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| News and Events:
Funding and Technical Assistance Opportunities:
Upcoming Events and Activities:
Resources and Guides:
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| Submit a Poster to Present at the 2019 Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Forum & Expo
TDEC, TDOT, and Tennessee Clean Fuels will hold the fifth annual Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Forum & Expo (STF&E) on October 1-2 at the UT Conference Center in downtown Knoxville. STF&E organizers are currently soliciting proposals for a poster display session during the event. Posters should highlight projects or research focused on the implementation of sustainable transportation and enhanced mobility solutions. Proposals should be no more than 300 words and may be submitted by any entity so long as the summarized projects and/or research pertains to actionable sustainable transportation solutions. All poster presenters will receive free event registration. Poster proposals must be sent to TDEC.OEP@tn.gov by Thursday, July 18 for consideration at the 2019 forum. Visit www.sustainabletransportationforum.com for more information.
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| Tennessee Clean Fuels Hosts First Responder Training Sessions for Alternative Fuel Safety
Tennessee Clean Fuels and the National Fire Protection Association recently hosted two instructor-led classroom trainings for more than 30 first responders on alternative fuel vehicles and how to safely respond to electric, natural gas, and propane vehicle incidents. The trainings, which took place on July 9 in Nashville and July 10 in Knoxville, also featured a live demonstration of onsite alternative fuel vehicles, which consisted of electric, natural gas, and propane vehicles that currently operate in and around the Nashville or Knoxville areas. Previous alternative fuel vehicle trainings for first responders were held in Memphis and Chattanooga in October 2018. Learn more about the trainings at www.tncleanfuels.org.
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| Knoxville Signs on to Climate Mayors EV Purchasing Collaborative
Knoxville is one of 142 U.S. cities and counties that have committed to purchase over 2,100 electric vehicles before the end of 2020, as part of the Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative. The Collaborative provides training, best practices, educational resources, and analysis to create a one-stop shop to support electric vehicle transitions for public fleets. Many municipalities will purchase these vehicles through group-buy platforms designed to mitigate electric vehicle and charging infrastructure costs for local government and other fleets. Visit https://driveevfleets.org/ to learn more
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| FUNDING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE OPPORTUNITIES
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| FHWA Funding Opportunity for Advanced Transportation Technologies
- advanced traveler information systems;
- advanced transportation management technologies;
- infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, and condition assessment;
- advanced public transportation systems;
- transportation system performance data collection, analysis, and dissemination systems;
- advanced safety systems, including vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications, technologies associated with autonomous vehicles, and other collision avoidance technologies, including systems using cellular technology;
- integration of intelligent transportation systems with the Smart Grid and other energy distribution and charging systems;
- electronic pricing and payment systems; or
- advanced mobility and access technologies, such as dynamic ridesharing and information systems to support human services for elderly and disabled individuals.
FHWA is particularly interested in deployment programs and projects in the following seven focus areas, although other project areas will be considered: multimodal integrated corridor management; installation of connected vehicle technologies at intersections, pedestrian crossing locations, and other conflict areas; unified fare collection and payment systems across transportation modes and jurisdictions; freight community systems; technologies to support connected communities; infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, and condition assessment; and rural technology deployments.
Eligible applicants include State or local government entities; transit agencies; metropolitan planning organizations representing a population of more than 200,000; multijurisdictional groups made up of the preceding eligible applicants, with a signed agreement to implement the initiative across jurisdictional boundaries; and consortiums of research or academic institutions. Applications under this funding opportunity are due to FHWA by July 19, 2019. Questions can be submitted to ATCMTD@dot.gov. Click here to learn more and apply.
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| Partners for Places Grant Program
The Funders' Network, in partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, recently announced a new round of funding for the Partners for Places grant program. Partners for Places is a matching grant program that improves communities by building partnerships between local government sustainability leaders and place-based foundations. The grant program will provide partnership investments between $25,000 and $75,000 for one year projects, or between $50,000 and $100,000 for two year projects, with a 1:1 match required by one or more local foundations. Successful proposals will identify planning processes or projects that local government leaders and place-based funders consider important for advancing sustainability goals in their communities. The project must either:
- Advance a key aspect of one of the plans listed below; or
- Support creation of one of the plans listed below.
Eligible plans include:
- A community-focused sustainability, climate action, adaptation/resilience, equity, water, or comprehensive plan provision that specifically addresses sustainability and/or green stormwater infrastructure.
- Any multi-issue community plan that explicitly states and pursues the goal of integrating and/or balancing economic development, environmental quality, and equity.
Applications are due by July 30. Click here to learn more and apply.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
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| Register Now for the 2019 Tennessee SustainableTransportation Forum & Expo
The 2019 STF&E (October 1-2 in Knoxville) will highlight new research and technologies that improve transportation efficiency, reduce vehicle emissions, and address the mobility needs of all Tennesseans. Panelists and speakers from across the country will highlight best practices to transform transportation systems efficiently, affordably, and sustainably. An agenda for the 2019 STF&E will be made available soon.
