Week 7 - GTA West Corridor, Autonomous Vehicles, & Transit Flashcards
What is the GTA West Corridor?
- planning for new transit corridor began in early 2000s and EA began in 2008
- planning for 400-series highway, transit, and potential goods movement priority features
- motivation: greater connectivity b/w urban growth centres, enhanced people/goods movement, improved commuting, greater economic vitality
- EA paused in 2015
Why were people opposed to highway 413 (GTA West Corridor)?
- not viewed as necessary even with proposed growth (parallel to 407)
- negative impacts on sensitive watershed
- loss of agricultural land
- opportunity cost (less money left for transit if built)
What were the review panel’s concerns over highway 413?
- concerns that corridor was being planned in isolation rather than as part of broader integrated plan
- uncertainty with significant trends (e-commerce, shared mobility, labour mobility, freight activity, consumer demands)
- modelling highway impacts showed it would only save 30 seconds per trip
- transportation demand management (TDM) benefits difficult to identify
What did the review panel explore as alts?
- congestion pricing (similar travel time saving)
- truck lanes on 407 (reducing truck tolls to bring similar time saving)
- land use management (slower growth & more compact land use scenario modelled showed shorter travel times)
- contradictory to climate change mitigation act
- autonomous vehicles
- recommended signle transp plan for GGH
What have been revolutions in transp?
- railways and telegraph: provided explosive productivity and economic growth
- car and phone: mobility, economy, urban form
- PEI originally banned cars b/c concerned with accidents and there was public opposition - containerization and internet: global economy, e-commerce
- today: internet of things, robotics, AI, machine learning (4th industrial revolution)
What does autonomy look like right now?
- already introduced in variety of realms: ships, drones, tractors, sidewalk robots
- testing and continually improving in California currently
- Tesla introducing semi trucks
- goal is to be entirely autonomous
How do autonomous vehicles work?
- tons of data
- uses lidar to sense environment and make decisions
What are influences on when AV will become the next big thing?
- technology (connected and electric
- policy (regulation and liability)
- ethical concerns: what do you program it to do in collision scenarios? - economy (consumers, markets, business models)
- will it be shared or not? (post-private auto?)
- how will shared autonomy be regulated?
- will there be a ripple effect across other modes (ex. reduction in cycling)?
What is mobility as a service (MAAS)?
Integration of various forms of transport services into a single mobility service accessible on demand
- key is moving away from personally owned modes of transport to consuming mobility as a service
- MAAS operator facilitates diverse menu of transport option
- most people using car share services are millenials
What are the pros/cons of AV?
Pros: - sharing (reduced ownership) - land use (less space needed for parking) - safe streets - nigher efficiency transit Cons: - more driving (increased VMT) - sprawl and congestion - security (hacking) - decline in transit use and inequity
Why is UBER so controversial?
- destructive competition to taxis
- oversupply of competitors in marketplace that drives prices down
What are the biggest challenges facing transit systems across Canada?
- funding: operational costs
- public attitude: materialism
- built form: dispersed environment
- aging infrastructure: maintenance costs
- under utilized areas: excess capacity
What defines public transportation?
Shared passenger service available to all who can pay the fare
- discrete departure/arrival times (fixed schedule)
- limited stops
- fixed route
- greater vehicle capacity
What makes public transp public?
Consider function, goals, operators financing
- community service or viable transp option?
- private operator or public or combo? (most cities public)
- cost recovery or subsidy?
Why is public transp subsidized?
It would be too expensive otherwise
- clear gap b/w cost and revenue, so subsidy needed
Where does the subsidy funding come from?
- far box
- municipal taxes
- provincial gas tax
What does OPPI say the roles of public transit are?
Fundamental purpose in communities is to provide mobility for those who do not use personal automobiles and/or who otherwise cannot travel by other means
Secondary roles:
- reduce energy consumption
- decrease auto dependence
- enhance mobility in congested areas
- create more viable option for mobility
- part of AT agenda
- enhance economic competitiveness/livability
What activities come with transit planning?
a. Determining demand: spatial and temporal concerns
- captive vs. choice riders
- car ownership
- trip making activity
- where/when?
b. Determining paths/stop locations
- where to go and how often to stop
- balance of ridership vs. speed, frequency, etc.
c. Determining terminals, hubs
- size, locations, surrounding land uses
d. Transp relationships with land use
- core to challenge of transit planning (TOD)
- traditional auto focus protects low density
- transit focus linked to intensification
e. Does transit shape or respond to development?
- ex. Toronto subway vs. Waterloo LRT