1. Climate change science, sources and trends
2. The importance of climate change to the state DOTs
3. Strategies to reduce GHG emissions from transportation
4. Climate adaptation for Transportation Agencies
5. Climate legislation and policy

Burbanks’s presentation began by discussing the unequivocal evidence of global warming, increased GHG emissions and the effect of humans on the rising levels of GHG’s. I won’t get into that much here. Although she agreed that there is some science out there disqualifying climate change, the science behind human effects on climate change is overwhelming. Her presentation on climate science was quite good and if you have a few minutes go through pages 12 to 18 of her slides.

What I thought was more interesting were her findings on climate change and its effects on DOTs.

The Three-Part Challenge to State DOTs

1. Reduce transportation GHG’s: by as much as 60-80% by 2050
2. Adapt transportation infrastructure: most importantly to severe storms, but also rising sea levels, high temperatures and flooding
3. Find a new revenue stream: one based on low carbon fuels

In the US highway vehicles = 82% of Transportation CO2 emissions, 23% of total US CO2 emission

The Economist vs. Political Debate

Burbank is an economist and argued that GHG reduction should be done as cost effectively as possible. She stated that the evidence supports that an 80% reduction in GHG’s in transportation maybe more costly in some sectors than others. i.e. From an economic perspective transportation targets should probably be lower

BUT the political reality is that each sector will have to contribute its ‘fair share.’ Therefore the DOTs will likely be forced to achieve a reduction of GHG’s of 60-80% from current levels

Initially we thought of reduction strategies in terms of a 3 legged stool, which included vehicles, fuels and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). That has known grown to a five legged stool to include Operating Efficiency and Construction, Maintenance and Agency Operations. Brown notes that a 50% cut in GHG/mile is feasible from conventional technologies and biofuels by 2020-2030 (slide 25 has some worldwide GHG rates).

“In the long term, carbon free road transport fuel is the only way to achieve an 80-90% reduction in emissions.” Although the number of light duty vehicles in the developed world (OCED) will not dramatically increase over the next few decades, those in the developing world (non-OCED) will dramatically increase. We have to decarbonizes fuel because of their increased use of light duty vehicles.

To further reduce the carbon footprint of transportation the DOTs have to starting thinking about pricing schemes. As Burbank says “Without price signals, trying to reduce GHG is swimming upstream.” Pricing will encourage consumer purchase of lower carbon vehicles/fuels, business Investment in low-GHG technology, decreased VMT, Eco-driving
and more efficient land use.

And the pricing tools already exist; auto ‘feebates,’ carbon/fuel prices, PAYD insurance (Pay-as-you-Drive, i.e. by km/annum), mileage fees, increased parking pricing, and congestion Pricing (just like in London and Singapore)

Alongside pricing tools government’s will have to employ strategies to reduce GHG in light duty vehicles by 10-20%. These can include:

• Managing speed (35-55 MPH/56-88 KPH is optimal)
• Speed limits/enforcement (reduce fuel use by 2-4%)
• Eliminating bottlenecks
• “Active” Traffic Management to smooth traffic flow
• Improving signal timing (could reduce 1.315 MMT CO2/yr)
• Roundabouts
• Reducing Car and Truck Idling
• Work zone management to smooth flow
• Encourage eco-driving

Strategies to reduce GHG’s in our vehicles and fuels will not be enough. It will take a coordination of strategies for Construction, Maintenance and Agency Operations that will help to decrease GHG emissions. Some examples that governments can employ:  LED traffic lights, low carbon pavement, energy-efficient buildings (i.e LEED certified), solar panels along the right of way, alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles in agency fleets, and alternative fuel and hybrid buses.

Why do Agencies need to plan for Adaptation?:

Climate change is a reality that transportation agencies need to deal with . Those that are proactive will be the ones that spend less money over the long run.

Multimodal Highways are the Future

I recently finished and wrote a book review of Alphabet City’s book Fuel, which had a great section on the post-carbon highway specifically evaluating Highway 401. The existing highway at it’s widest is 18-lanes with a core-collector system and goes down to 4-lanes in the more rural sections. The future highway will have rail, cycle, transfer stations – it will be the ultimate people mover. With Ontario’s Places to Grow plan and the ever increasing population there is no denying that there needs to be a shift in the way people use the 401.

The 401 is already congested now imagine how gridlocked it would be with a 30% increase in population

A few facts about the 401

• Total length = 820 km (509.6 miles)
• $1.2 Trillion worth of goods travel the highway each year or $3.3 Billion per day
• Annual Average Daily Traffic = 420,000 vehicles
• Peak Average Daily Traffic = 500,000 vehicles
• 71,000 tonnes of salt (NaCl) used annually to combat ice and snow

There is no denying that highways will always play a huge role in moving people to places and things to people in North America. The goal of reducing the carbon footprint on the highways is to incorporate ‘green’ initiatives; wind turbines, pervious pavements, electric vehicles, carpooling, trees along right-of-ways …

Ontario snowplowing – Does it Work?

Back in December I wrote an article comparing the snow maintenance methods of Quebec and Ontario. I stated then that I thought Quebec was far superior to Ontario for their snow clearing methods and stand by what I wrote. This weekend reminded me why Ontario does not ‘get it.’

Sunday was a beautiful ski day; warm weather (the temperature hovered around 0 deg), blue bird skies and not a drop of precipitation to be seen. This did mean that some of those snow banks were melting, which in turn created some very thick and treacherous ice on the roads. As my friend, Laurissa, and I ventured home we watched a snow-plow go by on the opposite side of the road and actually make the driving conditions worse.

