The policy I would like to implement for my project is a mandatory use of sustainable materials for any government funded public transportation. Though policy makers would need to discuss and debate the specifics of this policy, its purpose and necessity is clear and simple. The incentive for the use of sustainable material grows stronger every year as peer reviewed documents relating to the correlation between CO2 and global temperatures weigh the hopes of a successful future for mankind down. The metro system offers a unique opportunity for the birthing grounds of sustainable infrastructure to make its way into the main stream, as subway systems are uniquely protected and exterior to weathering climatic activity. With a safe space to test and try the use of sustainable materials (a relatively new frontier) the efficiency and popularity of these materials would increase significantly. Because of the unique disposition of the metro being underground and an important and heavily used means of transportation, it is paramount that policy makers push for the mandatory use of sustainable materials to further incentivize the usage of sustainable resources.
Many projects revolving around the use of sustainable systems have been funded to be implemented into public transportation and have failed miserably due to weathering. Perhaps the most popular example of this was the solar tile highway project. A scam from the start, the solar tile highway project set out to replace the concrete on highways with plastic covered solar tiles. The reason our highways are not paved with solar panels, but instead with concrete, is that the sole purpose of concrete is to resist wear. The constant bombardment of tires and environmental factors such as rain, wind, and snow, make places like the highway impossible to innovate in a sustainable fashion.
The subway is without the majority of the factors that would make implementing sustainability into highways difficult and impossible. There are no climate-related factors that affect the interior of a subway. This would make the subway a perfect environment, not just to implement sustainable materials, but to try and test them for use elsewhere. Sustainable concrete for example should be first implemented in an environment that does not risk disaster if the material fails to maintain its structure. A highway, with a high erosion factors and the constant facilitation of motor vehicles is a terrible place to implement a new material as opposed to a structurally safe interior setting.
The use of sustainable materials in something as used and as iconic as the metro would promote sustainability as a whole. With such an easy way to implement sustainability, it is important that policy makers begin to make efforts to save the environment here first. The scope of this implementation would be massive. Companies such as the MTA in New York would need to be held accountable for following this policy. It would not only effect those in charge of the subway and those who use it, but taking into account the grand scheme of implementing sustainability, this policy would affect the entire globe.
