ICTC to change routes as company, Mount Pleasant move toward green initiatives

• Tweet
• 

The Isabella County Transportation Commission and Mount Pleasant are taking steps to help make a more “green” environment.

The key to the new plan is for ICTC to change its routes.

Denny Adams, ICTC director of public relations and marketing, said the new route system will go into effect.

“We’re reducing carbon footprint by providing shared rides to common destinations, therefore, we’re using less carbon-burning fuel,” he said.

The new gold route will cover the Towers, Kewadin Village, Copper Beech, Jamestown, the Music Building, Stadium Mall, Save-A-Lot and Walgreens.

Adams said the change covers more area and includes more specific times for stops.

“In the industry of public transportation, we consider ourselves as part of the green movement,” he said.

Adams said in the past, public transportation was seen to serve people with low-incomes and disabilities. It is now transforming to serve Isabella County as a cost-efficient and energy-efficient mode of transportation, he said.

The buses’ capacity ranges from 17 to 45 seated passengers, and Adams said ridership from off-campus apartment complexes to campus has increased from 300 people a month to 7,000 people a month over the past few decades. The same trend has followed throughout the community with an increase from 200,000 to 600,000 rides a year.

“Ridership to and from apartment complexes increases about 15 percent every year,” he said. “Our annual growth overall has increased as well.”

Adams said people choose public transportation for two reasons; keeping more green in the pocket and/or helping keep the environment green. Whatever reason, he said, it is reducing pollution and is the environmentally friendly way to get somewhere.

City Manager Kathie Grinzinger has been working to maintain a level of sustainability within the community through green initiatives, and said Mount Pleasant will continue to use its resources in a city that is overall environmentally-friendly.

“Mount Pleasant has been environmentally conscious for a long time,” she said. “We are firmly committed to the use of our green space in the most effective, efficient and resource-friendly way.”

In an effort to maintain a green environment, the city of Mount Pleasant has already replaced decorative light fixtures and traditional lighting with more energy-efficient LED lights. There are also plans to replace the remaining traditional lighting with LED lights, she said.

Energy audits have been conducted in buildings including the Wastewater Treatment Plant, which has been retrofitted with new light fixtures, new pump mechanics and geothermal heating.

City Hall, 320 W. Broadway St., is a 102-year-old building that was also retrofitted to reduce waste.

Grinzinger said Mount Pleasant was among the first cities in Michigan to do curbside pickup of recycling bins.

The ICTC currently has one hybrid vehicle, but Adams said he does not see the value to change the entire fleet of vehicles. The ICTC is considering changing its diesel-powered fleet to cleaner-burning propane in the future.

The focus at this point, he said, is maintaining the strongest, heaviest and safest vehicles.

“It’s been very difficult for us to find technologies,” he said.