New York is targeting air pollution by offering rebates to retrofit or replace older trucks with alternatively fuelled models.
The Challenge
Thousands of trucks drive through the South Bronx every day, with high levels of particulate matter contributing to a community asthma rate three times the national average. Advanced vehicle technologies with low-carbon fuels are a breath of fresh air for New Yorkers.
The Solution
In 2012, New York introduced the Hunts Point Clean Truck Program (HPCTP), working to address the poor air quality experienced by the Hunts Point and Port Morris communities in the South Bronx, where 15,000 truck trips begin or end every day. The program provides financial incentives to truck owners who are based, or who regularly operate, in the South Bronx, to retrofit diesel exhaust systems with scrubber technologies, or to replace older trucks with newer, cleaner models such as hybrid-electric, compressed natural gas, or fully electric. Three years into the program, the HPCTP celebrated the replacement of 500 old, highly-polluting diesel trucks. In total, truck replacements, retrofits, scrappage schemes, and transport refrigeration unit replacements have resulted in annual reductions of NOx by 90%, PM2.5 by more than 95%, hydrocarbons by 80%, and carbon monoxide by almost 85% for HTCTP vehicles.
Economic Benefits – Many of the program's applicants are immigrant-owned, small businesses. The program helps these businesses stay competitive and provide jobs for New Yorkers.
About Cities100
Presented by C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), Sustainia and Realdania – Cities100 2017 showcases leading solutions to urban climate challenges in five sectors: Energy, Waste, Adaptation, Mitigation and Transportation.
Available online and in print, Cities100 provides stakeholders an accessible format to explore achievable solutions for climate action in cities, and will be a useful tool for relevant groups ranging from impact investors and development organizations, to mayors and city governments. You can access the full Cities100 2017 publication online here.
- Benefits
- Economic
- Emissions Reduction
- 5,700 metric tons CO2 reduced yearly under the program