Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
JANUARY 15, 2026
Subject
SUBJECT: MOVING BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY FIVE-YEAR UPDATE
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the Moving Beyond Sustainability (MBS) Five-Year Update.
Issue
ISSUE
In September 2020, Metro’s Board of Directors (Board) adopted Moving Beyond Sustainability (MBS), our 10-year Sustainability Strategic Plan (Plan). The Plan commits Metro to several ambitious sustainability goals to achieve three things: first, advance the agency’s sustainability vision of creating an organizational culture and workforce that continually integrates sustainability into all aspects of decision-making and execution; second, increase mobility and access to opportunities for the communities Metro serves; and third, affirm Metro as a public transit leader that is setting the standard for transit agencies across the United States on taking bold action to tackle climate change and address serious environmental challenges. The MBS is Metro’s sustainability and resiliency roadmap to 2030 and beyond.
When Metro adopted MBS, staff committed to updating the Plan every five years, accompanied by formal progress reports every two years and annual performance updates through Metro’s online Sustainability Reporting Dashboard <https://sustainabilityreporting.metro.net/>. This document is our first formal Five-Year Update.
Background
BACKGROUND
Metro is California’s largest transit agency (by ridership) and the second-largest in the United States. Metro serves nearly a million riders each day, and consequently, the agency’s operations and services have a measurable, positive impact on our environment and climate. Ridership associated with the use of our transportation system provides benefit to annually reduce over a million metric tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from entering the atmosphere. The air quality and other benefits derived from our programs reduce environmental and health impacts. However, operating our system also comes with financial, social, and environmental costs that need to be mitigated wherever feasible and possible.
For nearly two decades, Metro has instituted policies, plans, initiatives and reporting that have embedded sustainability, community resilience and equity into our decision-making and operations. In 2020, Metro reaffirmed and expanded our commitment to this work through the MBS. The MBS established 20 quantitative and/or time-bound targets across seven categories of performance, all underpinned by strategies and actions to be implemented by Metro staff.
Metro recently released its latest MBS 2024 Bi-Annual Report, which shows that Metro has achieved or is on track to achieve 80% of its targets by 2030, with the remaining targets still in progress or requiring additional action to ensure achievement. Despite the significant operational and regional disruptions posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic and other world events, Metro has made significant progress on its sustainability goals. However, for Metro to achieve the remaining sustainability goals and targets, the path forward through 2030 must be calibrated to thoughtfully account for Metro’s present fiscal realities and other economic and social considerations, all the while remaining in alignment or ahead of California State and federal regulatory requirements.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The MBS Five-Year Update is both a reflection of Metro’s progress to date and an updated roadmap for executing our sustainability vision through 2030. The Update includes:
• summaries of Metro performance on all performance targets;
• key achievements, implementation challenges, and cost considerations across all performance categories;
• a shortlist of priority next steps to drive achievement of the targets through 2030; and
• an updated blueprint for advancing sustainability at Metro that accounts for the fiscal cliff, advances Metro’s agency-wide priorities, and satisfies existing regulatory requirements.
Staff prepared this Update over the course of the last 16 months through four phases of work:
1. Stakeholder Outreach (Fall 2024) - Outreach to departments across Metro to assess progress on strategies and actions in MBS and identify newly emerging priorities and challenges through 2030.
2. Progress Evaluation (Spring 2025) - Completion of the latest biennial report on MBS, which provided updated performance on all of the performance targets through 2024; internal revisions of the strategies and actions in MBS to reflect the findings from stakeholder discussions in Fall 2024.
3. Plan Update and Stakeholder Follow-Up (Summer 2025) - Drafting of the Five-Year Update and follow-up with stakeholders to confirm directions on strategies and actions.
4. Review and Finalize (Fall 2025) - Finalization of the Five-Year Update.
Findings
Through the preparation of the Five-Year Update and the latest MBS biennial report, Metro assessed its progress across all of the original MBS performance targets, as well as on its strategies and actions. The findings include:
1. 80% of Metro’s MBS targets have been achieved or are on track for achievement within the next five years.
2. Partnerships with key departments are paying off and are responsible for driving the achievement of most of the targets.
3. Initiatives to reduce air pollution and GHG emissions are proving to be highly effective. Metro is currently committed to reducing total GHG emissions by 79% from its 2017 baseline. Since 2017, Metro has reduced emissions by nearly 68%. Metro is also far exceeding targets tied to reducing criteria air pollutants (i.e., nitrogen oxides and particulate matter).
4. Landfill diversion efforts on construction sites are showing impressive results, currently exceeding Metro’s construction waste diversion target of 85%.
5. Metro is currently ahead of schedule with respect to its energy demand target, as well as its water quality and conservation targets.
6. Metro is presently behind schedule on two of the MBS targets, including operational solid waste reduction and growth in onsite renewable energy generation. This lag in performance on the renewable energy and waste MBS targets reflects system growth that resulted in an increased 5-year baseline faster than renewable deployment and waste diversion programs have scaled, rather than a loss of progress or commitment.
