a path to clean air in the region. They say the way to get there is by addressing pollution on roadways.
“Transportation represents the largest source of carbon pollution in Virginia,” said Tim Cynwinski, the communications director for the Sierra Club.
Leaders say it can be detrimental to the health of many in the region.
“When I look at Newport News, it’s usually underserved communities that bear the brunt of dirty gas,” said Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones.
That’s why Mayor Jones and other leaders gathered on Thursday to support new standards for cars and trucks from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pushing for cleaner vehicles.
The new guidelines mainly impact vehicles from model years 2027 to 2032 with the hope of avoiding more than seven billion tons of carbon emissions through 2055.
Mayor Jones said the city has worked tirelessly to do its part in switching to cleaner city vehicles.
“We have 157 hybrid vehicles, 65 propane conversion vehicles, and three electrical vehicles in our fleet,” he said. He added Newport News Public Schools administrators have replaced 154 diesel school buses with propane-operated buses.
“Which is the largest fleet of propane-powered vehicles in Virginia,” Jones said.
Hampton Roads Transit Chief Engineering and Facilities Officer Sybil Pappas said that early on, HRT adopted zero-emission buses.
“With our 2020 pilot program purchasing six battery electric buses, the first in Virginia,” she said.
Pappas said the transportation system has developed a plan to transition its fleet to zero-emission vehicles by 2049 and upgrade two facilities to accommodate these vehicles.
“We’ll also begin to transition our small vehicle fleet, installing chargers for electric cars and SUVs at our Hampton facility,” Pappas said.
Pappas adds HRT is in the process of designing a new bus maintenance facility. This new facility will utilize Dominion Energy’s offshore wind to charge electric buses.