How can we improve the ways we transport our goods and ourselves

Q:  How can we improve the ways we transport our goods and ourselves?

- fast & efficient - TGS - 350 km/h

- Passenger multitasking

- eating, sleeping, reading, chatting

- being online, WiFi, tweeting

JIT (just-in-time) is passe

through a carbon tax and price forcing (forcing JIT to be more expensive)

Multi-modal hubs

- extend tranportation from Toronto to Waterloo Region

- a lot of high-tech technology that can be used 

- better links to the major centres

- multi-modal flow (taxi-bus-train-bike)

- scheduling has to be improved

Need to cut traffic on the 401 - once you get to Toronto (GTA) you don't need a car, but need one to get from here to there

Car Share - membership - reserve a time for use of a car, billed at the end of the month

- $3.70/hr, $.17/km

- more useful for short trips 

Need full cost accounting for cost of transportation systems

Routing - 'FROM HUB TO WEB'

- need to get away from hub-based transit systems

- more like a spider's web eg London, Moscow

Political will for infrastructure upgrades

- over a century ago, we could build a rail system across the country, but today we can't build a line from Toronto to Hamilton, or one that uses new technologies

Would be great for infrastructure spending

Energy recapturing - using the power from transportation systems to be recycled for energy 

- solar panels, using the energy involved with actual transportation processes for electricity/energy production

Transportation and Climate Change

- transportation accounts for 50% of Green House Gas emissions

Fuels

- using natural gas (CNG) for transportation

- waste-based biofuels - need a local supply

- methane - at landfill sites, farms

- compressed air - from renewable electricity

- human power

How do we pay for improvements?

- $10,000/yr cost for avg vehicle

- need to realign spending

Off-the-shelf technology

Telecommuting, teleshopping

Main Points

Short term

• Schedule integration
• Car share
• Infrastucture
• Transportation = 50% of GHG's
• Passenger multi-tasking
• JIT is passe

Medium term

• Carbon taxing + price forcing + full cost accounting
• Multimodal flow
• Routing pattern from hub to web

 Long term

• Energy recapturing
• New fuels
• Fast & efficient transit like the TGV in Europe