Climate change is underway, and public transit is an important part in the fight against this existential threat.

The transportation sector, mostly powered by fossil fuels, is the largest single source of emissions in the United States, accounting for 28% of all national greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. But over half of these emissions come from passenger cars and trucks.

In contrast, public transit emits a fraction of the emissions compared to the same commute by car. Every year, MTA transit riders across the New York City region avoid at least 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being pumped into the atmosphere. This is equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed by a forest the size of Indiana.

This simple action of choosing public transit lowers emissions and substantially reduces local air pollution, demonstrating the MTA’s commitment and our riders’ commitment to the health of our planet.

Learn more about Transit Avoided Carbon.

To help TrainTime users more fully understand the climate benefits of their choice to ride transit, the MTA integrated an “Avoided Carbon Calculator” into the app in celebration of Climate Week NYC 2024. This feature shows riders the carbon emissions they avoid by riding the rails instead of driving a car.

Read the Avoided Carbon Calculator press release.

Learn more about Avoided Carbon Calculator methodology.

As described in our 20-Year Needs Assessment and 2025-2029 Capital Plan the MTA is accelerating climate actions, including:

1. Climate resilience, to protect our system from multiple climate change threats that are already underway, including coastal surge, sea level rise, torrential rain, and extreme heat.
2. Climate sustainability, to cut our operational greenhouse gas emissions at least 85% by converting nearly 5,800 buses to zero-emissions, retrofitting existing facilities, investing in energy-saving technologies, and more.

The MTA has a record of leadership in climate action. These agency-wide policy archives represent the strong foundation that we continue to learn from:

• 2008: MTA Adaptations to Climate Change
• 2008: Greening Mass Transit & Metro Regions
• 2009: MTA Carbon Model Report
• 2015: Bringing Back the City
• 2017: MTA Climate Adaptation Task Force Resiliency Report
• 2019: MTA Climate Adaptation Task Force Resiliency Report