Sustainable Transportation for Tourism: Green Certification Programs

To promote sustainable travel, a pilot eco-certification program for the motorcoach industry was conducted during an 18-month period between 2009 and 2011. The goals of the program were to increase awareness of the motorcoach as a relatively sustainable form of travel and to promote efficiency and environmental sustainability within the industry. To gauge the impact of the pilot program, surveys of motorcoach company leaders were conducted at the beginning and conclusion of the program. Survey results indicated that over half of motorcoach operators would be willing to change their operating procedures to meet agreed upon criteria and be recognized as “green”. During the first two months of the pilot program, it was learned that a large percentage of the participants introduced new environmental programs and practices to their operations in order to garner a higher level of certification. Overall, twenty-three companies and approximately 1000 motorcoaches participated in the Green Coach Certification pilot program. Survey results indicate that the percentage of participant companies engaging in sustainable practices increased markedly during the time period of the program.

• Record URL:
  http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/research/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-13-011.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Vermont, Burlington

  School of Environment and Natural Resources
  81 Carrigan Drive
  Burlington, VT  United States  05405

  University of Vermont, Burlington

  Transportation Research Center
  210 Colchester Avenue
  Burlington, VT  United States  05405-1757

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Manning, Robert
  • Chase, Lisa
  • Anderson, Laura
  • Kestenbaum, David
  • Mastrangelo, Christina
  • Pettengill, Peter
  • Reigner, Nathan
  • Valliere, William
• Publication Date: 2013-11-19

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 38p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Buses; Certification; Passenger transportation; Surveys; Sustainable transportation; Tour buses; Tourism
• Geographic Terms: Vermont
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Public Transportation; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01523317
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 13-011
• Files: UTC, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 25 2014 4:12PM