From Scooters to Microtransit, Cities Are Embracing Alternatives to Short Car Trips

In rural Huron, California, an electric vehicle ride-sharing program, called Green Raiteros, provides free rides for low-income residents who need to get to medical appointments. The organization's 120 clients can call in advance, or just show up when they need a ride.

Community-first car-sharing options, usually run by cooperatives and nonprofits, are making electric vehicles accessible and affordable for all. They offer cars that anyone can rent for a membership or hourly fee, sometimes partnering with community groups and organizations to lower the rate.

Two transportation companies, Freebie and Slidr, are teaming up with towns in Florida to provide free, on-demand shuttle services with electric vehicles. The app-based system helps bolster transit networks and fill gaps in services.

Local governments in the United States are taking the lead on carbon removal projects to meet net-zero goals, which could help bring down the cost of the technology to make it more widely accessible. A coalition of governments in Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, for example, awarded grants to projects that store carbon dioxide in concrete.

Run by a nonprofit dedicated to creating economic development opportunities in underserved communities, the Solar Works DC training program provides people interested in entering the solar industry with certifications. The trainees are paid and spend up to seven weeks learning in the classroom and on the job.

In Paris, building-based agriculture, like rooftop gardens, allows for the production of nutritious food close to where they will be eaten. The practice helps eliminate carbon emissions, improve food security, and improve climate resilience.

Gree Energy helps food processors in Indonesia overcome the financial barriers to installing anaerobic wastewater treatment plants. These plants turn methane emissions into biogas to be used as electricity or thermal energy. The company plans the builds, finds uses for the biogas, and establishes revenue to fund the projects.

Ukrainian scientists invented a generator that uses organic waste from agriculture to produce cheap energy. This method can replace natural gas while disposing of agricultural waste in a way that doesn’t emit carbon dioxide.

Funded by federal grant money, the state, and the Office of Naval Research, Hawaii County public transit has developed its first hydrogen-powered shuttle bus. What’s been called the “fuel of the future,” hydrogen fuel cells create a power source that’s only emissions are clean water vapor. While a seemingly viable and scalable clean-energy source, such development and infrastructure requires large financial investments that many states have yet to prioritize.

Los Angeles has faced deepening issues of severe traffic and extreme smog pollution in the past several decades, but for years intentions and promises to broadly improve transportation have fallen flat. At long last, the most congested city in the world - once home to the most extensive urban rail network on the planet - is reviving rail lines and trains as a solution to both issues. Robust public transport has proven to have multi-layered economic, cultural, environmental, and social benefits to communities.