Thinking Highways North America June 2008

THIN KING
HIG HW AYS
NORTH AMERICAN EDITION
Volume 3 • Issue 2 • June/July 2008
VIRAL MARKETING
Bruce Abernethy and Harold Keeler
fear for the Windows-driven car
OLDER, BUT WISER?

Phil Tarnoff’s guide to recognising
Organisational Maturity
AUTOSUGGESTION
Randy Salzman’s first-hand experience
of the US’s reluctance to think past the car
HARD TO SWALLOW
Part 2 of Gretchen Stoeltje’s
food miles field study
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Foreword Thinking
The right climate

Kevin Borras is
publishing director
of H3B Media and
for change
editor-in-chief of
Thinking Highways
North American
H3B Media brings the inextricably linked subjects of
Edition. transportation and climate change to the attention
of North America.Which was nice...
“Thank you so much for do anything about it?” Between Amy, John Collura
organising this seminar,” Amy Zuckerman’s sterling (UMass’s professor of civil and
said one clearly enthused efforts to ensure that as many environmental engineering)
delegate. “It’s about time of the USA’s climate change and myself, we managed to
that we woke up to the fact experts were in the room at the persuade the likes of Nobel
that there are solutions to same time certainly paid off as Prize-winning geoscientist Ray
climate change within the the event, which was Bradley, renowned
transportation industry.We generously sponsored by the paleoclimatologist Rob
are not just ruining the Quixote Corporation, DeConto and Mike Replogle,
planet, we’re also trying garnered some fantastic press transportation director for
desperately hard to save it.” coverage - visit our website Environmental Defense, a half-
Pleasing though it was to be and the homepage features a million member non-profit
thanked for running The blog containing links to a organisation, to spend two
Climate Change Think Tank: couple of Massachussets days in a small conference
Transportation’s Impacts and papers and a 30 minute room overlooking a 10,000-
Solutions at the end of May, it program about the event on seat basketball arena.
did feel a little odd to take the Corporate Watchdog Radio. Congressman John Olver
credit for “awakening” the The point I’m making (I and RITA administrator Paul
consciences of a quarter of a generally get to it around the Brubaker made the lunchtime
billion people. We usually get middle of the second column) keynote speeches and an
thanked for the quality of the is what’s odd is that it took a already knowledgeable
lunches and we’re happy small multimedia company audience went home with their
enough with that. based in a small part of a small brains almost full to brimming
But as David Schonbrunn, town in a Borough of London with impact- and solution-
one of the speakers at our that you would otherwise not related information.
Think Tank, held at UMass’s have heard of (unless you have And yes, we did it. Have a
Mullins Sports Center in a particular interest in UK look at Amy’s article on pages
Amherst, MA, said: “There’s a knifecrime) to bring to the US 42-47 to see just how we did it,
room full of people in there the idea that transportation not and perhaps more importantly,
who can make a difference - only impacts on the climate, why. Then perhaps take a
the question is do they realise but the climate impacts on minute to think why it had to be
and if so, are they prepared to transportation. us that did it... TH
Thinking Highways is published by H3B Media Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief Sub-Editor and Proofreader
Kevin Borras (kevin@h3bmedia.com) Maria Vasconcelos ISSN 1753-43Z1
Sales and Marketing Subscriptions and Circulation
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Richard Bishop (richard@h3bmedia.com) Website CEO & Co-Founder Although due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate
Amy Zuckerman (amyz@h3bmedia.com) Code Liquid
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stated, this publication has not tested products or services that are described herein, and
Contributing Editors Financial Director
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Thomas, Harold Worrall
EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING
& Co-Founder contents. The publisher welcomes unsolicited manuscripts and illustrations but can accept no
liability for their safe return.
Contributors to this issue H3B Media Ltd, 15 Onslow Gardens, Kevin Borras
Bruce Abernethy, Mark Johnson, John Wallington, Surrey SM6 9QL, UK © 2008 H3B Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Harold Worrall, Amy Zuckerman
Printed in the UK by The Manson Group
www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 1

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CONTENTS
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COLUMNS
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04 Bob Kelly and Mark Johnson ‘s Legal Brief
es te ys
08 Harold Worrall’s Bright Ideas
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THE THINKER
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12 Phil Tarnoff on what constitutes, and how to
om
recognise, organisatinal maturity
The Thinker Climate Change
The Thinker
When DAVID SCHONBRUNN

read the April/May issue of
Thinking Highways he felt
compelled to write an article
offering his own views on
transportation’s impacts
Stunted
onm and solutions for,
climate change
growth
Thinking Highways’ financial analyst MARGARET
PETTIT looks at the European Territorial
A mature
Cooperation Programme and finds that like with
any other major programme, it’s a matter of
priorities
performance
When is performance good enough? What is
Organizational Maturity? Does PHIL TARNOFF have
the answers? Naturally enough, yes...
56 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 57
INTERVIEW
18 Kevin Borras talks to Telegra Inc’s president
and CEO, John Kasik p22
PEAK OIL
22 We’re used to being told to think outside the CLIMATE CHANGE
box, but to think beyond the car? Isn’t that the 42 H3B Media’s recent Climate Change Think
very definition of unthinkable? One man’s Tank made for a fascinating and occasionally
quest to make the US think differently, as told worrying two days in Amherst, as
by Randy Salzman co-organiser Amy Zuckerman reports
INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT COVER STORY

28 The IRU’s Michael Nielsen explains why the 48 Bruce Abernethy and Harold Keeler ponder
re-opening of the ancient Silk Road , the main the intracies of life in a Windows-powered car.
trade route from Europe to China 800 years A computer crash is one thing...
ago, would be a good move for the road
transportation industry BORDER SECURITY
52 Lee J Nelson on how the US’s reworked cross-
FOOD MILES border security system is impacting the
34 The second part of Gretchen Stoeltje’s transportation industry - and vice versa
investigation into how far your food has
traveled, what damage it has to done to the VII
highways and how we can keep things a little 58 Will there ever be a time when we don’t need
closer to home roadside infrastructure? Will the second I of
VII ever be redundant. We spoke to some
Food Miles Climate
FoodChange
Miles experts....
AUSTRALASIA
Stunted
climate change
growth Eating up 60 For those of you that enjoy looking at other

people’s vacation photographs, Bruce
the road Abernethy presents an editoral and pictorial
(part two)
account of what was meant to be a two-week

priorities
So, how much did that burger you have just finished
actually cost? It may be safe to assume that you
haven’t really given it much thought ... wouldn’t it?
processing, transportation, packing and other market-
ing costs. “Farmers who sell direct to local customers,
on the other hand receive the full retail value, a dollar for
break in Australia and New Zealand
We pay for cheap food in the form of economic loss to each food dollar spent.” And for every dollar a food
our local agricultural economy. “Get the Farmer Out of shopper spends on local food, the local food economy
the Mud” was the slogan of the early nation-wide push to gains about three.
get farm goods to market, known in Texas as the Farm to States have begun to plug the leaks in their agricul-
Market Road system. tural economies. In August of 2007, the Illinois legisla-
In the early 20th century, rural Texas roads were often ture enacted The Illinois Food, Farms and Jobs Act. The
64 Advertisers Index
little more than deep, rutted trenches. Congress author- law provides for support of local and organic Illinois
ized the repair and upgrade of rural routes in 1912 ena- farming efforts in the hopes of keeping food dollars
bling farmers to more easily transport and sell the fruits within the State, thereby revitalizing the Illinois state
In the second and concluding part of her article, of their labor. economy.
Texas DOT’s GRETCHEN STOELTJE examines the Today’s food transport system begs this question, Among the findings that support the bill are the facts
though: What farmers, and what markets? that food consumed in Illinois traveled 1,500 miles to the
inextricably linked stories of the distance your food Economist John Ikerd estimates that American farm- state’s consumers, but that only 0.2 per cent of Illinois
travels and the damage it causes to the road ers, on average, make only about 20 cents of each food farm sales comprised food sold directly for in state
dollar spent; the remaining 80 cents going to pay for human consumption.
56 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 57

Robert Kelly and Mark Johnson’s Legal Brief
Fuel to the
fire ... or not
Robert Kelly is a
partner with the
Washington, DC
based law firm
Squire, Sanders,
Dempsey
Will high gas prices slow down ITS?
It is an often-heard joke also telling is that the North problems. While driving is
among transportation American automakers have down, and is likely to continue
professionals that the best announced significant declining for some time in the
way to cure traffic restructurings of their plants to future, congestion is a
congestion is to have an produce smaller and more persistent problem that will
economic recession. gas-efficient cars and trucks. likely not be resolved simply
Whether this is in fact true is Clearly, no one expects the gas as a result of the increase in
not the subject of this column. price hikes to end anytime gas prices or, more generally,
What is the subject is whether soon. an economic recession.
the recent spike in gas prices One question is whether the What is also not likely to
worldwide will have an effect dramatic rise in gas prices, change due to the run-up in
on ITS. gas prices is the number of
Recently, gas prices in the
United States crossed the
“Unsurprisingly, vehicles on the road. Rather
than simply stop driving, in the
threshold of US$4 per gallon. sales of gas- years ahead the driving public
Compared with prices in other
countries, especially in
guzzling SUVs, will be swapping out their
SUVs and other gas-guzzling
Western Europe, US large pick-ups vehicles for smaller, more fuel
consumers are still paying
much less for gas than much of
and Hummers are efficient (or alternative fuel?)
cars and trucks. ITS
the rest of the world. down applications that can
Nonetheless, the US$4 per
gallon threshold appears to
considerably” demonstrate an appreciable
effect on congestion will likely
have been a “tipping point” in and their resulting effects, will still find public support.
the United States. also impact ITS. Many, but not
Already, recent studies are all, ITS applications are Value vs cost
showing that the average miles directed to alleviating traffic Another question is whether
driven by Americans will be congestion in urban areas, the driving public will be
down in 2008 compared to highways and elsewhere. willing to pay for ITS solutions
2007, the first time this has Congestion pricing, HOT if they bring with them a real -
happened in the 30-plus years lanes, electronic toll collection, or even perceived - added cost
Mark Johnson is an
of this study. and even ITS-based parking to driving. Already, we’ve seen attorney at law with
applications, are responses to the highest profile congestion Squire, Sanders,
Saying vs doing congestion problems that only pricing project in the United Dempsey based in
Anecdotally, drivers say that seemed to worsen year-after States - proposed for lower Buenos Aires,
Argentina
they are trying to drive less year. Manhattan - fail to win state
miles by, for example, approval primarily because of
carpooling, combining Less vs more cost concerns, albeit not
errands and turning to public The question presented is directly tied to the increase in
transportation (which is whether the increased gas gas prices.
reporting appreciable prices, and the resulting Despite the promise of a
increases in numbers of propensity to drive less, will significant subsidy from the US
riders). Not surprisingly, sales result in appreciably less Department of Transportation,
of gas-guzzling SUVs, large congestion and, consequently, in rejecting the plan the New
pick-ups and Hummers are less impetus for ITS-based York State Legislature
down considerably. What is solutions to congestion succumbed to political
4 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

