#5 OF MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA’S TOP 10 REMARKABLE TRANSPORTATION ACCOMPLISHMENTS . . . AND COUNTING DOWN

LA'S PORT HAS GONE GREEN, REDUCING TOXIC EMISSIONS BY HALF:
The neighboring ports of LA and Long Beach make up the world's fifth busiest port complex, handle 44% of all container goods entering the U.S., and together employ more than 400,000 people. These ports are also responsible for more than 20% of toxic air emissions in the South Coast Air Basin — contributing more smog and particulate-forming emissions than all of the region's 6 million cars combined. In order to address this enormous problem the mayor championed a Clean Trucks Program that required operators to replace or retrofit all 16,000 dirty diesel trucks that serve the port so that they meet US EPA emissions standards, and included a $35 fee on every container entering or leaving the port to help pay for the retrofitting. The mayor's Clean Air Action Plan outlines detailed strategies to reduce emissions from ships, trucks, trains, cargo-handling equipment and harbor craft. As part of the plan ship terminals are being equipped with shore-side electricity so vessels can shut down their diesel-powered engines while at berth. The Clean Trucks program is estimated to have reduced harmful emissions from trucks entering the port by 98%. The clean air plan requires ships to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2020.

Mayor Villaraigosa's Top 10 remarkable transportation achievements:
#6: LA Metro's bus fleet has expanded faster than any other in the U.S., is the cleanest in the world, and Metro's fares are the lowest: Read more.
#7: LA Metro's Project Labor Agreement and Construction Careers Policy make tens of thousands of jobs available in low-income communities. Read more.
#8: LA is becoming a better city for walking and biking. Read more.
#9: All 4,398 traffic signals in the city are synchronized. Read more.
#10: The Transit Corridors Cabinet is reorienting the city around public transportation, repairing the urban fabric, and preserving single family neighborhoods. Read more.

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