The two International Organization of Standardization certifications prove that UTA holds itself to higher standards than most transit agencies, which may have one or the other of the certificates but not both, said John Inglish, UTA general manager.
"What's already come out of this is a lot less pollutants in the air," Inglish said Thursday. UTA will continue to apply the international standards recognized by 156 countries as a way to bridge business concerns with broader societal needs, he said.
UTA calculates that using ISO standards saved the transit agency $675,000 in fuel and $63,000 in labor costs by reducing bus idling time; $72,000 in print shop labor; $500,000 by recycling industrial waste water; and $4,000 by recycling used motor oil.
Adhering to the ISO environmental management standards reduced UTA pollution by 2,484 pounds of particulate matter, 91,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide and more than 3 million pounds of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that is contributing most to global warming.
"UTA is setting a great example," said Utah Department of Environmental Quality Executive Director Dianne Nielson. The environmental certification "means in the wintertime when the particulate matter is the biggest concern . . . that we've got a little more breathing room, literally."
UTA's greenhouse-gas reductions are an example of how companies are paying attention to global warming and recognizing the societal benefits of curtailing emissions. "We want to make sure that when companies in Utah make those reductions . . . that [they] actually are recognized for it," Nielson said.
Four other companies in Utah have received ISO environmental management certification: Kennecott Land, AutoLiv, Circle Four Farms and Hexcel.
In 1999, Ford Motor Co. became the first U.S. automaker to require ISO environmental standards certification of its suppliers with manufacturing plants, including 140 manufacturers in 26 countries.
Jerry Benson, UTA chief performance officer, said it took UTA two years to get certified because the agency is so complex. Smaller companies could get certified in as little as two months, he said.
UTA monitors 57 areas of operation from top management to all labor sectors, seeking continuous improvement. "It's nice to talk about the big things we did, but there are 1,000 little things we did . . . across the board," Benson said.
One of the main targets has been bus punctuality, Benson said.
With electronic tracking technology, UTA is able to monitor segment-by-segment the bus routes most notorious for not being on time, then realign or reallocate driving time so timetables are more reliable. The goal across the system is to increase punctuality by 5 percent, thereby reducing idling time, fuel costs and pollution emissions, Benson said.
More on ISO
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a nongovernmental network of national standards institutes of 156 countries with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO's goal is to bridge the gap between business needs and the broader needs of society.
The organization has been around in some form since 1906. In 1947, with 25 members, it adopted its name and defined its objective: to coordinate and unify industrial standards across the globe and between a wide swath of industries such as mechanical engineering, aerospace, medical equipment, automotive safety, health care, governments, trade and customers in public and private sectors. The standards also safeguard consumers of products and services, aiming to make their lives simpler.
Four Utah companies other than the Utah Transit Authority have received ISO environmental management standards certification: Kennecott Land Co., AutoLiv in Ogden, Circle Four Farms in Milford and Hexcel formerly known as Hercules-Aerospace, Composite Products Division - in West Valley City.
