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Southwest Energy Efficiency Project Southwest Energy Efficiency Project

Transportation Program Overview

SWEEP's Transportation Program seeks to identify and promote the implementation of policies designed to achieve significant energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

SWEEP's work focuses on two general strategies:

  1. Reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT)

  2. Improve vehicle fuel efficiency.

To reduce VMT, SWEEP advocates for:

  • implementing measures that increase driver awareness of the costs of driving, such as pay-as-you-drive auto insurance and VMT-based highway user fees;

  • expanding use of alternative travel modes; and

  • adoption of local land use strategies and transportation plans that minimize fuel consumption.

To improve fuel efficiency, SWEEP is:

  • developing and supporting adoption of financial incentive programs that encourage consumers to purchase fuel-efficient vehicles;

  • supporting policies and programs to increase fuel efficiency of trucks; and

  • exploring options and promoting the adoption of policies to encourage fleet conversion to electric power.

In July 2009, SWEEP released its first major report, the Colorado Transportation Blueprint for the New Energy Economy, a sweeping analysis of ten viable policy strategies available to the state, with recommendations for how the state can attain its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

 


CDOT Glenwood Canyon
(Photo courtesy Colorado
Dept of Transportation)