Amtrak and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are leading consumers on a greener path to travel.
The companies this week announced a partnership that gives travelers more sustainable travel options as the transportation and tech industries strive to cut down on carbon dioxides.
Amtrak customers can sort up-to-date train departure times, trip durations and fares on the Google Search results page, and then select a train via Amtrak.com to complete booking without re-entering trip details.
As part of this integration, Google will also show train suggestions when travelers look for flights on Google Search or Google Flights, according to Google’s blog.
“One of the biggest impacts we can make towards climate change is shifting the way people get around,” Amtrak President Roger Harris said in a statement. “As we continue offering services that motivate people to shift out of cars and planes into trains, we are thrilled that this integration makes it even easier for users to find rail options for their travel needs while also potentially lowering their carbon emissions.”
When a traveler chooses Amtrak instead of flying, he said, they reduce their carbon footprint up to 72%. That’s because the railway infrastructure, the world’s largest in mileage (more than 155,000), has expanded low-carbon, high-capacity intercity routes.
Earlier this week, Amtrak further outlined a plan to bring high-speed rail service between Dallas and Houston, which is expected to cut carbon emissions and align with global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.
Amtrak has set ambitious new targets, including a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the Amtrak Network by 2045. The company has already installed solar panels on roofs for buildings in operations, as well as increased its use of renewable diesel. Amtrak is exploring Power Purchase Agreements and other ways to source renewable energy by 2035.
Last year, net CO2 emissions in the U.S. were at their lowest levels since 1987 (aside for 2020 because of COVID-19) with emissions falling across all sectors — except for transport, according to a report issued in February by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and BloombergNEF.
While good news, the current pace of emission reductions is not enough to meet U.S. climate goals under the Paris Agreement. It is targeting a 50% to 52% reduction compared to 2005 levels, though last year emissions were down 16%.
A study from TeamViewer estimates 41 million tons of CO2 emissions were avoided through TeamViewer software usage in one year, or roughly 42,000 roundtrip flights from London to Tokyo in a Boeing 777-300ER.
The tech industry, which produces 2% to 4% of the world’s emissions, has increasingly embraced a shift to renewable energy. Last week, Constellation Energy said it will resurrect Three Mile Island Unit 1, one of the facility’s pressurized water reactors, for the launch of the Crane Clean Energy Center, which will generate nuclear energy purchased by Microsoft Corp. to power the software company’s AI data center.
Cisco Systems Inc., with a goal to reach net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2040 in a low-carbon economy, is pursuing a smart, modern secure grid — especially as generative AI chews up energy. The company is even looking into harnessing the ocean’s waves with router-loaded buoys to produce energy in the future.
“We started thinking about climate all the way back in the early 2000s,” Cisco Chief Sustainability Officer Mary de Wysocki said in an interview from climate week in New York on Thursday.
“Personally, I think climate change is the crisis of our lifetimes,” said de Wysocki, who has been at Cisco for 25 years. “This is the decade we have to take action.”
Indeed, companies are mobilizing as they scale in growth.
For instance, the Global Business Travel Association’s 2024 report predicts worldwide business travel to reach a record of $1.48 trillion in 2024. Meanwhile, the U.S. Travel Association estimates business travel will reach 95% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels this year.
Amtrak anticipates a massive bump in ridership — from more than 28 million passengers in fiscal year 2023 to double ridership by fiscal year 2040. It already has carried 24.1 million riders in the first nine months of fiscal year 2024, up 18% increase year-over-year, and on pace for an all-time high.