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Robert Kelly and Mark Johnson’s Legal Brief
Photo by Kevin Borras
pressure from city residents in economists, who nearly public support will likely not
the outlying areas of New York uniformly said that suspending follow.
City opposed to the imposition the tax would not appreciable
of fees to drive into Manhattan, affect gas prices, to states and Tangible vs feasible
even though the city other government officials that The benefits from these types
government had pledged to depend on the gas tax as the of projects are tangible but
dedicate the collected primarily source of funds for must be explained in this new
revenues to improving public transportation projects. While context. Congestion
transit into and throughout the this proposal failed, it does mitigation techniques such as
city. exhibit a new found public congesting pricing, HOT lanes,
awareness and concern for the and the like, can have very real
Obama vs McCain rising costs of driving - and, not benefits in terms of reducing
Thie issue of the rising costs of surprisingly, an attempt by congestion.
driving has entered the politicians to use this concern Mitigating congestion
political realm as well. During for their advantage. reduces travel times and,
the recently concluded US There is an added cost for accordingly, reduces the
presidential primaries, both drivers for congestion pricing amount - and cost - of the fuel
Hillary Clinton and John and other ITS applications. consumed. Convincing the
McCain proposed that the Congestion pricing public that the benefits of such
federal gas tax - currently at applications are based on projects will be worth the cost
18.3 cents/gallon in addition to demand-management is now going to be that much
what an state may also impose techniques that attempt to tougher in the face of rising
- be suspended for a period of quantity the cost of driving a gas prices, but there is a
time to make it less costly to fill particular street or highway at positive, and hopefully
up a car or truck. (Barack a particular time - and then convincing, story still to be
Obama rejected the idea charge a fee for doing so. What told.
outright as an election-year the failure of the proposed New How ITS can save drivers not
gimmick.) York City project shows is that only time but also “buy”
The proposal went nowhere where the associated fees drivers’ some relief from rising
after facing significant become the defining gas prices may be the new
opposition from not only characteristic of the project, story that needs to be told. TH

Xxxxx
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Working in partnership with governments,
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Transurban is currently working with the Virginia
managing social and environmental impacts
Department of Transportation to develop HOT
in its projects and operations.
lanes for the Capital Beltway and I-95/395 in
Northern Virginia.
www.transurban.com
Harold Worrall’s Bright Ideas Harold Worrall’s Bright Ideas
All for toll and

toll for all Dr Harold Worrall is
president of
Transportation
HAROLD WORRALL, in unusually verbose form, on the Innovations and is
past chair of ITS
whys and wherefores of a customer-centric all- Florida, ITS America
and the International
electronic toll collection strategy Bridge, Tunnel
and Turnpike
All-electronic toll collection, strategies that an agency maximum data set. Association (IBTTA).
From 1992 until 2004
or AETC, is the topic of should consider for conversion A customer-centric focus
he was executive
discussion, study and debate to AETC? Why would With so many complex and director of the
for toll agencies around the customers be interested in moving parts to the subject of Orlando-Orange
globe. AETC? Why would they want to electronic toll collection, it is County Expressway
The potential exists to get a transponder or set up an difficult to focus on the Authority
eliminate the iconic toll booth account or prepay tolls? Are customer. We prepare
and the costs of manual the answers to these questions numerous marketing plans and
collection. Design, different for each toll agency public information campaigns,
construction and maintenance and/or country? What is usually with the customer in
costs of buildings, canopies important to the customer? mind but the reality of
and other facilities, along with Are the needs and desires of processing large volumes of
utilities and the manpower to all customers the same? When transactions returns the focus
operate and manage manual the focus is moved from the back to systems and
toll operations could be technical, organizational, procedures.
eliminated. procedural, policy and other As transactions are
However, the potential for internal considerations and processed, daily anomalies
huge back office operations move to the customer the can accumulate. Small
may threaten the conversion. importance of various component failures and/or
When considering conversion strategies is altered. erroneous assumptions in the
to AETC the focus usually turns process can generate a wave
to the technology of AETC Called to account of outstanding transactions to
such as systems integration, For example, when be dealt with.
radio frequency identification, considering the issue of When this wave builds, the
enforcement, the legal account management, toll management focus turns to
framework, the cost of agencies have one data format procedure, tasks, human
transponders, RFID readers for all account management resources, computer systems
etc. records and therefore and survival. These and similar
While these issues are essentially one type of factors can conspire to cause
important and must be account. an internal focus.
addressed, it might be of value While this is being altered
to consider those who use the slightly as electronic toll Something to think about
toll roads, the customer. Rather collection has matured, the Who are the customers of a
than focusing inward and assumption remains that a given toll road? What do we
concentrating on efficiency, minimum of data is required mean when we say customer?
perhaps AETC conversion for setting up an account. Is there just one type? Are
strategies should be set from Therefore, when describing there just customers and
the perspective of the the procedures for collecting violators? It has been clearly
customer. customer information the focus shown that there are
A customer-centric focus is to ensure the most efficient significantly different
may result in strategies quite methods for collecting all of customers of tollway systems.
different from those where the data. One could argue that There are frequent
efficiency and technology are this minimum dataset customers who are composed
preeminent. What are the key requirement is actually a of commuters, local

businessmen and other local Customers and trips vacationer or businessman
citizens who use the system for Taken together, these who will be using the system
recreation, shopping and infrequent customers regularly but for a limited
school related trips. This constitute the vast majority of period of time.
category of customer is likely customers on the system. It is A new type of ETC product is
to be familiar with the roadway easy to confuse the percentage needed for this customer, one
system and toll roads in of trips collected that would allow for the
general. They are likely to read electronically with the establishment of a temporary
the local morning newspaper percentage of customers. account with a beginning date
and watch local TV news and There is a considerable and an end date. Further, day
listen to local radio stations. amount of information that passes work well only when
They are familiar with local toll must be conveyed to the toll road in question is not
road organizations and those customers and this is near other toll facilities and
appointed to lead them. This particularly difficult for when it is not part of a larger
customer is likely to have an infrequent customers because network of toll roads.
ETC transponder and shares there are less opportunities to There are also local
his experiences with other do so. customers who may be very
local ETC customers in the Simply defining ETC-only familiar with the community,
community. lanes to infrequent customers the toll road and the process
can be a challenge. Many required to obtain an ETC
FYI there is TMI... infrequent customers are transponder and account but
If there’s a question about ETC unfamiliar with tolling in still use the tollway
there are likely many sources general and they are certainly infrequently.
of information for this unfamiliar with how to set up Retired individuals might fit
individual. Some toll agencies an account, install a this definition. Because of the
seem to have concluded that transponder, which toll roads infrequent use they’re not
the frequent ETC customer, the are interoperable with one interested in obtaining a
transponder customer, is the another, who to call when there transponder and maintaining
only customer on the system. is a difficulty and what the its use, especially if there is a
There are however, a range local statutes and practices monthly account fee that is
of other customers, many of may be regarding violations. charged.
whom use the system on an They tend to be more
infrequent and irregular basis. concerned than frequent What’s the infrequency?
Studies have shown that as few customers about privacy and Surveys of infrequent
as 2 per cent of the customers the potential release of customers have also found that
of a toll road in a year generate personal financial data and are they are willing to accept a
a third of the total revenue and uncomfortable with their higher cost per transaction to
that the most frequent 11 per travels being tracked. They do avoid the inconvenience of
cent of the customers generate not know the particulars of establishing and maintaining
two-thirds of the total revenue. violation penalties nor an ETC account. Because the
It is not surprising that ETC whether erroneous violation total cost of using a toll road is
penetration rates stall at data may result in kept lower as a result of less
around two-thirds of total repercussions to their driving frequent use, it is more
revenue. These frequent record, employment and acceptable to pay higher per
customers are however not the standing in the community. transaction amounts for
only ones. To collect the providing a more convenient
remaining third of the revenue Temporary customers means of payment.
requires dealing with the Some infrequent users may It is clear that an ETC
remaining 89 per cent of the wish to establish an account marketing program that is
total number of users. for a specific period of time, intended to result in 100 per
These infrequent customers perhaps one day. Toll cent electronic transactions
may be vacationers or local operators have commonly must focus on the entire range
citizens whose travel requires used day passes to allow of customers. It is insufficient
use of the tollway on an customers to travel the toll to sell the single product of a
irregular basis. They may also road on an unlimited basis for standard ETC account and
be regular users that are a given amount. consider the remaining
infrequent. People who use Day passes do not require a customers to be violators.
the system once a month or transponder or knowledge of To accomplish AETC, a range
once a week, perhaps to go to ETC procedures and of products must be available
church or other scheduled processes. However, day for the marketing campaign to
event. passes are not suitable for a be successful. The key

