ALBANY – New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Astrid Glynn Tuesday announced a first-in-the-nation initiative that will encourage the designers of department projects to minimize impacts to the environment and promote sustainability in public transportation design.

The new design program, named Green Leadership In Transportation and Environmental Sustainability (Green LITES), calls for the department to certify transportation project designs based on the extent to which they incorporate sustainable environmental choices. The initiative, which formalizes internal directives and implements a recognition program, starts this month with the review of all project designs completed after Sept. 25th.

Although the concept of "green" certification is not new - the building industry has been using these standards since the mid-1990s, most notably with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system - no program to promote these goals has ever been successfully implemented for transportation design. New York's program involves all state road and bridge project designs and is being implemented through a self-certification process.