Considerations
As part of the process, staff engaged with Metro departments and senior leadership to better understand successes and challenges tied to the execution of the MBS strategies and actions. This is key to ensure that the Five-Year Update remains aligned with concurrent planning efforts and agency-wide priorities. As the agency approaches the next five years of implementation, staff will focus on ensuring that the execution of MBS continues to be performed in close coordination with all Metro departments; and with deliberate focus on the following agency-wide priorities:
• promoting customer experience, safety, and security;
• ensuring system reliability and resilience;
• advancing equity and climate justice;
• centering fiscal responsibility and sustainability;
• establishing and strengthening community partnerships;
• developing our regional youth and the green workforce of the future; and
• continuing to integrate sustainability and resiliency into the governance and organizational culture.
With respect to executing the remaining MBS targets, Metro recognizes the following as potential challenges requiring attention over the next five years.
• Progress on the MBS targets may be affected as capital projects come online through 2030. As new projects are initiated, resource demand and waste generation will increase, requiring additional action to ensure Metro achieves its targets.
• Addressing the fiscal cliff will require Metro to center the efforts on programs and projects that both drive achievement of the MBS targets but also create value and reduce costs for the agency.
System expansion has increased total energy demand and operational waste generation; Metro must align capital delivery and operational practices-particularly on-site renewable deployment and waste reduction/diversion-to advance targets that are currently behind schedule.
Continued commitment to the execution of MBS will result in further reduction of Metro’s environmental impact (e.g., air pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions, resource use) while reducing operational costs and increasing resiliency.
Staff continues to explore opportunities in optimizing cost-savings and monetize environmental attributes derived from MBS programs and projects. These attributes are in the form of carbon credits, advanced mitigation credits, renewable energy credits and similar instruments. For example, up to 80% of Low Carbon Fuel Standards credits proceeds have been directed to be used for our Zero Emissions Bus program.
Funding for non-capital Sustainability projects (450001-450009) is from the General Fund/Green Funds that are generated by sustainability activities. Any future proposed capital project life of project (LOP) budgets will be a mix of eligible and available local funds or other funds appropriate for sustainability-related capital projects.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
Updates to the MBS will enhance safety standards for Metro. The implementation of priority next steps outlined in this Five-Year Update will also contribute to improvements to Metro’s system resilience, the comfort and safety of passengers, and the region’s air quality and environment which will have a positive impact on the health and safety of Metro staff, riders and surrounding communities. Staff remains committed to advancing MBS and the broader sustainability program in alignment with Metro security guidelines and customer experience efforts.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
The original MBS plan includes several actions that are focused on generating equitable outcomes and reducing environmental burdens in Metro Equity Focus Communities (EFCs). The Five-Year Update does not deviate from this priority, continuing to center actions that provide local health benefits and opportunities for continued workforce development partnerships. Ongoing updates to the MBS strategies and actions continue to prioritize initiatives that support long-term operational sustainability of Metro’s growing transit system, positively impacting EFCs, customers and broader transit system users across LA County.
New capital projects, programs and initiatives will continue to be fed through integrated equity assessments in early planning phases, using data and resources from the forthcoming Equity Toolkit, Community Demographic Profiles and Metro’s Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) for larger capital projects. The data and insights collected from these assessments are intended to support the ongoing evaluation and continual improvement of sustainability, energy equity and climate action as part of Metro’s Equity Platform.
While staff only engaged internal departments to prepare this Five-Year Update, new strategic priorities are introduced in this plan that have a more overt focus on community partnership and engagement and introduce program evaluation criteria for projects and programs that center on engagement, equity outcomes, and other co-benefits.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled_Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and VMT per capita in LA County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit. Metro’s Board-adopted VMT Reduction Targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
As part of these ongoing efforts, this item is expected to contribute to further reductions in VMT. While this item does not directly encourage transit, sharing a ride, or using active transportation, it is a vital part of Metro operations, as it supports operational resiliency, environmental and sustainability goals and cost-effective resource management strategies. Because the Metro Board has adopted an agency-wide VMT Reduction Target, and this item supports the overall function of the agency, this item is consistent with the goals of reducing VMT.
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Continued implementation of Metro’s sustainability strategic plan supports Strategic Goals 2, 3 and 4 by optimizing the delivery and performance of Metro’s transportation system through the incorporation of sustainability, equity, livable neighborhoods, environmental compliance and other sustainable principles and practices throughout Metro’s organization and the transportation system.
Next Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will continue to work across internal departments and with external partners and stakeholders to implement the MBS strategies and actions to continue achieving our sustainability and resilience goals. This cross-functional engagement will enable more strategic and coordinated progress towards sustainability and resiliency planning and implementation.
Staff will continue to provide regular updates to the Board through annual updates to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Sustainability Metrics and through biennial updates on the MBS targets. Previous reports can be found through Metro’s online Sustainability Reporting Dashboard <https://sustainabilityreporting.metro.net/>.
Attachments
ATTACHMENT
Attachment A - Moving Beyond Sustainability Five-Year Update
Prepared by: Cris B. Liban, Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer, (213) 922-2471
Hoan Tang, Senior Director, Office of Sustainability, (213) 922-4269
Reviewed by: Tim Lindholm, Chief Program Management Officer, (213) 922-7297