Paul
HaroldNajarian
Worrall’s Bright Ideas
strategic element is to get as by the need to maintain a high In such an environment

many customers (not trips) as level of confidence that no one human resource management
possible onto a prepaid status. customer may receive a becomes a significant function.
By doing so the percentage of violation in error. Issues of compensation,
trips and therefore revenue Therefore, it is common promotion, recruitment,
collected through an practice to require manual training etc. require significant
electronic means will review of the results of the management attention.
approach 100 per cent or optical character recognition Efficiency is crucial to
AETC. software. While this can be maintaining minimum
done quickly, the volume of operating costs in such an
Pay as you go transactions that might not environment.
Once a customer is in a post- satisfy a 99 per cent It is easy to understand how
paid relationship with a toll confidence level will be large. the focus can be redirected
operator, the costs of collection Further, once the images are from measures of performance
greatly increase. If a large properly converted there based on output to one which
volume of transactions are remains the possibility that the is internally focused. A large
allowed to go into a post-paid license plate under review is back office function can be a
status, it will be very expensive from another jurisdiction and hindrance to the goal of
to attain AETC or alternatively the revenue unrecoverable. attaining AETC.
a large percentage of revenue Additionally, 20 per cent of
will be lost. motor vehicle records in the Strategic offerings
Postpaid costs include video US contain incorrect mailing Considering the potential for
collection of the license plate addresses for the registered large back office operations to
image, optical character owner. occur once cash payment is no
recognition to convert that longer accepted in the lane
image to letters and numbers Double trouble and considering the large
which can be looked up on a In some states there is also the number of infrequent
motor vehicle database, legal possibility of duplicate plate customers, it is crucial to offer
and judicial costs, postage and numbers. Some states allow as many methods of
the human resources required government license plates to prepayment as possible.
to process all the information. duplicate private license plate Clearly, each toll operation’s
Further, violations are an numbers. external environment is
aggravation to the customer Beyond the technical unique and requires an
and result in negative feelings complications of a post-paid/ analysis of the customer base
toward the toll agency. An violation relationship are the to determine which types of
AETC toll system must offer legal aspects. Statutes must be toll payment products to offer.
ultra-convenient and widely enacted which support the Pre-paid technical options
available electronic payment ETC violations process. The include those using
methods beyond the standard statutes must support due transponders, license plate
ETC account. Otherwise, a process and recover the cost of recognition, GPS and mobile
large number of customers the court proceedings. telephony.
will end up in the violations The legal costs of recovering All of these technologies
process. small numbers of violations for play a role in ETC today. GPS
a large number of customers thus far serves a unique role in
Cashing in... or out? may quickly exceed a rational ETC and while it may be a
The availability of cash cost benefit analysis. However, major payment technology in
payment in the lanes has if repeated violations are the future, most current agency
heretofore kept infrequent allowed it is unlikely that AETC technology is provided via
customers out of the violations will be attainable. transponders.
process. This will not be the
case under AETC. Post paid Back office management Common commonalities
situations should also be The numerous procedures and Payment products are not just
avoided because a loss of processes involved in post- limited to the types of
revenue can result. There are paid transactions can quickly technology used, however. It is
many steps in the process of a lead to a large back office staff. the combination of technology
post-paid transaction that may People are needed to answer and business process that
result in no revenue realization. telephones, set up accounts, defines the types of payment
First, the conversion of the resolve issues with customers, products. For example, the
license plate image to a useful provide court coordination standard ETC account which
series of characters for and result in a smooth error requires a transponder, a user
database look up is hampered free integration of functions. agreement and the collection

Harold Worrall’s Bright Ideas
of considerable customer and However, the potential is mounting tape. This is

vehicle data is the most significant. If the goal is to particularly interesting since
common account type. attain AETC status then every the absence of double-sided
Other alternatives, however, option available to satisfy the tape could lead to a greater
may be possible using the various categories of percentage of customers
same technology. For customers should be placing the transponder on the
example, a transponder sold at considered. SMS messaging as dash of their vehicle reducing
a retail shop could be a communications method has the probability that the
preloaded with a set amount of great potential. transponder transaction would
tolls and activated with a According to the Cellular be carried out properly.
simple phone call. Further, this Telecommunications & Because of the need to
type of account could be Internet Association, the total evaluate AETC strategy from a
anonymous. These ETC Lite number of cell phone users in customer’s perspective, it is
accounts might be set up with the US was 207.9m at the end important to ask the customers
only the minimum of of 2005, a figure representing for their opinion.
information. 69 per cent of the population. Some toll operators carry out
In fact, the amount of In some countries cellphone annual surveys to establish a
information might be left to the minutes have value as if it were quantitative understanding of
discretion of the customer. The a currency and is used to make customer desires and
account could be established small purchases. Cellphone preferences. Repeat questions
as an ETC Lite account and billing offers yet another on annual surveys can also
later converted, if the opportunity to avoid back give an indication of trends.
customer chooses, to a full ETC office infrastructure and to Further, focus groups are
account. introduce anonymity to the toll used to qualitatively enhance
However, it should be an payment process. an understanding of the raw
option for the customer to survey data. These techniques
provide only the minimum Convenience store are a crucial foundation to the
data to establish an ETC Lite Convenience is measured development of product
account for convenience. from a customer’s perspective. marketing strategies to get as
Depending upon the amount Program evaluation is usually many customers as possible
of data, various versions of performed based on various into a prepaid status. Only then
ETC accounts might be measures of efficiency and will AETC become a reality.
possible. cost. From the perspective of
the toll agency, it seems All things considered
Licensed to bill inherently the correct process. All-electronic toll collection is
A similar thought process may However, if the goal is to take clearly the next plateau for
be used for the technology of ETC to a new plateau of AETC ETC. Rarely is a new toll
license plate recognition. we will need to evaluate facility developed without
ALPR accounts could be programs from the customer’s consideration for AETC.
established as full accounts, as perspectives. Furthermore, many
anonymous minimal We should evaluate the established ETC toll operators
information accounts or functions of establishing an are studying methods for
something in the middle. ALPR account, maintaining an converting to full ETC. These
is a crucial product strategy for account, installing a goals are attainable but will be
achieving AETC. This type of transponder, changing realized only by accepting the
account could be funded transponder batteries etc. reality that there are many
through cash or through the from a customer’s perspective. types of customers and each
provision of a credit card. What may appear to be customer group should be
While this option should be extraordinarily easy to consulted on the payment
left to the customer, the someone intimately familiar products that will be most
customer must accept greater with ETC may be quite difficult convenient from their
responsibility for an account for a customer, especially an perspective.
that is not set up for automatic infrequent one. A survey at one Payment methods will have
replenishment. Another toll agency of customers to be priced for the effort the
version of an ALPR account is entering a customer service customer is willing to expend
the day pass which has been center revealed that 10 per in setting up and maintaining
previously described. Mobile cent of the customers who took accounts and they must be
telephony has only begun to the time to come to the service easy to obtain and maintain,
be applied in ETC. Few toll center and stand in line, were reasonable in cost and reliable
operations utilize telephony as there for the purpose of from the customer’s
a toll payment method. obtaining double-sided perspective. TH

The Thinker
Stunted
growth
A mature
priorities
performance

Climate Change
The Thinker

climate change
When is performance good enough? What is

Organizational Maturity? Does PHIL TARNOFF have
the answers? Naturally enough, yes...

