Hey! Eagle eyes may have noticed that our 2012 Sustainability Report is now completed and on our website.

What’s the Sustainability Report?

What’s the Sustainability Report? Well, it’s a report card that tracks TransLink’s corporate performance in four key areas: environment, funding, people, and governance and management.

Our commitment to sustainability, enshrined in a formal policy in 2011, recognizes our transportation system’s contribution to a livable region, especially in these four key areas. So the report helps us stay on track in developing a system that meets the needs of the people in our region, as well as its ecological, economic and social well-being.

As well, by voluntarily disclosing performance in areas that go beyond traditional financial reports, TransLink remains accountable and transparent to the people of the Metro Vancouver region, all levels of government and industry peers.

(We’re actually the first transportation agency in North America to achieve Gold Level under the American Public Transportation Association’s Sustainability Commitment in 2011, and one of the few that regularly discloses progress toward corporate and regional financial, environmental and social goals!)

Anyway, in early 2011, we released our first ever sustainability report, benchmarking our performance to date. And this year, the 2012 report follows up on our performance from 2010-2011. It tracks several dozen indicators that meet international standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Association of Public Transport.

What are the highlights?

Glad you asked! Here’s some great items of note:

Environment

• Fleet greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were reduced by more than 9,000 tonnes between 2009 and 2011.
• More than a quarter (26 per cent) of fleet energy was derived from renewable sources in 2011, up from 19 per cent in 2009.
• In 2011, 50 grams of GHG emissions were emitted for every passenger kilometre travelled on the TransLink system compared to 224 grams for each passenger kilometre travelled in a mid-size single occupant vehicle.

Financial

• CMBC’s Idle Free program avoided the use of 500,000 litres of diesel fuel in 2011. Combined with better fleet fuel consumption, diesel fuel use declined by nearly 1.5 million litres between 2009 and 2011, resulting in significant cost savings.
• TransLink’s corporate office will soon move to New Westminster near Sapperton SkyTrain Station where space will be leased in a new office built to LEED Gold Standard. The move will help reduce energy, water and waste while realizing cost savings by integrating with Transit Police.
• An ongoing service optimization initiative resulted in $6 million in new fare revenue through reallocation of existing resources.

People

• Wheelchair accessibility at the more than 8,200 bus stops in the region is now 60.8 per cent, up from 54.0 per cent in 2009.
• The number of employees participating in TransLink’s Employer Pass Program is 23,886, up from 20,869 in 2009.
• CMBC was named one of B.C.’s Top Employers for the sixth year in a row.

Governance and Management

• Sustainability was added to the list of specific skills and competencies used to evaluate and recruit Board members.
• The number of executive positions was reduced to create a smaller more focused team.
• A dashboard of sustainability indicators was developed and is shared with the Executive and Board semi-annually to better manage progress toward sustainability goals.

But for full details, please do read the 2012 report! Let me know if there’s any comments below and I’ll find the answers for you.