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| Tennessee Greenways and Trails Forum
Registration is now open for the 2019 Tennessee Greenways and Trails Forum, which will be held July 16-18 at Pickwick Landing State Park. To promote this year’s theme, “Communities Build Trails, Trails Build Communities,” forum sessions will highlight the beneficial impact of greenways, blueways, and other types of trails, including benefits to human health, economic development and tourism, accessibility of alternative transportation, and public engagement with nature. The forum will feature three off-site opportunities—a trail building workshop, a guided pontoon boat tour, and a canoe/kayak trip. Click here to register.
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| Webinar: Innovative Ways to Implement Complete Streets
Complete Streets are streets for everyone, designed and operated to enable safe access for all users—pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. A webinar on July 22 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET will provide information on how state representatives from Louisiana and Indiana are supporting local efforts to improve walking and biking infrastructure through the passage and implementation of Complete Streets policies. Register for the webinar here.
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| Webinar: Safe Routes to Parks
The National Recreation and Park Association will host a webinar on July 29 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CT to discuss its Safe Routes to Parks campaign and how local entities can support infrastructure improvements like curb extensions, walking and biking trails, and pedestrian-activated beacon light installations to improve pedestrian safety and access to parks. During this webinar, attendees will learn about methods of collaboration, best practices, funding opportunities, and other sustainability resources used for implementing Safe Routes to Parks efforts in a community. Register for the webinar here.
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| Urban Runoff 5K Celebrates Green Stormwater Management
Nashville’s Metro Water Services, TDEC, and the Tennessee Stormwater Association have teamed up to host the Urban Runoff 5k run in Nashville on August 3. The run is being held in Shelby Bottoms Greenway and will weave its way past several innovative stormwater management structures. The race will be chip-timed and held in rain or shine. To volunteer for the run, click here. For additional details or to register, click here. Registration for the race will cost $30.
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| 2019 Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference
The Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference will showcase the latest alternative fuel technologies in the biofuels, electric, natural gas, and propane industries. The conference will also have a strong focus on data-driven innovations designed to make fleets more sustainable. Registration is now open for the conference, which will be held August 7-8 in Durham, North Carolina. Learn more about the event at https://www.sustainablefleetexpo.com/.
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| Renewable Natural Gas Workshop in Nashville
RNG WORKS is a two-day technical workshop and trade expo for the North American Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) industry, hosted by the RNG Coalition. The Coalition recently released a save-the-date for the annual event, which will be held in Nashville from September 11-12. The event is designed to educate feedstock owners (landfill, wastewater, livestock, agriculture, food processing, etc.); RNG project developers, operators, financiers, and engineers; and RNG end-users (fleets, municipalities, utilities, etc.) about RNG best practices and resources for increased development, deployment, and utilization of RNG across the region. Learn more at http://www.rngcoalition.com/rng-works/.
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| Call for Papers- 2020 TRB Annual Meeting
The 2020 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting will take place in Washington, D.C. from January 12-16. The meeting covers transportation issues in all fields and will feature 5,000 presentations across more than 800 panel sessions. More than 13,000 transportation professionals from around the world are expected to attend.
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| Save the Date for TennSMART 2019 Fall Member Meeting
TennSMART is a public-private consortium designed to accelerate the development and deployment of new intelligent mobility innovations in Tennessee. It provides a collaborative forum for key stakeholders representing the automotive and trucking industries, local and State government (including TDEC OEP), and research institutions to address opportunities that no one organization could attain alone. TennSMART focuses on research related to connected and automated vehicles, electric vehicles, cybersecurity, freight efficiency, and multimodal commuting.
TennSMART has announced a Save the Date for its 2019 Fall Member Meeting, which will take place on November 5-6 at the FedEx Institute of Technology in Memphis. Attending TennSMART members will discuss the latest challenges and opportunities in intelligent mobility and will have the opportunity to network with peers and other stakeholders while exploring some of FedEx's latest freight technologies. Stay tuned for more information about the event program and registration, which will be announced at www.TennSMART.org.
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| 2019 Public Transportation Fact Book
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has released a report that provides an overview of the U.S. public transit system. This report includes information about passenger travel modes, energy consumption, operating expenses, and other data. In 2017, transit riders accounted for more than 17.5 billion miles traveled by bus, resulting in a national gas savings of 4.1 billion gallons per year from public transportation ridership.
According to APTA, public transit vehicles used a total of 6.63 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity for propulsion power in 2017 and 1.04 billion gallons of fossil fuels. Total fossil fuel consumption decreased by 0.4% in 2017, despite increases in vehicle revenue miles and vehicle revenue hours operated. While diesel remains the predominant transit fuel, its market share has declined as cleaner fuels such as compressed natural gas, biodiesel, and electricity have gained in popularity in heavy-duty vehicle applications. Click here to access the full report.
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| Clean Cities Coalition Fact Sheet
U.S. DOE's Clean Cities program advances the nation's economic, environmental, and energy security by working locally to advance affordable, domestic transportation fuels and technologies. A national network of nearly 100 Clean Cities Coalitions brings together stakeholders in the public and private sectors to deploy alternative and renewable fuels, idle-reduction measures, fuel economy improvements, and new transportation technologies, as they emerge. In Tennessee, there are two U.S. DOE-designated Clean Cities Coalitions, known collectively as Tennessee Clean Fuels.
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