The Thinker
Today’s transportation agencies face a dilemma. If each of these categories at each level of maturity, as
they were to accept the impossibility of satisfying shown in Table 2.
100 per cent of their customers and elected officials, Any organization can be categorized into one of these
how do they determine when increasing invest- stages, using the rule that its maturity level is the lowest
ments in improved services have reached the point common denominator of the characteristics of that level.
of diminishing returns? While this table has obviously been developed for indi-
In other words, when is an agency’s performance good vidual projects rather than a continuous process such as
enough? Perhaps the answer to “good enough” lies not transportation system management and operations, the
with the performance evaluation using measures such relationship between the two is evident.
as incident clearance times and percent of construction In essence, level 2 (which is the most critical level)
completed within budget, but rather an assessment of requires that all processes be documented, that person-
the agency’s ability to ensure that its processes are pre- nel be trained in their use, and that performance meas-
dictable, repeatable, and continuously analyzed for urement be used to evaluate their outcomes.
possible improvements. The results of CMM application are impressive.
If an agency’s culture is built around these three char- Although it is not possible to define results for of inci-
acteristics (predictability, repeatability and continuous dent management, performance results from other spe-
improvement) the question of “good enough” never has cialities generally showed improvement in all areas as
to be answered, since the agency will be continuously shown in Table 3 overleaf. These results were obtained
evaluating and improving as an ongoing activity that is from a mix of 30 private and public sector organizations.
integrated into its business processes. Perhaps equally important, the variation (standard
deviation) of these results decreased with increasing
Perfectly capable maturity levels. In other words, there were fewer sur-
The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) described below prises.
might be new to the transportation community, but it has
been accepted by many other disciplines. It began with A measure of success
the information technology (IT) community where it has Because of these successes, evaluation of organizational
been successfully applied to numerous processes and maturity is currently in widespread use for measuring
applications. the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. It
The CMM process is not another quality management was first introduced by the Software Engineering
tool such as Total Quality Management (TQM) and Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mellon University under
ISO9000, but rather an approach to identifying and cor- contract with the US Department of Defense for the pur-
recting organizational deficiencies in a manner that pro- pose of improving the success rate (in terms of budget,
vides the assurance of predictability, repeatability and schedule and functionality) of DoD funded software
continuous improvement for the organization to which it developments.
is being applied. Upon examination of this process, it Subsequently, the SEI has expanded the CMM con-
should be clear that it is readily adaptable to the trans- cept to include:
portation community. • Managing, measuring, and monitoring devel-
As described here, this adaptation emphasizes trans- opment processes
portation operations, and for this reason, it has been • Service delivery within organizations and to
designated the Operations Capability Model, or OCM. external customers
• Acquisition Leadership
The Capability Maturity Model
Predictable and repeatable processes within an organi- The Project Management Institute (PMI) has adopted
zation are the key to effective, “surprise and error free” organizational maturity as a concept known as OPM3,
operation. Achieving predictability and repeatability for assessing and improving the performance of an
requires documentation, training and performance organization’s project management capabilities. The
measurement, which are also the tools required for con- OPM3 model and the British Office of Government Com-
tinuous improvement of the processes they support. merce’s Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM)
“Organizations that want their processes to be predict- have been adapted to a number of different disciplines
able and repeatable, must evolve “through a series of in both the public and private sectors
stages of maturity from informal (at the lower end of the
scale) to highly routinized and with continuous improve- What does this have to do with transport?
ment embedded at the higher end. As each process The assessment of public agency performance is always
develops in this way, its capability will improve.” 1 a difficult task. The private sector “has it easy”, in that
To prevent the representation of maturity from becom- their performance can be readily judged by their bot-
ing too complicated, the various dimensions of maturity tom line profitability. Profitability in the private sector is
have been integrated into the four stages shown in a surrogate for customer satisfaction, product pricing
Table 1. 2 policies, marketing effectiveness, and many less tangi-
The formal process by which an organization’s matu- ble measures. Transportation agency performance is
rity is judged includes consideration of people, proc- relatively difficult to assess, and until now has relied on
ess, technology and measurement. Definitions exist for such things as:

The Thinker
Table 2. The Relationship Between Organizational Characteristics

and Maturity Level 4
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Performed Managed Established Predictable
People Success depends on Success depends on Project groups work A strong sense of
individual heroics. individuals and together, perhaps as an teamwork exists within
“Fire fighting is a way management system integrated product each project. Everyone
of life.” supports. team. is involved in process
Relationships between Commitments are Training is planned and improvement
disciplines are not understood and provided according to
coordinated, perhaps managed. roles.
even adversarial. People are trained.
Process Few stable processes Documented and Integrated management Processes are
exist or are used. stable estimating, and engineering quantitatively
planning, and processes are used understood and
commitment processes across the organization. stabilized.
are at the project level. Improvements are
identified and
implemented.
Technology The introduction of Technology supports New technologies are New technologies are
new technology is risky. established, stable evaluated on a evaluated on a
activities. qualitative basis. quantitative basis.
Measurement Data collection and Planning and Data is collected and Data definition and
analysis are ad hoc. management data is used in all defined collection are
used by individual processes. standardized across the
projects. Data is systematically organization. Data is
shared across projects. used to understand the
process qualitatively
and stabilize it.

The Thinker
• Customer satisfaction surveys Table 3. Capability Maturity

• Performance measures such as delays in con-
struction zones, incident clearance times, number of
Model Impacts for Systems
construction projects awarded, number of projects com- Integration 5
pleted on time, miles of pavement constructed, etc.
• Correspondence (complimentary and other- Performance Category Median
wise) received as a result of the agency’s activities. Improvement
Service patrols often use thank you letters as a measure Cost 34%
of the value of their service. Schedule 50%
Productivity 61%
The letter of the law Quality 48%
These techniques suffer from a common deficiency; the Customer Satisfaction 14%
absence of a benchmark that can be used to determine
Benefit Cost Ratio 4:1
whether a given level of customer satisfaction or a given
performance measurement is good or bad. If a service
patrol driver receives three complementary letters a developed a comprehensive set of documentation to
month, is he doing a good job, or is he ignoring more define the manner in which responses to all incidents
serious incidents in order to please stranded motorists are to be handled, it is a level 1 organization – even
who will send complementary letters? though its technology may be at level 3 or 4.
The absence of benchmarks does not reflect an agency
shortcoming, but rather differences between jurisdic- Rules of engagement
tions that prevent reliable comparisons. The absence of Based on the assessment, the stakeholders then jointly
a benchmark prevents agencies from justifying their agree on an action plan to move from the existing level,
performance to the outside world, and also prevents to the next higher level. Another rule of the process is
effective staff management. How can an employee be that it is not possible to skip levels. Assuming as before,
rewarded for doing a good job if it is impossible to that the documentation is at level 1, and assuming that
define a good job? the stakeholders have agreed on the desirability of mov-
This dilemma can be resolved by recognizing that the ing to level 2, the next step would be to devise a plan for
search for the definition of a good job is fruitless. Per- developing the missing documentation for all types of
formance assessment should evaluate whether this incidents that might be encountered.
year’s performance is an improvement over the previ- The preparation of documentation would then be fol-
ous year. In other words, is a process of continuous lowed by training, to ensure that all members of the inci-
improvement in place? dent response process fully understand its contents and
It goes without saying that continuous improvement is intent. It would also be necessary to institute a measure-
not possible unless all process are thoroughly defined ment process by which the degree to which the docu-
and measured, and all personnel have a thorough under- mentation is being followed is evaluated. At that point,
standing of both the processes and the criteria by which the organization would be able to claim that it is per-
they are being judged (performance measurement). forming at level 2.
These ingredients are the basis of both the CMM and A final rule of the OCM process is that an organization
OCM processes. must remain at a given level for at least a year prior to
aspiring to achieve a higher level. During the year, per-
A practical example formance is continuously measured, and adjustments
The benefits of OCM can best be appreciated through a made to the process so that level 2 operation is solidi-
practical example. Suppose that an agency wants to fied. At the end of the year, the cycle of moving to the
assess the effectiveness of its incident management next level is repeated.
program. This would be accomplished through the
development of a baseline matrix dealing specifically Final thoughts
with incident management, such as the one shown in It should be obvious from this brief description that
Table 4. This matrix utilizes the same format as the more OCM can produce results that are repeatable, and adapt-
generalized matrix of Table 2, except that the cells have able to a wide variety of situations. In other words reli-
been replaced by characteristics specific to incident ance on key individuals and unpleasant surprises will
management. be minimized. It should also be clear that the process
In actual practice, the matrix of Table 4 would repre- can be used to establish both near term and short term
sent the consensus of all the incident management performance goals, since a short term goal can be
stakeholders (transportation, fire, police, EMS, coroner, defined as moving to the next OCM level. The long term
towing, etc.). Once the table has been created, and using goal can be defined as moving to the highest OCM level.
the rule that an organization’s level is defined by the The key to the success of OCM is the involvement of all
level of the weakest characteristic, it is then used as the stakeholders in the process.
basis for determining the agency’s OCM level. For This powerful process should be considered for use
example, if the agency uses advanced technology to as a management tool that can be applied to the opera-
support its incident management process, yet has not tions activities of today’s transportation agencies. TH

The Thinker
Table 4. Definition of Incident Management Maturity Levels

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Performed Managed Established Predictable
People Fire fighting. Responders are trained. Responders work as Strong sense of
Uncoordinated ad hoc All participants integrated teams, even teamwork, in which
incident response understand the though they are everyone works to
based on personal organization’s employed by different optimize their
experience expectations as organizations performance.
expressed through
defined performance
measures
Process Processes are All incident processes Incident response is Processes are
undefined, and as a are fully documented. integrated with other continuously reviewed
result, the manner in Processes are stable organizational and systematically
which an incident is and predictable processes, such as improved
managed depends on emergency
the personnel involved. management,
commercial vehicle
operations, and traffic
signal timing
Technology The introduction of Technology is New technologies are New technologies are
new technology is risky integrated into the continuously evaluated evaluated quantitatively
since responders will incident response qualitatively in terms of using techniques such
not necessarily use it process. For example, their ability to enhance as simulation to be able
consistently or traffic detector outputs the incident to define their costs
appropriately. used to support the management process. and benefits prior to
diversion process. their introduction into
the incident response
process
Measurement Ad hoc data collection Performance measured Performance is Data is analyzed

unrelated to the overall selectively. For systematically measured through after action
objectives of the example, performance for all processes reports to identify ways
process. measurement might be including incident in which the incident
restricted to incident clearance time, response process might
clearance times, but accuracy of sign be improved.
ignore other key messages, and the
measures. effectiveness of
diversions.
References
1 “Innovations – Project Management Research 2004, www2.slac.stanford.edu/comp/winnt/system-adminis-
Chapter 13 Measurement of Organizational Maturity”, by tration/ Organizational%20Maturity%20Levels.doc
Terrence J. Cooke-Davies, http://www.humansystems.
net/papers/measuring_organizational_maturity.pdf 4 Ibid.
2 The CMM model actually contains five stages. This 5 “Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
has been reduced to four stages for the transportation Version 1.2 Overview”, Software Engineering Institute,
community, based on experience with the application of Carnegie Mellon University, pg. 27, http://www.sei.cmu.
the model to agency processes. edu/cmmi/adoption/pdf/cmmi-overview07.pdf/
3 From ‘Microsoft Readiness Framework Phil Tarnoff can be contacted via email at
Organizational Readiness”White Paper, website: tarnoff@umd.edu

