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Meeting (ACGM) sold out for the first time in its history,
unequivocally reinforcing my long-established hypothesis that
Canada possesses a potential for global ITS innovation that
both draws upon the best practices of the global ITS experience
but is clearly differentiated in terms of its prudent financial
policy and progressive regulatory ecosystem combined with a
culture of public sector innovation and empowerment that
exemplifies the concept of public-private partnership.
Clearly Canadian
In many ways Canada, philosophically as well as geographically,
might be said to leverage many best practices from its neighbors
when it comes to transit planning, operations and governance.
However, in so doing it would be a mistake to brand this as
imitation. As the 2010 ITS Canada ACGM underscored,
Canadian ITS doctrine is indeed based on a global viewpoint
(evidenced by active participation of the 14 other countries
present in Ottawa) but it is also distinctly Canadian,accounting
for a relatively discrete number of population centers focused
on connecting its tremendous natural resources to commercial
markets worldwide, combined with a far-flung rural element
that values the vastness and isolation of much of its territory
and a longstanding respect for openness, personal mobility,
governmental and responsibility,respect for others and concern
for the environment. Perhaps it might well be said that coming
out of the 20th Century Canada already espoused what might
be called the optimal core values of the 21st.
Where the rubber meets the road
As a concrete (literally) example of Canadian transport
innovation I cite the 34-kilometer dedicated transitway
operated by our host city.In 1978 (as it happens the year of my
first visit to Canada at the age of 12) many North American
cities, having seen the removal of trams and/or streetcars in
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Smart Transit

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previous decades,were struggling simply to keep the most basic
bus services either salvaged from collapsed private concerns on
the road at all.Ottawa City (OC)Transit had the foresight way
back in 1978 to realize the benefit of signal-free grade-separated
bus-only access into downtown.The OCTransitway BRT system
is a testimony to that vision of more than 30 years ago that has
only become more relevant.
Even as the newer O-train light rail system provides additional
seat capacity, seamlessly integrated with the four Transitway
lines at key connection points along with parking and bike-and-
rideoption,theTransitwayitselfcontinuestoprovideimpressive
ridership numbers on its own,with up to 180 vehicles per hour
delivering nearly a quarter million trips on a typical weekday.
Not satisfied with just the official tour with my ITS colleagues
during the conference itself, as I try to do in every city around
the world that offers a dedicated road or rail airport connection
I made a point of experiencing the Transitway as a regular
passenger on this service.Whereas many recent trips around
North America have involved almost invariably tedious
encounters with taxis,airport shuttles and rental cars,the ease
and economy of a 20-minute one-seat BRT trip from a choice
location in front of the airport terminal to downtown was
manifestly welcome. The bus itself was an immaculate New
Flyer CNG articulated - with most of OCT’s regular fleet now
running CNG.TheTransitway was well patronized for a Sunday
morning with most riders using flash passes and the rest using
one-trip printed receipts.The bus dropped me within 50 meters
of the conference hotel at a price of C$3.25,conservatively one
fifth the price of a taxi ride through regular traffic and without,
of course,the benefit of the signal freeTransitway.
Benefit for the future
Over on the other side of Canada,only a few days earlier I had
visited Vancouver. Like nearly all Olympic host cities over the
past centuryVancouver invested a substantial amount to add or
augment transport infrastructure including the TransLink fully
automatedrailserviceCanadaLinefromVancouverInternational
Airport (YVR) to downtown as well as enhanced services to
the OlympicVillage and multiple event venues across the region.
By all accounts from a public transportation perspective (among
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3. many others) the 2010 Winter Olympics were handled
extremely well on all fronts.I had the benefit of that legacy a few
months after the closing ceremonies with another inexpensive
20-minute ride to and from the YVR terminal almost to the
front steps of my downtown hotel.
Rather than rest on the laurels of that success, even as the
final touches were being put in place for the Olympics, the
greater Vancouver community had already embarked on a
comprehensive transport plan across highway, rail, maritime
and aviation. The plan focuses on the needs of coming decade
but with vision out to 2030 will combine both necessary near-
term commitments and long range flexibility among key
stakeholders.Key in the planning process is that it is not simply
about the“horizontal” transport ecosystem.Fundamentally,the
philosophy as with others in Canada focuses not so much on
transport assets as resources to be leveraged in and across
modes, but on the “vertical” decisionmaking process from
senior officials down to individual rider-patrons in the choices
they make. Now and going forward, Vancouver’s planning is
reflective of the collective and individual experience of the
citizens, local businesses, government institutions and visitors
who will rely on regional transport as a ‘system of systems’
which in concert with utilities and information infrastructure
will shape and define their quality of work and life.
