The City of Somerville, MA has been suffering for a while. Despite the lengthy border it shares with Cambridge, one of the greenest cities in the nation, Somerville’s air quality consistently ranks among the state’s worst. 

Airplanes from nearby Logan Airport roar overhead every few minutes, Interstate 93 funnels traffic through the city from as far away as New Hampshire, and worst of all, four heavy rail lines carry some 200 diesel-spewing trains a day through the city, though none of them makes a single stop.

But now Somerville is looking to turn those rail beds into a carbon solution. Already, an old rail right-of-way has been used to give Somerville its only rapid transit stop, and a community path extending down that same rail bed is eventually slated to run into downtown Boston. 

Additionally, by 2015, two of Somerville’s rail lines will have been converted to carry clean-running electric light rail lines to some of the city’s most densely populated areas.  This will reduce the need for cars, setting a model for other train-heavy urban areas nationwide.