Interview
Back,
after a
Stunted
short
growth
absence...
priorities
John, we haven’t seen you at industry trade events

for a while, can you tell us where you’ve been and
how you’ve been spending your time away?
Well, last year, I was asked by Telegra-Europe, a prom-
KEVIN BORRAS welcomes inent manufacturer of ITS products and services, to
JOHN KASIK back to the ITS establish a business practice in the Americas. As a lead-
ing provider throughout Europe, it was clear to me that
arena. One of the most well- the US market could benefit greatly from their exper-
known (and well-liked) tise, so since joining them as President & CEO, I have
personalities in the industry, focused my energy entirely on laying the groundwork
for US operations.
he has emerged like a
phoenix from his self- European readers are likely aware of Telegra-
Europe, but can you share with your fellow Ameri-
imposed flames to head up can readers a bit more about Telegra, Inc., the US
the new US operation of a fast- subsidiary. For example, what it does, something
emerging, rapidly expanding about its product range and why you believe it is
uniquely positioned to provide products and serv-
European player ices to the ITS industry in the Americas?
Over the years, Telegra has invested significant
resources in research and development and has a
superb track record of delivering innovative and state-

Climate Change
Interview

climate change
of-the-art products of the highest quality. Our manufac- Telegra has experienced significant growth through-
turing capabilities are fully automated and utilize out Europe and the timing was perfect for us to establish
sophisticated processes that breed the highest possible a US operation.
quality into all that we deliver. As we
all know, healthy competition is good “As a leading What are your objectives for the rest
for the US consumer, in this case, our provider of 2008?
transportation clients. Hence, I firmly Most recently, I have been building
believe that our products and services throughout Europe, the necessary infrastructure to prepare
will be sought after by those who seek it was clear to me Telegra for entry to the American ITS
to utilize the best in the industry. market. Activities have ranged from
that the US market obtaining product certifications and
How did the opportunity to establish could benefit approvals from various US and Cana-
the Telegra US subsidiary come dian Standardization bodies; develop-
about? greatly from ing marketing materials and
Telegra-Europe has developed a Telegra’s expertise” supporting documentation suitable for
systematic business expansion plan our American customer base; building
for growth in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, India, China a team of US subject matter experts; setting up US manu-
… and now the Americas. We identified the US as the facturing facilities … just to name a few.
single largest market to deploy Telegra ITS products Our official kick-off is scheduled for IBTTA’s 76th
and services in the world. Extending our reach to Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Baltimore, MD, fol-
Canada, South and Central America is, of course, a natu- lowed by the 15th ITS World Congress in New York City
ral outgrowth of our US marketing approach. in November. We are confident that our products and

Interview
Who do you see as your competitors in North

America?
Our key competitors include product manufacturers
that furnish various hardware and components used on
a wide variety of intelligent transportation and traffic
management programs. Many of our competitors are
focused on niche markets, where Telegra brings a broad
portfolio of innovative products and services that will
serve our customer base over the long-term. Telegra
recognizes the demands of the industry and knows first
hand how to customize its product base to suit unique
customer requirements. That being said, our primary
objective is to ensure that the driving public, “Our Cus-
tomer’s Customers”, will benefit from our products in
the form of time and safety.
Some in the US may be familiar with your personal

story. Your heritage and journey to the US is very
interesting. Can you provide us with some addi-
tional background?
I was born in Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia
(now the Czech Republic) and escaped over 40 years
ago from the Communists who at the time occupied the
country. As a young man I immediately embraced the
American values of independence and democracy and
quickly became an American citizen. Working my way
through university studies with various part-time jobs, I
eventually earned a Doctorate from Brown University.
My career in the US has been focused primarily on busi-
ness and academia, but I am most proud of being a
Texan!
Considering how often industry and political objec-

tives change in the US, it may be difficult to maintain
services will stand out among the competition as best- a steady business approach. Are you planning to
in-class. position Telegra as a “VII-friendly” firm?
As a former Board member serving the Omni Air Con-
Is Telegra, Inc. an autonomous subsidiary in the sortium, I am personally dedicated to the advancement
Americas, or are you dependent on the parent organ- of VII initiatives and the user benefits that will ultimately
ization for any specific support? be realized. Telegra will be a proactive partner serving
We are working toward being an the development of various VII pro-
autonomous subsidiary representing “I escaped from the grams and initiatives. I envision a day
Telegra-Europe throughout the Ameri- in the future when all of us will look
cas. Until recently, we were dependent Communists who back and appreciate how our daily
on the parent company to develop prod- occupied Prague 40 lives were so positively affected by VII
uct specifications and marketing litera- technologies. Telegra strives to
ture to support our agenda. In order to years ago and now I assume a leadership position in pursu-
meet the demands of the American mar- am a proud Texan ing and sustaining US initiatives.
ket and comply with related design
standards, we established an American and a proud So, what’s next for John Kasik and
base of operations, headquartered in American citizen” Telegra?
Dallas, Texas, with support and manu- As I said previously, more on our offi-
facturing functions in other strategic US locations. cial business objectives will be announced later this
Driven primarily by business opportunities, we are year. For now, rest assured that the full extent of our
aggressively becoming more independent every day. resources, are focused on delivering the highest quality
We envision unlimited potential in the Americas, so our ITS products to the North American ITS market.
support system and infrastructure is intentionally I think the industry will be very pleased with our busi-
designed for agility and scalability. In addition, we have ness ethic, our corporate culture, and most importantly,
been focusing our attention on adapting our technolo- our ability to achieve the highest level of customer satis-
gies to suit the specific needs of the American ITS faction known in the industry. TH
market. j.kasik@telegrainc.com

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Peak Oil
Stunted
growth
So it goes
priorities
in the car
culture RANDY SALZMAN’s personal experiences of
North America’s dependence on the automobile
make for a fascinating account of a man trying
to change things meeting the resistance of a
nation in denial

ClimatePeak
Change
Oil
TheWhen
world must DAVID SCHONBRUNN
wonder why The United States – the
read the April/May issue
country producing the most greenhouse gasesof– had
presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary
Thinking
Clinton promoting Highways he felt tax
a summertime “gasoline
compelled
holiday” which would tohave
writeworkedan article
to increase the
American emission of carbon dioxide.
Since America already produces 45 per cent of the
transportation’s
world’s automotive CO2 emissions and impacts
since American
onm and solutionsmillion
transportation already produces 1,959 for,metric
tons of greenhouse gas annually, world citizens must
climate
question whether any policychange
making American driving
cheaper has any validity. Why, Europeans (who burn
half the carbon the average American burns partially
due to high auto fuel taxes) must ask, doesn’t America
tax gasoline and diesel fuels heavily and use that income
to build mass transit and hike and bike infrastructure?
“That’s logical and therein lies the problem,” was the
response Virginia Governor Tim Kaine gave to a busi-
nessman asking that same question last year.
My lifelong experience trying to cause transportation
behavioral change illustrates the depth of the cultural
and political norms which allow America to continue
burning 200 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel annu-
ally while engaged in a war which is partially over oil
and while facing the fact that both Peak Oil and Global
Warming and their inherent potential economic and
social disasters, have likely already begun.
In honor of author Kurt Vonnegut, I think of my experi-
ence as “So it goes in the car culture.”
An inauspicious start
My quest began when I learned first-hand the “exter-
nalities” of America’s oil addiction with the death of my
friend and boss one night on a Texas oil rig during the
1973-74 Arab oil embargo. Trying to convince friends
that there are other ways to get around, I only succeeded
in alienating my step-mother for pointing out that she
and my father drove a 44-mile roundtrip daily from the
same house to the same job in separate cars. I later got a
ticket for bicycling on the shoulder of an interstate high-
way and almost got arrested for arguing that I wasn’t the
problem, it was the cars zooming past at 70 mph in the 55
mph speed limit zone.
Later, in my college communications classes over a
dozen years, I’d give students a speech story writing
assignment to cover me talking about the social, envi-
ronmental, practical and financial rewards I got out of
bicycle commuting. I don’t think a single student ever
tried bicycle transportation. So it goes in the car cul-
ture.
Finally, in 2003 as my son was sent to Afghanistan, I
became aggressive in trying to put together a practical
behavioral change program for Virginia Common-
wealth University, an urban school in the middle of
downtown Richmond. By the school’s own literature, at
least 44,000 people arrived on that campus daily but the
commuter university had only 9,000 parking spaces.
Changing the parking behavior of some of the 12,000
employees, I thought, would free spaces to sell to
students while decreasing congestion, pollution - and
this new concept called global warming - while saving

