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The New York City Department of City Planning has released World Cities Best Practices – Innovations in Transportation.

The report surveys transportation practices that could be implemented in New York City to reduce congestion but also encourage community, economic and environmental development. Solar Sailor technologies are included in the recommendations:

Insufficient waterfront access for pedestrians, poor connections to other transport, high operating costs and air pollution by conventional diesel ferries, have limited the use of ferries in [New York] city. In recent years however, hybrid technologies have become available for ferries, tugboats and other maritime vessels.

This report focuses on the Solar Sailor, a solar-electric-diesel-wind hybrid that is at the forefront of hybrid maritime technology. The Solar Sailor is in operation in Sydney, Australia and also proposed for San Francisco starting in 2009.

In addition to decreasing operating costs, hybrid maritime technologies solve many environmental concerns that deter ferry use, including air pollution from diesel emissions, noise pollution and community concerns about ferry landing placement.

The full report is available at the NYC Department of City Planning website or here