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On U.S. highways and in many countries of the world, traffic is increasing, congestion is growing, and infrastructure and financing are inadequate to meet demand. But these challenges are also providing opportunities to solve not only transportation issues, but some environmental concerns as well.

Joyce Wenger

“Much is beginning to happen in the transportation world with deployment of new technologies, policies, and procedures,” says Booz Allen Hamilton principal Joyce Wenger. “If environmentalists get involved and provide broader support to solutions from an environmental perspective, these solutions could be shaped to solve both transportation problems and environmental needs. There is great potential for a win – win situation.”

Wenger discussed some of these possible “wins” in her presentation, “Linking Traffic Congestion Solutions to Climate Change,” at a conference in May 2008 at the University of Massachusetts. Called “The Climate Think Tank: Transportation’s Impacts and Solutions,” the conference addressed how transportation choices are producing pollutants that can cause climate change, and discussed new and emerging options for sustainable transportation.

Wenger joined other transportation professionals, environmentalists, and technology experts at the event, including U.S. Congressman John Olver, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation.

One important aspect of Booz Allen’s participation in the event, she says, was developing a better understanding of the implications of climate change on transportation systems of the future. “For example, with rising sea levels, bridges will need to be designed differently, and maintenance of roads will also need to change.”

Booz Allen’s expertise in transportation issues includes extensive studies of international and domestic road pricing, international and domestic tolls, and payment systems, including the effect of traffic congestion on business economies in London, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and numerous cities in the U.S.

Wenger adds, “Addressing transportation issues that impact both energy and the environment involves more than just using different fuels or improving powertrains. We’re also talking about a host of technologies and policies that the transportation community—including the automotive industry and legislators—is considering as solutions to these issues. These efforts could positively influence climate changes if the transportation and environmental communities worked together.”

Innovative Efforts to Address Transportation Issues

Wenger identifies major transportation issues in the U.S. as congestion, funding, and safety. Potential solutions may be found in automotive systems (e.g., adaptive cruise control); driver support systems; traffic management systems; road pricing; and associated policies:

• Automotive systems – Automotive safety prevention systems (e.g., collision avoidance systems, lane departure warning systems, anti-skid electronic stability control, tire pressure monitoring systems) can reduce accidents and improve traffic flow, thus reducing emissions. Other systems that would indirectly address climate change: Adaptive cruise control, intelligent speed adaptation, real-time fuel use information, and carbon calculators being used by some fleets to improve driving behavior.
  
  
• Driver support systems – Vehicle navigation systems, especially when coupled with real-time traffic information for route guidance, can suggest more efficient, less congested routes. Driver assistance systems can reduce the duration of an accident, which would shorten congestion periods, reduce secondary accidents, and reduce emissions.
  
  
• Traffic management systems – Better management of traffic flow can reduce congestion and support an appropriate traffic speed, which reduces emissions. Transit signal priority and emergency vehicle signal preemption systems allow these vehicles to control the signal so they don’t have to stop. These options, already in use in 100+ U.S. cities, can encourage transit use, and allow faster emergency service and incident clearing. Parking availability information systems can also reduce unnecessary driving.
  
  
• Road pricing – Several strategies being successfully deployed in the U.S. and U.K. with significant government funding have been found to generate revenue; reduce congestion by encouraging non-peak travel and transit use; and reduce the use of certain vehicles that make the most negative impact on climate change, such as heavy trucks. In Manchester, England, an initiative is under way to assist that city’s businesses by expanding the “employment shed,” which enables an easier commute and therefore enables residents who live far from the city to take jobs within Manchester.
  
  
• Policies – Pay-as-you-drive insurance, for which drivers pay more to drive more, could encourage people to reduce driving. Public and private choice of fleet vehicles can reduce emissions. Teleworking policies help with congestion, improve employee satisfaction, and could prove beneficial in dealing with pandemics.

In addition, Booz Allen is involved in a critical U.S. Department of Transportation program called Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII), which is evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of deploying a nationwide communications network to improve highway safety and mobility.

“VII will enable new services that will provide significant safety, mobility, and commercial benefits based on vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communications,” Wenger says. It has the potential to reduce collisions at intersections; provide warnings for road conditions, accidents, and work zones; improve emergency management, signal timing, and ramp metering; provide parking assistance and remote diagnostics; and facilitate electronic payment of tolls and other services such as gas purchases.

“These activities, solutions, technologies and policies won’t solve climate change,” Wenger says, “but every little bit helps, and cumulatively all these efforts will make a difference over time.”

story posted July 23, 2008

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