Peak Oil
the college immense amounts of money not building Unhealthy debate

parking at US$27,000 a space on its limited, and very In the meantime, I’d approached a local hospital who is
expensive, downtown real estate. planning a move from Charlottesville’s downtown urban
I got nowhere with the president’s office or with the area, less than a mile away as the crow flies and across
parking and transportation office but the crushing blow the Rivanna River, to a new county location because
came from a PhD economist who agreed with my assess- parking had become a huge issue at their town location.
ment of “The Big Rollover” (or Peak Oil) and the need for Understanding that when the hospital makes this move
rational, economic behavior but dismissed my concept in 2012 congestion on the sole, nearby highway bridge
with,“I’d never ride a bicycle to work and neither would across the river would climb dramatically, I also
anyone else.” So it goes in a car culture. approached area politicians and tried to convince the
local regional planning organization that a footbridge
The write approach could provide wonderful transportation benefits to off-
A 2004 research fellowship at Oxford’s Transport Stud- set the projected doubling of car traffic.
ies Unit led me to write an article which highlighted the After getting a positive response by the hospital’s
physical fitness and beauty benefits of muscle-powered environmental director, he was told by his boss that “It’s
transportation while underlining the pollution, foreign not our job to tell our 1,500 employees how to get to
policy, congestion and health benefits of all alternatives work” and, therefore, I wrote hand-written letters to
to single occupancy vehicles. Though a dozen maga- members of the hospital’s board of directors. One of
zines called it “excellent,” they inevitably added but them eventually set me up with the executive who was in
“not for us.” Other shorter op-ed pieces generally also charge of planning the move.
went nowhere though a half dozen editors said the That executive also found my ideas would work to best
writing and concepts were good. So it goes in the car control what the hospital called “the P-word” and
culture. informed me that the hospital was choking on the pro-
With my son sent to Iraq, I moved to a small, famously jected US$29m cost of building an adequate parking
liberal college town, Charlottesville, home of Thomas deck. With his support, I set out to find research funding
Jefferson’s University of Virginia and begin again trying to pay for the TDM program because producing aca-
to convince a university - which UNESCO demic research illustrating which
had said loudly and clearly had the
responsibility of practicing sustainabil-
“A PhD economist externality of driving would cause what
demographic of consumer to begin the
ity - to consider a well-conceived mar- delivered the Seven Step Ladder of Behavioral
keting plan based on in-depth
understanding of consumer behavior,
crushing blow, Change is research that planners and
researchers around the world are
psychology, transportation and com- saying that he’d hugely interested in.
munications research and a long-term
understanding of university politics.
never consider The Center for Disease Control,
indeed, specifically has asked for
After eventually getting into the cycling to work and projects which combined transporta-
offices of such luminaries as the vice
president of research, the head of UVA’s
neither would tion and health and the Virginia Depart-
ment of Rails and Public Transportation
transportation, the chair of the trans- anyone else” and The Robert Woods Johnson Foun-
portation planning department, the dation indicated financial support for
dean of the business school, the dean of the architecture this kind of research.
school – all of whom said my behavioral change concept However, I was moved to the back-burner when I
sounded plausible and exciting – the university hired a sought answers to the very simple, and general, ques-
consultant out of Boston. tions that funders ask of research locations. That was a
At focus group meetings, I discovered the consultant’s year ago.
ideas were restricted to concepts that had helped My political efforts also drew praise but kept getting
2.6 per cent of employees in some cities like Montreal placed on the back burner because very few officials
consider change in their single-occupancy commutes. care to add new projects to their workloads. Worried
Since “communication or marketing” was only a fraction about becoming a “gadfly,” only rarely today do I show
of one part of the consultant’s six-point plan and my up to address area planning commissions in their three-
research, which had now spread from SUSTRAN pilots in minute-limit public comments section.
the UK, to German and Australian TravelSmart programs,
indicated fairly clearly that how, and how long, whatever Sustain and release
alternatives were marketed was more important than Meanwhile, having learned primarily of the great suc-
the specific alternatives themselves, I tried to contact cess Western Australia had in changing transportation
the consultant. behavior through governmental efforts and having met
Finally, I heard a response from UVA’s Office of the Australian sustainability guru Dr. Peter Newman - who
Architect, who I had tried through a dozen emails and a also said that my project best approached behavioral
half-dozen phone calls to reach for over a year. I was told change in a car culture - I went to Perth to study Werner
that I had no right to contact their consultant. So it goes Brog’s TravelSmart concept. Everything I found out was
in the car culture. incredibly positive - from the decrease in miles driven

Peak Oil
across the 418,000 people individually marketed - to the

fact that the concept is working so well that Perth is
adopting it to increase recycling and decrease energy
and water consumption.
Luckily, I stumbled upon Brog himself who was in Perth
to check on his operation and listened as he explained
to 25 local TDM planners why his simple and effective
idea of showing people who wanted to be part of the
solution how to be part of the solution had succeeded in
over 300 projects on four continents, including North
America. Never has a TravelSmart project shown less
than 8 per cent reduction in car miles over a year, Brog’s
research indicated, and a transportation economist I
spoke with said that when one began to include health-
care savings and decreases in pollution and C02 emis-
sions, the benefit-cost of TravelSmart approached 70:1.
Meanwhile, back at home...

Returning to the US, now with hard information about
how and why behavioral change worked in a car culture,
I thought again that American media would want to pub-
lish the best solution to our global warming, pollution,
health, congestion and foreign policy crises. Wouldn’t
everyone want to know that there is a way out, I thought.
Again, I generally received “great concept and writing”
but “not for us.” The Washington Post Outlook section
said “this is a piece for our Sunday magazine” and the
Sunday magazine said “this is a wonderful idea for Out-
look.”
Especially discouraging was Planning Magazine - the
journal of the association of American planners -- which
did allow me to publish a short piece which highlighted
one unstudied effect of individualized marketing, the
public relations benefit for building commuter rail - but
keeps putting me off about a full-fledged piece which
brings together all the trees into the forest of why and
how to market behavioral change in a car culture.
Every single tree, I’ve discovered in my countless con-
versations with planners, policy-makers, and other SUV
drivers, can and will face argument but when the time is
taken to understand the overall forest - the big picture -
people see why the concept benefits them individually
and us collectively.
For example, building the footbridge across the
Rivanna, in concert with a social and individualized mar-
keting plan at the hospital and a public information
campaign promoting that bridge as transportation,
“Politicians and
would provide political cover for politicians who will planners see Global
face angry “soccer moms in SUVs” when the sole present
highway bridge gets overwhelmed in a few years. Local
Warming and Peak
politicians and planners, however, today see Global Oil as national or
Warming and Peak Oil as national or international issues
which have little to do with solving congestion on a local
international issues
highway bridge while departmentalizing the Rivanna which have little to
footbridge as recreational, therefore forgetting that
there are federal dollars specifically set-aside for alter-
do with solving
native transportation plans far in excess of money avail- local congestion”
able for recreational projects.
With that “logical” message, and Dr. Newman, who
came to UVA for a seminar, I kept approaching local
politicians and planners. Eventually, helped by the

Peak Oil
piece Thinking Highways published on TravelSmart in Climate Change is wrong and we won’t lose a quarter of
April, the executive director of our area planning dis- all plant and animal species in less than a decade if we
trict became a “champion” for this kind of thinking in don’t stabilize CO2 emissions, there’s still Peak Oil. With
the spring of 2008. China and India expected to increase oil consumption -
A month later, he announced that he was leaving for a before the Nano begins production - 115 per cent by the
new job in North Carolina. So it goes in the car culture. end of the 21st Century’s first decade, oil producers are
saying that there is an absolute production limit of 102m
Book smart barrels a day and we’re on the verge of reaching it.
At the same time, along with Dr. Newman I began putting American driving, where between 60 and 70 per cent
feelers out to book publishers, having learned that only of US oil consumption is used, must change and every
by bringing together all the trees into a forest of knowl- person who studies society knows it, businessmen
edge could drivers - whether they be citizens or policy- included. However, with some Ford dealers trying to
makers, local or national politicians, planners or save their sales quotas by offering to pay for all gasoline
advocates - discover the mitigation to so many of our consumed in new SUVs for a year and GM trying to stave
personal, local and national problems. The book pro- off bankruptcy with similar programs for its Hummer,
posal has died at three publishers because editors can’t our politicians complete the pander to our “love affair”
imagine a market for it unless I provide, according to with the gasoline tax holiday. Political leadership in
one , a“solution that targets big oil” which “is much America’s democracy is best defined as “seeing which
more palatable to most people than having to signifi- way the parade is going and getting in front.” But the
cantly change their own behavior.” parade truly can’t form, as the gas tax holiday plan
Most drivers - and yes, I am one - never consider the exposes, until media begins discussing the true cost of
full cost of our driving, and only focus on the cost of America’s oil addiction. Most American media, often
gasoline, even while insurance companies offer dis- dependent upon automobile advertis-
counts for not-driving to work and federal public policy ing, and always worried about offend-
since Bush, the dad, rewarded non-driving commuters ing potential readers and viewers,
with US$115 a month in tax credits. The American “love fails to connect the dozen dots which
affair with the automobile” is so pervasive that it takes could be seen as, but really aren’t,
multiple meetings, and mountains of time and consist- anti-car. Connecting these dots is
ency, almost on a one-on-one truly about using automobiles intel-
basis to get policy-makers to ligently, rather than habitually.
believe that change is even I hope, of course, that my hospi-
possible. tal project, and a local Travel-
The world no longer has Smart project eventually come to
that time. Even if the Inter- pass, and I hope America finally
governmental Panel on addresses the true cost of driv-

