New Rochelle Green Initiatives Hit The Road With Style

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Novel efforts to reduce the impacts of transportation and logistics on the environment are on display on New Rochelle streets everyday, but the city's transportation center recently became a temporary showroom for concerted efforts to move green.

The City of New Rochelle's Department of Development hosted a Micro-Mobility event at Station Plaza to showcase efforts to reduce congestion and improve air quality in the city.

The Micro-Mobility event brought in vendors to explore zero-emission ways to travel around the city and reduce dependency on single-car trips. One of the vendors, Nissan, provided a "Leaf" electric vehicle for community members to test drive and learn about the pros of driving sustainably. 511 Rideshare offered a comprehensive list of walking trails in the area. Other vendors who presented alternative, inexpensive ways to get around town included Circuit and VeoRide.

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"This week’s event showcased and celebrated sustainable and mobility options for our community and our residents," Mayor Noam Bramson told those gathered. "Whether we are walking, biking and or even using an electric car to even be utilizing mass transit, we are creating a healthier environment for our city."

The Micro-Mobility event aimed to follow goals set in New Rochelle’s 2010-2030 ‘GreeNR’ sustainability plan, encouraging an ongoing commitment to sustainability, demonstrated through public policy and also individual action. As part of the plan, New Rochelle has set a goal to achieve at least a 50 percent increase in the number of commuters who walk or bike, from 3,300 to 5,000.

"Implementing strategies to reduce emissions and foster improved air quality to create a healthy and livable city is central to the City of New Rochelle’s overall mission of being a leading city in sustainability practices," New Rochelle Commissioner of Development Adam Salgado said. "The micro-mobility event was a great opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to being an environmentally friendly city, while allowing vendors to showcase innovative, zero-emission transportation methods of the future."

In June of last year, the city launched a Veo bike and e-scooter share program, placing a fleet of 30 bikes and 350 standing electric scooters throughout the city. City officials said the program has provided an inexpensive and sustainable way to explore New Rochelle.

Operationally, the City of New Rochelle has expanded its commitments to include sustainable and clean transportation with its own fleet of 14 "Leaf" electric vehicles.