The North County Transit District provides public transit services for over 12.5 million riders annually in North San Diego County. They implemented an environmental accounting and reporting system to measure their sustainability performance and track key metrics like emissions reductions over time. Using the Oracle JD Edwards product, they automated data collection and reporting which allowed for more frequent analytics with a payback period of less than 2 years. Starting small with operational changes like using biodegradable supplies and implementing a green data center helped them reduce costs and build their sustainability program step-by-step over many years.

1. Showcase: Environmental Accounting and
Reporting - A Public Transit Case Study
North County Transit District San Diego, CA
Angela Miller, former Chief Technology Officer/Chief Sustainability Officer
founder, ecology.IT

2. The North County Transit District:
Building Sustainable Public Transit
• North San Diego County, operating bus, commuter rail, light rail, and
paratransit systems
• 12.5 million riders; 107 million annual Passenger Miles Traveled
• 9 million annual Vehicle Miles over 550k annual Revenue Vehicle Hours

3. The North County Transit District:
Building Sustainable Public Transit
• Sustainability and public transit have a natural synergy – economic,
social, and environmental issues all inherently relevant business model
• Plan focused first on cost reductions, then capitalizing on opportunity,
then building the cleanest, most scalable transportation. Sustainability
took on a much different meaning under dire financial circumstances

4. History of the NCTD Sustainability Program
building one step at a time

5. Sustainable Public Transit Operations:
Simple Operational Changes
• All cleaning – both facility and vehicle – biodegradable supplies
• Bombardier Maintenance Team just achieved 5 years accident-free
• Changed lighting and watering protocols

6. Sustainable Public Transit Operations:
Saving Money through Energy Reduction
• Built a Green Data Center – 15-Year Payback Period
• Installed almost a megawatt of Solar Power – SPRINTER Maintenance
Operations runs completely on solar during daylight hours
• Implemented GreenRoads Driver Feedback Tool – 4% CNG Savings

7. Investments in Renewable Power
pilot installations that demonstrated the viability of solar in public transit

8. Measuring Sustainability:
The Climate Registry and APTA
• Wanted to measure using Industry-Standard Methodologies
• Became a member of The Climate Registry and filed first baseline year;
Became a signatory to the APTA Sustainability Commitment and filed
first annual report
• In order to complete these goals, NCTD contracted with external
partners like Trust Element and Cathy Moran – significant consulting

9. Measuring Sustainability:
Assessing the Baseline
• Delivering service on the rails and the streets is the highest emissions-
intensive activity
• Facilities and maintenance activities contribute significantly through
energy consumption, water use, and waste production

10. NCTD Emissions
the first three years of The Climate Registry reporting

11. Implementing Accounting and Reporting:
Leveraging Existing Tools and Process
• Manual effort too expensive and not repeatable; issues with audit
• NCTD wanted to build on their 10-year JD Edwards Investment
• Needed a solution that included extensive data transformation
• Oracle Solution Seemed to fit the need

12. Environmental Accounting and Reporting:
A Case Study
 Chose to implement with Oracle Partner TeamCain
 Began installation in January and went live in May 2012
 NCTD had already completed 9.0 upgrade, which made installation of
EA&R smooth

13. Environmental Accounting and Reporting
setting up items

14. Environmental Accounting and Reporting
energy factors

15. Environmental Accounting and Reporting
sources

16. Environmental Accounting and Reporting
establishing transport types

17. Environmental Accounting and Reporting:
Results
• OBIEE allowed for easier transformation of data
• Automation of data collection allowed for more frequent and cost
effective analytics; payback period for NCTD < 2 years
• Give yourself time to effectively identify all of the scope elements and
business process changes

18. Environmental Accounting and Reporting:
A Case Study
• Starting Small with your sustainable operations plan is effective
• Taking the time to measure results shows accountability and potentially
saves resources and money
• The Oracle JD Edwards EA&R Product allowed us to fit into regular
accounting processes, and to save significant consulting dollars to
measure efficacy

19. For further information:
Fred Knapp, Program Manager
North County Transit District
fknapp@nctd.org
Angela Miller, founder
ecology.IT
angela.miller@ecologyit.net t: @ecologyit www.ecologyit.net