Peak Oil
ing our 226 million vehicles 2.9 trillion miles annually likely add unfruitful work to their plates and produce a
but the idea that Mr McCain sees a political future in pro- probable outcome of putting those caring individuals
moting cheaper gasoline while allegedly claiming to on psychologists’ couches for depression.
attack global warming is horribly depressing (in the Economists and editorialists, and to be honest, some
interests of balance, Hillary Clinton was also dining out politicians and businessmen, have said for over 20 years
on this particular meal ticket). that America desperately needs to tax auto fuels heavily
and use that income to build alternatives - as the Euro-
19th century examples peans have done since the first Arab oil embargo. But
The Federalist Papers, 200 years ago, argued that lead- the sales job for overcoming the drive-first habit is so
ers in the American democracy might not be able to complex in our car culture that even in the midst of gal-
govern in a situation where they are dependent upon loping worldwide oil prices and massive global warm-
the votes of self-involved citizens without the time or ing publicity, our presidential candidates pander to the
desire to study issues in enough depth to understand American “love affair.”
them. The resulting policies might be, the writers sug- In years past, here are some who’ve tried politically
gested, too short term when solutions demanded long- and economically to connect these dots into a rational
term thinking. auto fuel tax policy: from the political left, Jerry Brown;
My experience indicates how prophetic the writers of from the right, H. Ross Perot; from the middle, Paul Tson-
The Federalist Papers were. My nation has put itself, in gas; from the auto industry, William Ford IV; from the oil
spite of hundreds of pieces of data over at least 30 years industry, Royal Dutch Shell. The one thing they have in
since the first Arab Oil Embargo, in a classic Catch 22 common is that they have all failed, to the point that even
situation. Al Gore didn’t mention the personal automobile in his
Today, to get elected our politicians must pander to Nobel acceptance speech and barely mentions it in An
people who do not have the time or inclination to under- Inconvenient Truth. John McCain and Hillary Clinton
stand the issues and, therefore, the “solutions” continue simply chose the road more traveled.
to make those issues worse. Our businessmen must stay So it goes in the car culture. TH
in business by providing the people with what they want. salz@rocketmail.com
They, therefore, through advertising and programs like
“free” gasoline help convince the public to want what
the business already has to sell.
Raised on 30-second commercial and 30-minute TV
programming our people today don’t have the inclina-
tion to understand the bigger picture caused by our
daily activities. Having dumbed down the educational
curriculum to match the TV generation, our culture now
craves simplicity thinking at a time when political, social
and economic issues are incredibly complex.
Consequently mainstream news media, worried over
the loss of advertising, downgrade multi-dimensional
and complex stories to attract consumers attuned to
bumper sticker ideas.
Meanwhile, the American film and Internet media
have successfully convinced us that there is always a
“bad guy,” allowing us to put ourselves in such amazing
denial that we drive hundreds of miles to go to a concert
to “Stop Global Warming.” Indeed, we think of our cars
as “freedom,” though we often suffer “road rage”
because we spend 4.2 billion hours - and US$78 bil-
lion - annually stuck in congestion. Individuals, even
ones considering addressing this massive conspir-
acy of being, don’t have the time or desire
to take on a cultural monster which will

International Road Transport
Stunted
growth
priorities
Back on
the map
According to Wikipedia, the Silk Road is a series of
trade and cultural transmission routes that were
central to cultural interaction through regions of
Asia, connecting East and West Asia by linking
traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers,
nomads and urban dwellers from China to the
Mediterranean. MICHAEL NIELSEN heralds its revival

Climate
International Road Change
Transport

Jiaohe, China, on the ancient Silk Road

climate change
In 1996, the road transport industry, under the lead- has become a vital production tool interconnecting all
ership of the International Road Transport Union businesses in all countries and regions to every world
(IRU) and as called for in Agenda 21 and the UN market. Road transport in a globalised economy links
Millennium Development Goals, signed into affect people and ensures a better distribution of wealth
the “IRU Charter for Sustainable Development”. As worldwide. This in turn drives peace and prosperity.
a formal commitment to the goal of achieving sus- In most countries of the world, 90-95 per cent of all
tainable development, the charter highlights the road transport operations are domestic. International
IRU’s 3 “i” strategy, based on innovation, incentives transport accounts for around 5-10 per cent. This means
and infrastructure. that road transport has a role to play in ensuring the
mobility of people and goods from local to global
Road transport, a vital production tool markets.
The first truck was patented by Karl Friedrich Benz in
1897. The new automobile era’s contributions are undis- Road transport tonnage distances
puted in terms of driving trade, tourism, prosperity and Indeed, globalisation does not necessarily mean trans-
social development. port over long distances. Globalisation is, more prop-
In today’s globalised economy, having a cup of coffee erly, undertaking all activities at the best place,
at a café in Geneva at the current market price requires producing the best products and trading under the best
the collaborative efforts of 29 companies from 18 coun- possible economic, social and fiscal conditions. This is
tries. If 29 companies are needed to produce a simple done by linking all businesses, communities and regions
cup of coffee, one can easily imagine that it takes some of the world.
10,000 suppliers to make an affordable motor car. In 1991, India, through significant economic reforms,
Road transport, no longer a simple transport mode, transformed itself into one of the fastest-growing

Contrast and compare: sea

containers in ports in 1971
(left) and 2008 (below)
economies in the world. However, India’s glo-

bal trade today is dependent on maritime
transport.
In 2001, the unprecedented development of
China led this country to become a member of
the World Trade Organisation. Due to its major
investment in the production sector and suc-
cessful development, China today is the world’s
factory and has become a major hub of sea
container traffic in the global transport
system.
This is not good news since ports used today
for shipping goods are increasingly saturated.
With the concentration of 80 per cent of world trade in aries of the Silk Road, that have so far been excluded
only a few ports, the desertification of the port hinter- from the benefits of globalisation. While these common
lands as well as bottlenecks, congestion, delays and goals are within reach they can only be achieved if polit-
above all additional costs, are becom- ical priority is given to removing the
ing increasingly prominent. “Road transport in numerous barriers to road transport.
For the past 15 years, the IRU has been a globalised International road transport along
working on reopening the Silk Road to the Silk Road does not need new infra-
offer alternative options and compen- economy links structure. In 2005, the IRU sent the first
sate for these problems. The challenges people and ensures truck caravan from Beijing to Brussels
are numerous, however, so are the new (www.bbb-irucaravan.org) that con-
opportunities brought about by facili- a better firmed this. However, it was also made
tating relations among trading partners distribution of clear that adequate procedures where
and integrating the various economies needed, in particular through the
along the route to those of other wealth worldwide” implementation of the appropriate
regions. multilateral instruments to facilitate
trade and road transport,
Reviving the great silk road It should never be forgotten that any penalty on road
The Eurasian landmass represents a huge potential of transport is an even greater penalty on economic devel-
both human and natural resources. Two thirds of the opment. Rather, in the name of economic development,
world’s population lives there and works, produces, governments should ratify and strictly implement the
trades and transports between one another and with the abundant multilateral trade and road transport facilita-
rest of the world. tion instruments, including the introduction of multi-
Opening the ancient Silk Road will not only offer an entry annual visas for professional truck drivers. This
alternative for the transport of goods from Asia to Europe would lay down the basis for a true multilateral harmo-
and visa versa, but, above all, it will stymie the current nisation of legal, social, technical, infrastructural and
drying up of trade in too many countries, resulting from procedural conditions, thus ensuring that progress can
the concentration of the bulk of world trade in only a few be driven along the entire Silk Road.
major ports.
Furthermore, it will ensure economic and social devel- The way forward
opment, political stability and, ultimately, prosperity The IRU held its 4th Euro-Asian Road Transport Confer-
and peace. This is not only true for a handful of ports and ence in Warsaw on 14 and 15 June 2007. Transport minis-
port hinterlands, but will also be the case for all regions ters from 26 Euro-Asian countries gathered at the event
along the 12,000-50,000 kilometres of the various itiner- and signed a declaration underlining their agreement

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$, (+422 +$2 & 32."., 666& 32.42 ".,
USA
to enhance joint actions aiming at “accession to, devel- nium development goals, namely: economic and social
opment and implementation of the UN conventions on development, political stability and, ultimately, pros-
international road transport; adoption of the WTO rules perity and peace.
in respect of the freedom of transit, simplification of doc- In the name of competitiveness, it is already possible
uments, rationalisation of charges and taxes and con- to ship Chinese containers by road with shorter deliv-
struction of missing road connections along the Silk ery times and competitive transport costs, without
Road, including bypasses in urban areas.” spending one additional penny on infrastructure, to all
Further facilitation of trade and road the main major markets of the world,
transport between countries and “China is the according to a feasibility study con-
regions along the Silk Road should find ducted by the US Chamber of Com-
favour in this important political world’s factory and merce entitled“Land transport options
statement. has become a major between Europe and Asia”.
Road transport from the Pacific to the The study also confirms that any new
Indian Ocean is often seen as uncom- hub of sea road transport activities may still be
petitive. However, shippers are increas- container traffic in significantly enhanced by clearing
ingly consigning their shipments to air the numerous existing obstacles along
transport to compensate for the under- the global transport the Silk Road. These continue to result
capacity of sea terminals. It is important system” from inappropriate procedures rather
to note that reopening the Silk Road than, as is commonly believed, a lack
does not imply 15,000 km journeys for a single truck. of infrastructure.
The purpose is to interconnect all businesses involved The reopening of the ancient Silk Road to the modern
in one production chain by road, on short distances. trucking industry has become a reality capable of pro-
Finally, sustainable development is not restricted to viding benefits to all who want to drive development,
environmental concerns: it is the long-term policy goal progress and peace in their country and region. TH
of balancing economic, social and environmental pri-
orities as defined in Agenda 21, to which the IRU is Michael Nielsen is the International Road Transport
strongly committed. One single aspect of sustainable Union’s General Delegate based in Brussels.
development should not prevail above all others. The For more information contact
renaissance of the Silk Road is in line with the UN millen- ben.reichert@iru.org
32 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways

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Food Miles
Stunted
growth
priorities
In the second and concluding part of her article,

Texas DOT’s GRETCHEN STOELTJE examines the
inextricably linked stories of the distance your food
travels and the damage it causes to the road

Climate
FoodChange
Miles

climate change
Eating up
the road
(part two)
So, how much did that burger you have just finished processing, transportation, packing and other market-
actually cost? It may be safe to assume that you ing costs. “Farmers who sell direct to local customers,
haven’t really given it much thought ... wouldn’t it? on the other hand receive the full retail value, a dollar for
We pay for cheap food in the form of economic loss to each food dollar spent.” And for every dollar a food
our local agricultural economy. “Get the Farmer Out of shopper spends on local food, the local food economy
the Mud” was the slogan of the early nation-wide push to gains about three.
get farm goods to market, known in Texas as the Farm to States have begun to plug the leaks in their agricul-
Market Road system. tural economies. In August of 2007, the Illinois legisla-
In the early 20th century, rural Texas roads were often ture enacted The Illinois Food, Farms and Jobs Act. The
little more than deep, rutted trenches. Congress author- law provides for support of local and organic Illinois
ized the repair and upgrade of rural routes in 1912 ena- farming efforts in the hopes of keeping food dollars
bling farmers to more easily transport and sell the fruits within the State, thereby revitalizing the Illinois state
of their labor. economy.
Today’s food transport system begs this question, Among the findings that support the bill are the facts
though: What farmers, and what markets? that food consumed in Illinois traveled 1,500 miles to the
Economist John Ikerd estimates that American farm- state’s consumers, but that only 0.2 per cent of Illinois
ers, on average, make only about 20 cents of each food farm sales comprised food sold directly for in state
dollar spent; the remaining 80 cents going to pay for human consumption.

