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| Technical Assistance, Incentives, and Funding Opportunities:
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| TDEC Solicits Nominations for 2017 Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Awards The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) invites Tennesseans to submit nominations for the third annual 2017 Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Awards. The deadline to submit nominations is March 31, 2017. The Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Awards recognize outstanding initiatives to improve the efficiency, accessibility, affordability, and sustainability of transportation systems in the State, consistent with ongoing efforts to improve the health and well-being of Tennesseans, provide for a strong economy, and protect our State’s natural resources. A panel of judges representing diverse interests will select award recipients based on the following criteria: - Innovation: How the project utilized new thinking or creative approaches to meet a particular transportation challenge.
- Best Practices and Replicability: How a project demonstrates a transferable solution, such that others could adopt or implement similar programs or initiatives.
- Changes in Transportation Behavior: How a project worked to encourage or achieve changes in transportation behavior in order to make a transportation system more efficient.
- Improvements to Public Health and Safety: How a project creates improvements to public health, well-being, or safety in a given community.
Eligible entities include federal, state and local governments; commercial, nonprofit, and industrial organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; and utilities. The entity must be located in Tennessee, and the project must have been completed in the last five years. All nominees must be in environmental compliance with TDEC. Self-nominations are encouraged. In connection with Clean Air Month, TDEC, in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition (ETCF), will host a recognition ceremony and sustainable transportation forum on May 23-24, 2017, at the Downtown Nashville Public Library. The forum, entitled “Navigating Toward a Livable Tennessee,” will highlight local transportation planning and the pursuit of place-based policies and investments for improved transportation options in our communities. The forum will also feature a roadshow of alternative fuel vehicles, as well as a recognition ceremony for a new class of certified Tennessee Green Fleets. Through ETCF’s Tennessee Green Fleets Certification Program, any Tennessee-based fleet can receive certification for its efforts toward reducing petroleum consumption, improving air quality, and increasing the use of alternative fuels or advanced vehicle technologies. The deadline for fleet data submissions is March 15, 2017. For more information and to apply, click here. Applications and more information about the Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Awards and Forum are now available here. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Alexa Voytek in TDEC’s Office of Energy Programs at (615) 532-0238 or Alexa.Voytek@tn.gov.
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| Gallatin and Murfreesboro Receive CMAQ Grants for Transportation Projects On December 30, the City of Murfreesboro announced that it had been awarded a $3.35 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program. The grant funding will cover 100% of the costs needed to develop an adaptive signal control technology system for seven miles of roadway (totaling 14 signalized intersections). Implementation of the technology will enable the City to achieve many of the traffic signal operational efficiencies realized with other coordinated signal systems, and will also enable the transportation department to actively and efficiently identify and respond to changing traffic patterns and roadway conditions for the corridor. For more information on the project, click here. The City of Gallatin was also recently awarded a $2 million grant through the CMAQ program to support the replacement of 19 vehicles, including garbage trucks, dump trucks, a road grader, street sweeper, and more. The new vehicles will be purchased by the City at 20% of the total cost, with the grant allowing the City to purchase the 19 new vehicles for a total of $505,000. Half of the vehicles to be replaced are over 20-years old. In addition to the vehicle replacements, the grant will support the replacement of a sidewalk along the southern right-of-way of U.S. 31E/SR-6. The total cost of the sidewalk is estimated to be $980,000, with the grant covering 80% of the project. For more information on the project, click here. Through the FAST Act, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) CMAQ Program provides dedicated federal funding to state Departments of Transportation for projects that improve air quality and reduce congestion. For more information, click here.
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| Metro Nashville WalknBike Draft Plan Released for Public Comment On January 6, Metro Nashville released its draft bicycle and pedestrian masterplan, WalknBike, to the public for comment. The plan serves as an update to the 2008 Strategic Plan for Sidewalks and Bikeways and supports the land use and transportation objectives of the Nashville Next and nMotion strategic plans by connecting developing corridors and centers to transportation options. The public comment period will remain open until February 17, after which the project team will review all public comments, make necessary edits, and produce a final version of the plan. The plan will then be considered for adoption by Metro Council in 2017. For more information and to view the draft plan, click here.
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| Williamson County Schools Partners with MIT on Autonomous Vehicles Program
On January 18, Williamson County Schools announced a new partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop an autonomous vehicle program. As part of the capstone program, high school students will learn programming languages and operating systems to program a car to drive autonomously through a course. For more information, click here.
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| Stantec Launches Strategic Alliance with Local Motors in Knoxville to Deliver, Test Self-Driving Buses
Global design firm Stantec announced recently that it had entered into a strategic alliance with Local Motors, a U.S.-based technology company that designs, builds and sells vehicles, in order to accelerate the worldwide implementation of connected and automated vehicles. The two companies will combine resources in order to develop and deliver to market the 3-D printed Olli, a self-driving, cognitive shuttle that will be targeted for use by transit agencies, cities, states, universities, hospitals and the private sector. Local Motors will manufacture the Olli at its Knoxville facility, which is intended to become the company’s main location for developing and constructing 3-D printed vehicles.
