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The Port of Seattle's air quality program is part of an aggressive and systematic effort to make our seaport, airport and transportation infrastructure as efficient as possible and to increase the use of alternatives fuels, both by the Port as well as by our business partners and tenants.
Our state's first public natural gas station. The Port and its partner, Clean Energy, opened Washington's first large scale, public access natural gas station, just south of Sea-Tac Airport at 19425 28th Ave. S . Emissions from gasoline and diesel fuel engines are the largest contributors to air pollution in our region. Vehicles that use natural gas or other clean alternative fuels significantly reduce these emissions.
This compressed natural gas station, open 24 hours a day, fuels Port-owned vehicles and is available and convenient for ground transportation operators (such as taxis, shuttle vans and limos) that make frequent trips to the airport. The Port's alternative fuel program requires airport departments to replace vehicles, where practical, with natural gas vehicles.
There are 74 natural gas and hybrid Port vehicles in use at the Airport including
Promoting Alternative Fuel Programs to
Business Partners, Contractors and Surrounding Communities
The Port's environmental efforts don't stop at our own front door, but instead extend to our relationship with our business partners. At the Airport those partners include the ground transportation service providers that bring passengers to and from Sea-Tac. The Port has set requirements for these transportation services to increase the use of natural gas vehicles.
The STITA fleet that serves Sea-Tac Airport now includes electric hybrid vehicles as part of a pilot program.
Airport Taxi Fleet Is Natural Gas Fueled. All 166 Ford Crown Victoria cabs operated by the Seattle-Tacoma International Taxicab Association (STITA) are fueled by compressed natural gas. The result: The CNG-powered fleet is expected to produce 149 fewer tons of carbon monoxide and 24 fewer tons of nitrous oxides each year than comparable gasoline-power vehicles. And that, in layman's language, is like taking almost 800 passenger vehicles off our roads for a full year.
Hybrid Taxi Pilot Program at Sea-Tac Airport. Sea-Tac Airport has entered into a pilot program with STITA that gives the cab company the option to buy up to 25 small gas-electric hybrid vehicles to replace its six- and seven-year-old compressed natural gas vehicles. The hybrids all meet the "Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle" standards and get at least 45 miles to the gallon.
Shuttle Express, the shared-ride service that serves passengers in King and Pierce County, now operates more than 48% of its trip mileage using its 27 (out of 80) natural gas vehicles. Its goal, set by the Port, is to increase that mileage share to 70 percent.
Since 2005, aircraft fuel has been delivered to the passenger gates via underground hydrants rather than by truck. This reduces 21 tons of carbon monoxide and 32 of nitrous oxides every year. Or put another way, it's like taking 500 cars off area roads. The fuel hydrant system was a key factor in the Port's receiving the Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency .
Letting a car engine run for a few minutes while parking may seem like a minor threat to air quality, but multiplying that one car into thousands changes the impacts dramatically. Sea-Tac Airport has instituted policies and education programs to reduce emissions from idling vehicles, and has made capital improvements to reduce idling.
Controlling aircraft in the immediate vicinity of the terminal is the responsibility of staff housed in the Airport's "Ramp Tower," opened in 2006. Improving traffic flow between the gates and the taxiways cuts aircraft taxi times and thus reduces emissions by about 5%.
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