From better to best
Even as the success in Ottawa and Vancover clearly demo-
nstrates, ITS enhancements remain for consideration which
would drive even further efficiencies as well as solidify the ability
to make a positive environmental impact as well as ensuring
stable revenue flows for the coming generation.
Noting for example that fares in both cities are dependent on
paper fare media,and in the case of the OCTransitway cash only,
no change, with payment at the farebox, there is a strong
potential to improve these already exceptional and popular
transit systems.An integrated fare media (IFM) solution would
allow both locals and visitors alike quick,flexible,and paperless
(read “green”) electronic payment options which could be
expanded across modes and, potentially, event to non-transit
services as the use of mCommerce pushes forward worldwide
to encompass payments of all types and sizes as the inevitable
way of the future.
Beyond that there are other areas where Canada as with the
rest of North America could leverage both existing ICT
technology and proven“smart transit” business practices from
elsewhere in the world to even further empower both
employees and riders through ITS. GPS systems already in use
to provide dispatchers and public safety officials with real-time
bus location information for security and headway adjustment
could be brought to BRT station platforms or even curbside to
provide real-time arrivals as well as facilitate intermodal
coordination - perhaps ending once and for all the “mad dash”
of transit riders during transfers worldwide.
The“C”words
Although congestion charging seems,for the time being at least,
less of a politically viable option in many urban areas given the
already high use of public transport and relatively low instance
of the kind of gridlock traffic seen to the south,the potential of
congestion charging as demonstrated elsewhere in the world to
both discourage personal car trips and commensurably fund
better public transit through a dedicated revenue stream from
the process is entirely consistent with Canadian entitlement
doctrine. I do not expect that it is very far off in the minds of
many that this is a concept whose time is near, if not overdue.
Moreover, as with several global ITS success stories such as
Stockholm and Singapore,it’s not just demographics and access
limitations with counterparts in Canada such as Montreal,
Vancouver, Halifax and Toronto that are comparable, but also
the ability for similar success.
Along a similar line of reasoning,using road user charging (or
tolling) to apportion the cost of travel relative to greatest use,
combined with the ability to pay seems likewise the most
rational approach, including both regular travel lanes and
premium tolling options through the use of highoccupancy
tolling (HOT) and express toll lanes (ETL).Transit users likewise
:SP 2S Thinking HIG HW AYS [[[XLMROMRKXVERWMXGSQ
Smart Transit

4. enjoy increased capital and equipment approvals as a result of
such charging. Regardless of the speed at which charging
schemes evolve, it is that a more accurate distance-based
method of charging is essential to replace the outmoded fuel
tax regime now in use throughout North America. I am of
course referring toVehicle MilesTraveled (VMT) as the basis for
what might be “mobility tax” with the aim again to apportion
the cost burden more directly to actual highway usage - once
again encouraging the use of transit on longer commutes.Along
with all of these could be a thoughtful concessionary program
that accounts for flexible car use, car/van pooling and other
grassroots measures that likewise equate to a smarter and
more efficient transportation ecosystem.
Along with the technological changes in ITS deployment,
harking back to the mention of PPPs, there will likewise be a
number of institutional changes including the businesses,
government entities and transit unions affected by (and ideally
involved in) any new developments.As in the EU and US,unions
have the potential to be a key enabler of positive change,but in
working with them it is important to develop a transitional
strategy that satisfies their core obligation of promoting and
preserving jobs while continuing to make those jobs relevant
for the current work environment. To offer an illustrative
example here, the use of electronic fare media as discussed
previously would potentially eliminate the need for staffing
ticket agent positions in transit centers.However the increased
volume of traffic such innovation might make up for it would
allow for increased positions for drivers, mechanics and
customer service personnel elsewhere in the agency that could
more than offset the change and indeed offer potentially higher
paying and more interesting work for union members.
The way forward
Add to all of the above factors a youthful, environmentally
attuned population and it seems inevitable that Canada’s long
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indefinitely and with the title of ITS innovator an almost certain
accompaniment regardless of which of the options above (or
possibly others are implemented in and between various
Canadian population centers) noting as I have before the strong
potential for rural mass transit to serve the needs of isolated
communities and the potential of ITS to enhance transit there
as much as in an urban environment. Coming out of the positive
experience in Ottawa,I will be looking to the 2011 ITS Canada
ACGM inVancouver as a good indicator of the ongoing progress
and a look at the next wave of innovation to enhance the
Canadian transit ecosystem and,in so doing,continue to provide
a positive example for the rest of the world.TH
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modes. Further details may be found on his LinkedIn profile at
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