The plow went by and exposed all the ice below the snow surface.

Quebec mandates that all cars are equipped with snow tires, in Ontario we have not even considered such legislation. But when the plow went by it exposed thick ice on the road and placed no sand or salt where it had just cleared. Instead of leaving a snow covered road it left and ice covered road. Laurissa commented that in Manitoba they leave the snow and add sand, which seems like a much more logical, safe, and environmentally safe thing to do.

The drivers made things worse.

As our drive continued we encountered areas that had just been snow plowed, which meant there was thick, shiny, slippery ice in front of us. Leaving a safe distance I watched the reaction of the cars around us. And I’m glad I did. The driver in front of us slammed on the brakes as they approached the ice. Slamming on your brakes is about the worst thing you can do in slippery conditions; the tires lock up, you lose control of the vehicle and typically spins and slides result. The car in front of us almost did a full spin into on coming traffic. I elected to drive on the snowy shoulder and use my transmission to slow me down.

We made it home safely; it just took a lot longer. But it was again a reminder that not only do our snow-plows make the road worse but some of the drivers out there make for very dangerous driving conditions.

Over the last 24 hours there has been some exciting announcements on 680 news with respect to accidents and trucks.

Drivers Should be Held Accountable in Bad Weather

This was the statement from Police Chief Julian Fantino (here). He stated that he believes and the statistics support that 40% of accidents in poor weather conditions are due to irresponsible and reckless driving. With the latest snowfall in Ontario over the weekend there were more than 3000 crashes between Friday and Monday morning; Fantino claimed that 99.9% of them were avoidable.

Fantino’s plan make these irresponsible drivers responsible for the damages. Fantino has put forward to legislation a bill that would make the reckless driver responsible for paying the bill for the accident not the insurance company. This is no radical idea, several US jurisdictions have a similar policy, including Wisconsin.

Speed Limiters for Trucks Hit Ontario January 1, 2009

Do you sometimes feel like the truck beside you is trying to race you as you try to pass it? Well those days are hopefully over. Come January 1st, trucks will be required to have governors installed limiting their maximum speed to 105 kilometers per hour.

But some are opposed to this. As reported by Today’s Truckingthe Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) thinks this law violates the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The OOIDA vows to fight the rule in an effort to have it revoked.

I guess the OOIDA doesn’t understand that safety is paramount. I reported back in October when my friend passed away in that horrible accident on the 427 that I believe that change had to come from the top. The OOIDA is part of the top and their attitude needs to change.  Speed limits are enforced for a reason and truckers, just like motorists, need to respect the speed limit.

Will the roads in Ontario be safer? It is too early to tell. It will be a matter of enforcement. Having laws and regulations in place is not enough, people must be held accountable for their actions for there to be any real difference.

What peaked my interest in the article was the discussion around truck safety. Here are a couple of facts the auditors found:

• only 3 of every 1,000 commercial trucks are inspected annually; this is down 34% from 2003/4
• 21% of truck traffic travels at night, but only 8% of inspections are done after hours

The auditors suggest the solution is enforcement and recognize that the Ministry of Transportation has just hired 50 new officers, which indicates a move in the right direction.

It wasn’t just the Ministry of Transportation under scrutiny, the Ministry of Agriculture was attacked for the listeriosis outbreak this summer. The Ministry of Justice is also currently under investigation being criticized for the number of ‘sick’ days they take each year (that would be an average of 32.5, that’s over a month). Another staggering number was the $500 million that the Ontario government loses each year on tobacco taxes; mostly from the sale of cigarettes at native reserves.

I hope this audit is successful in making our province safer. With the crash this morning on the 401 involving three tracker trailers it is yet another reminder of how unsafe the trucking industry has become.

Recently I was in St. Catharines, Ontario for a conference. What a disaster! The first day I found a beautiful trail along the Canal. Winding trails, big trees, old CN bridges, etc … it was spectacular. Upon returning to the conference my friends that were residents in St. Catharines told me that it was one of the most dangerous areas in the city – I guess ignorance is bliss.

On the second day of the conference I headed out once again for a run. I ran through some beautiful neighbourhoods, up and down some rather large hills and got a great veiw and understanding of the city. At about 30mins I approached a mall and had a sense of where I was. I stopped, looked around and realized the only way back was to run down highway 406 or take the same route back. I took the same route back. I even asked a local where to go and he was just astonished at where I had ended up and couldn’t really give me directions (eventually I managed to get the answer I needed, don’t run on the 406 go back the way you came).

So what’s my point?

Jane Jacob’s must have despised the city planners of St. Catharines. It is yet another example of a city not built for pedestrians. With the automobile at the top of the planning hierarchy the city was dissected by an expressway.

I don’t even know where one could begin to fix the city. Likely it would be with the removal of the highway and replacing it with something pedestrians, cyclists and motorists could use and interact on. Our cities/urban areas are precious. With more and more people moving from the rural to the urban it is essential that we build and restore our cities to be ‘active’ – less car more walking, cycling, transit, etc.

With no restrictions on mobile phone use in Ontario the driver’s are focusing more or their phones than on the road.

In Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do (and What it Says about Us), he notes that drivers who are using a mobile device are not actually paying attention to the road. While talking, although we may be looking forward, we are actually only looking at the front edge of the car. And you can totally forget about peripheral vision. (Think about it the next time you are driving and chatting).

Recently Motricity, a company that measures the mobile user experience, reported that 17% of people are surfing the web in the car while driving. As a supporter of these mobile devices I think it is time where governments step in and protect our roads again; it is time to ban the use of mobile devices while driving.