July Forum: Transporting the City Sustainably

NYC is often regarded as one of the best American cities for public transportation due to its extensive and complex network of subways, buses, and ferries that move over 5 million people per day. But there is an enormous need to increase the safety, energy efficiency, and resiliency of this system. In order to meet the city’s growth and mobility needs for the coming decades, the MTA and other transit bodies of the city must undergo a green transformation to meet low-carbon transit goals while also expanding the ridership capacity to accommodate millions of new passengers. Policy makers must simultaneously legislate proactively and rapidly in order to take on these challenges. Come to the July forum to learn about the impacts from congestion pricing regulations, MTA initiatives, and more.

We highly encourage attendees to register in advance, as fees increase at the door. If registering at the door, credit/debit card is strongly preferred.

Speakers for the event will include:
Thomas Abdallah, P.E., LEED AP, ENV SP, Deputy Vice President and Chief Environmental Engineer, MTA New York City Transit
Jeffrey Dugan, AIA, Principal, Dattner Architects; Co-Chair, AIANY Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

More speakers to be announced!

About the speakers:

Thomas Abdallah, P.E., LEED AP, ENV SP is the Deputy Vice President and Chief Environmental Engineer for the MTA New York City Transit. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rutgers University. Abdallah has been with MTA since 1987, and has extensive experience including sustainable design, energy efficiency, noise and vibration, pollution prevention, waste management, and is directly responsible for New York City Transit’s certified ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. He is also in charge of several LEED projects including the Corona Maintenance Shop, the first U.S. transportation facility to gain certification, and the Gold Certified Mother Clara Hale Bus Depot. Abdallah is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University in the Sustainability Management graduate program, and is the author of Sustainable Mass Transit: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Public Transportation which discusses the sustainable attributes of mass transportation, and the ways it can become more energy efficient, less reliant on fossil fuels, and reduce carbon footprint.