The Greenovate Awards recognize climate action leadership and environmental sustainability excellence in the City of Boston. Read this blog series to find out more about this year’s winners in the Alternative Transportation category.
Boston and its community continues to rise to the challenge of balancing our historic landscape with the need to adapt and evolve to our changing mobility needs. Public transportation, walking, biking, carpooling, car-sharing, and ride-sharing are all pieces of the puzzle that will help Boston meet its climate and sustainability goals.
PETER CROSSAN – BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, DORCHESTER
About Peter Crossan – Boston Public Schools
Peter Crossan is the Boston Public Schools’-Department of Transportation’s fleet and compliance manager, and oversees the 800+ BPS school bus fleet.
What makes Peter Crossan – Boston Public Schools an outstanding leader in creating a green and sustainable future for the City of Boston?
Peter has made it his personal mission to reduce vehicle emissions in order to improve the health of students and the greater Boston community. Peter worked for three years with engineers at the bus manufacturer Blue Bird and Roush Cleantech, providers of bus propane fuel systems, to design and build the first half-size conventional propane-powered school buses. Boston’s buses were purpose built to Peter’s exacting performance specifications in order to provide a safer option for students who enter buses in the rear of the vehicle near the tailpipe.
Peter is relentless in his pursuit of continuous improvement – from actions such as improved fuel economy on existing buses, to new lower-emission vehicles like the propane buses, to fuel tracking software, to even the garages that BPS bus maintenance is done in having undergone building efficiency retrofits — such as new boilers, and building envelope/insulation. These initiatives have always been about the health of the students and air quality in the City of Boston, but it just so happens to also save the Boston Public Schools money on its transportation costs.
Simply said – Peter runs a tight ship with high standards and an obvious passion for what he does. So be sure that when you talk to him about these initiatives, block out an hour of time, because in addition to what BPS-DOT has already done, you’ll hear about the next 5 items on his list.
MATTAPAN ON WHEELS, MATTAPAN
About Mattapan on Wheels
Mattapan on Wheels is a youth-led biking initiative that was created as a way for Mattapan residents to include physical activity in their lives, raise awareness that Mattapan residents do bike, bring the community together, and create a safe place to have fun.
What makes Mattapan on Wheels an outstanding leader in creating a green and sustainable future for the City of Boston?
The Mattapan on Wheels initiative started as a single biking event that has seen tremendous growth in its first two years. The youth leaders have since incorporated bi-weekly Sunday community bike rides, where anyone in the community can come and bike. The young people have also led convoys to other biking activities in Boston, such as Bike Fridays and Boston Bike Party.
In addition to coordinating the biking activities, our youth have also led the Mobile Farm stand, which includes both physical activity (the produce is put on a bike in which the youth ride!), and promoting healthy eating habits (fresh produce sales).
Mattapan on Wheels works in collaboration with other Mattapan Food and Fitness programs to promote and create greater access to health initiatives in Mattapan. This collaboration supports finding alternative and active transportation options for residents by: partnering with walkBoston to conduct walk audits and assessments, advocating for the completion of a walking/biking trail in the Mattapan, partnered with local physical activity organizations such as Hike4Life and Door to the Outdoors, talked with city and state agencies and elected officials about transit equity issues, partnered with Boston Bikes to host a Learn to Ride clinic in Mattapan and continue to advocate for Hubway in Mattapan, worked on the Vision Zero Initiative to collect transportation safety concerns from neighbors, and worked with the Mattahunt and the Charles H. Taylor Elementary Schools in Mattapan for the Safe Routes to Schools biking/walking program.
The combination of the Mattapan on Wheels initiative with the Mattapan Healthy Community Champions allows Mattapan Food and Fitness to reach different populations to provide them with educational and physical infrastructure for alternative transportation options in the Mattapan neighborhood.
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