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| Piedmont Natural Gas Expands Nashville CNG Refueling Facility
Piedmont Natural Gas is adding a third dispenser island at its two-year-old public compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling station in Nashville in order to serve a rapidly growing consumer base that includes a mail-delivery contractor and regional haulers taking advantage of the station’s proximity to I-40. Piedmont notes that it has more than doubled its sales of CNG over the past two years as more businesses begin to recognize the economic and environmental advantages of CNG use as a transportation fuel. For more information, click here.
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| TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, INCENTIVES, AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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| Tennessee Propane Gas Association Vehicle and Mower Incentives
The Tennessee Propane Gas Association is offering incentives to private, Tennessee fleets that do not already have propane-powered vehicles within their fleet. A “private fleet” is defined as a business with three or more vehicles. The incentive provides up to $1000 towards the purchase or after-market conversion of two or more propane-powered vehicles. Bi-fuel vehicles and/or conversions are also eligible. Incentives will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and to apply, click here. The Tennessee Propane Gas Association is also offering incentives of up to $1000 to landscapers, parks departments, school districts, universities, businesses, and farmers in Tennessee for the purchase or conversion of dedicated, propane-powered mowers. Incentives will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and to apply, click here.
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| U.S. DOE Loan Programs Office Announces Loans for Eligible Fueling Infrastructure Deployment Manufacturing Projects
On January 9, U.S. DOE’s Loans Program Office announced supplements to the existing Title XVII Innovative Clean Energy loan program (Title XVII) and clarifications to the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program about the eligibility of alternative fueling infrastructure deployment and manufacturing. Effective immediately, Title XVII, or Improved Energy Technology Loans, are available for eligible fueling infrastructure deployment projects, including the associated hardware and software, for hydrogen, electricity, natural gas, and biofuels. In addition to providing loans for vehicles and vehicle components, the ATVM Loan Program will also provide direct loans for up to 30% of the cost of re-equipping, expanding, or establishing manufacturing facilities used to produce alternative fuel infrastructure, including associated hardware. Eligible alternative fuels include electricity, hydrogen, natural gas and biofuels. Eligible applicants include automotive or component manufacturers. For more information, click here.
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| ORNL's Transportation Energy Data Book
The 35th Edition to ORNL’s Transportation Energy Data Book was recently released in both PDF and Excel formats. The Data Book is an annual compendium of data on transportation, with an emphasis on energy. Designed for use as a desktop reference, the Data Book presents an assembly and display of statistics and information that characterize transportation activity. It also presents data on other factors that influence transportation energy use. The Data Book is produced by ORNL's Center for Transportation Analysis with the support of U.S. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office. For more information and to access the Data Book, click here.
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| iREV Baseline Assessment of AFVs in State and Municipal Emergency Operations Plans
The National Association of State Energy Officials’ (NASEO's) Initiative for Resiliency in Energy through Vehicles (iREV) has released a report examining opportunities for states and municipalities to incorporate alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) into future iterations of emergency operations plans. The "Baseline Assessment: Alternative Fuel Vehicles in State and Municipal Emergency Operations Plans" provides an overview of emergency operations plans, summarizes key findings from a scan of AFV inclusion in state and local plans, and identifies opportunities to include AFVs in future emergency plans. This Baseline Assessment is one of a series of resources developed under NASEO's iREV, a nationwide effort that brings together a unique cross-section of practitioners in emergency management, energy assurance, homeland security, and transportation to support the incorporation of alternative fuel vehicles in emergency response and preparedness operations. For more information on iREV and to view some of the other resources that have been developed under this project, click here.
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| NREL Reports Examine Consumer Sentiments on EVs, Economic and Social Benefits of EV Adoption
The 35th Edition to ORNL’s Transportation Energy Data Book was recently released in both PDF and Excel formats. The Data Book is an annual compendium of data on transportation, with an emphasis on energy. Designed for use as a desktop reference, the Data Book presents an assembly and display of statistics and information that characterize transportation activity. It also presents data on other factors that influence transportation energy use. The Data Book is produced by ORNL's Center for Transportation Analysis with the support of U.S. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office. For more information and to access the Data Book, click here.
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| Joint National Lab Study Explores Energy and Cost Implications of Connected and Automated Vehicles
NREL, Argonne National Laboratory, and ORNL researchers have released a study that reveals the potential effects of connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies on fuel use and efficiency, vehicle miles traveled, and consumer costs. The analysis focuses on a range of light-duty CAV technologies in conventional powertrain vehicles, from partial automation with some connectivity to full automation with maximum connectivity. The analysis reveals widely disparate fuel use estimates for the various scenarios considered, ranging from a tripling of light-duty vehicle fuel use to decreasing it to below 40 percent of today's level. The report reflects uncertainties in the ways that CAV technologies can influence vehicle efficiency and use through changes in vehicle designs, driving habits, and travel behavior, and highlights the need for future studies. For more information and to view the report, click here.
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