Food Miles
Numbers that don’t add up

In Texas, the Department of Agriculture’s Go Texan Pro-
gram already promotes Texas grown-and-raised prod-
ucts, proudly announcing that Texas is the third largest
agricultural commodities exporter in the nation. While
Texas sells live animals and red meat, wheat and feeds
and fodder to out of state buyers, though, as of Fall 2007,
only 11 per cent of food available in Central Texas was
grown locally.
Furthermore, while Texas is the second largest agri-
cultural state in the nation, it surpasses all of the other
states in prime farmland loss and is therefore less and
less able to feed its own population. What would an
increase in direct sales of locally grown food do for the
Texas farmer and rancher? For the Texas economy?
Bad air
Measuring the effects of food miles on air quality has
been a tricky and often-challenged proposition. The
reason is that, in some cases, it actually creates less air
pollution overall to produce food sustainably in a remote
part of the world and transport it to its point of consump-
tion than it does to grow it locally.
Sometimes growing that same food locally requires
more energy. For example, one study found that grow-
ing a tomato in chilly Britain, out of season and under
glass, requires more energy than growing it in sunny
Spain and shipping it, by water, to Britain. Therefore, it
can be an oversimplification to say that importing or
sourcing food from long distances is bad for air quality
or for the environment in general.
Nevertheless, what can be said about the polluting
emissions from conventional, roadway food transport is
that reducing food miles would reduce the emissions of
food-hauling trucks. Measuring those miles would show
the potential amount of that reduction, as it has in previ-
ous studies. UK food miles studies showed that food
transport produced 19 million tonnes (metric) of carbon
dioxide in 2002. Canadian researchers in Waterloo esti-
mate that locally sourcing the foods they studied would
result in an annual reduction of 49,485 tonnes of green-
house gas emissions (metric).
In Iowa, researchers at the Leopold Center found that
locally sourcing just 10 per cent more produce than the
state currently does would result in a reduction of Iowa
CO2 emissions of 6.7 to 7.9 million pounds. Iowa’s poten-
tial reduction, estimated from only a 10 per cent pro-
jected shift to local food production, accounts for .13 per
cent of total US CO2 emissions from energy and industry
for 2006 (6,045 million metric tons.). If other states
reduced conventional food transport by 10 per cent or
more, that number could increase significantly.
Congestion
What causes congestion? Well, you do.While reducing
congestion is the primary focus of state departments of
transportation everywhere, actually changing this situa-
tion requires a movement that only travelers and freight
consumers can truly launch, for they are its first cause.
According to the most recent findings from the Texas
Transportation Institute, “The 2007 Urban Mobility

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I T S C O N N E C T I O N S : S AVING TIME. S AVING LIVES.
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Food Miles
Report,” congestion is at an all time high and getting much greenhouse gas as a conventional supply chain;
“worse in urban areas of all sizes.” 69 per cent “somewhat” or “strongly” agreed that local
In Texas, for instance, metropolitan Texans lose up to food is healthier to eat than food that has traveled across
58 hours of their time to congestion annually and waste the country; and 85 per cent of respondents believed
as much as 42 gallons of fuel each year. Given these that local food is safe or somewhat safe, while only 12
numbers, travelers and consumers should welcome any per cent could say the same for the global food system.
information that empowers them to change that situa- Accurate or not, consumer perceptions drive choice
tion. Commercial truck traffic makes up as much as 38% and demand.
of traffic on Texas roadways. Reducing even a small With enough momentum, demands like this have
percent of truck travel related to food could have an brought about policy changes in ways that governmen-
impact. tal regulation cannot. The organic food revolution, with
Another reason to reduce truck traffic on regular roads its radical changes in food growing and consuming
is to improve safety. Roadway fatalities from crashes practices, is one such example. In his 2006 bestseller,
involving trucks reached 5,200 in 2005, and of those The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan describes
fatalities, only 803 were truck occupants. The other how pesticide-free farming, food co-ops, and a counter-
4,400 were occupants of lighter vehicles. Reducing the culture cuisine based on organic ingredients combined
number of trucks on regular roads could save thousands to create an informed consumer base that eventually
of lives. demanded organic food.
The result is an US$11 billion organic marketplace, the
Hop that train product of “consumers and farmers working informally
Public interest in food sourcing has risen dramatically in together outside the system, with exactly no help from
recent years, and consumers are now more than ever the government.”
shopping for local food. Farmer’s Markets, Community Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser credits McDon-
Supported Agriculture programs, Food Circles, and ald’s customers with driving important health and safety
institutional food programs that source changes in the meat packing industry
locally are on the rise. Inspired by “Measuring the that would have taken Congress years
authors James McKinnon and Alisa to achieve. Competition for customers
Smith who, for one year ate food sourced effects of food between the major fast food chains
from within a 100 mile radius of their miles on air quality requires a quick responsiveness to
home in Vancouver, communities across consumer demand, and McDonald’s
the country are taking up the 100 Mile has been a tricky consumers were demanding healthier
Diet Challenge. Restaurants every- and often food. In response McDonald’s began
where feature menus that pull from the pressuring their suppliers to deliver
local food shed, and grocery stores not challenged ground beef that was free of lethal
only sell, but label, locally sourced proposition” pathogens. Suppliers increased invest-
food. ment in new equipment and microbial
The food magazine franchise Edible Communities now testing, and began producing a less toxic beef supply to
serves 40 North American communities, publishing a all American consumers, not just McDonald’s custom-
seasonal, quarterly magazine named for the community ers.
it serves (for example, Edible Austin), and devoted If consumers do wield the power to make change, state
entirely to that area’s local food sources. So prevalent is governments might want to consider riding this wave of
the phenomenon that the New Oxford American Dic- consumer interest in food sourcing by measuring those
tionary declared locavore, or one who eats locally food miles and naming the implications. Clearly, some
sourced food, the 2007 word of the year. of these food miles are necessary since not all regions
The issue even hit the cover of Time magazine in March can grow food in equal measure. However, at this point in
of 2007, making it a trend, a craze, even a fashion. But the transportation story, it is worth investigating all pos-
first it is a demand. sibly extraneous food miles traveled. If we measure
food miles, calculate the costs, and publicize results,
Agents for change people might actually make different choices.
A September 2007 study conducted by the Leopold
Center for Sustainable Agriculture surveyed 500 Follow that French fry
consumers on how and where food is sourced, and the A publicized study that evaluated and revealed the hid-
corresponding environmental impacts. The study den costs of our current food transport system would
concluded that consumer concerns about food safety, enable consumers to weigh the external costs against
food sourcing, and the environmental impact and cost of the benefits and decide for themselves whether they
the current food system have grown so quickly that the want to pay those costs.
issue warrants a multi-agency investigation into our A collaborative effort between Departments of
food supply chains. Transportation, of Agriculture, of Health, of Economic
The results are telling. Almost half of the respondents Development, and of Environmental Quality could show
were willing to pay a 10 to 30 per cent premium for food that something as tangible and personal as food, and as
produced in a food supply chain that emitted half as abstract and impersonal as roads, are directly con-

Food Miles
nected, at direct cost to the traveling and eating public. ers who buy those goods. Under such a user fee scheme,
Following in Britain’s congestion-busting footsteps, a coffee aficionado who favors a Kenyan bean would pay
states could then create an Annual Food Transport Indi- the shipping costs for that remotely sourced import,
cator that would monitor food miles on a yearly basis. while a McDonald’s patron would pay the true costs of a
A yearly measurement could track changes and moni- Big Mac whose many ingredients traversed the country
tor progress between transportation infrastructure, perhaps more than once. Neither would pay the trans-
vehicle technology, fuel efficiency, agricultural activity, port costs of the other’s commodities, as they do today.
and consumer behavior. On the other hand, some TOTs may be so efficient for
And then what? Assuming a food miles study reveals trucks that at least some large trucking firms would be
opportunities for positive change, what sort of solutions willing to pay tolls. A 2002 Reason Foundation policy
should we pursue to implement these changes? A study, estimated that self-financing Toll Truckways can
number of possible approaches come to mind, falling be designed so specifically for longer combination
into one of two categories: those practices that cover the vehicles (where a single driver carries several times the
full costs of long distance food transport, and those that state-permitted payload) that even after paying tolls,
reduce the number of food-bearing trucks on the companies can still turn a healthy profit.
roads.
Solutions that reduce our appetite for roads
Solutions that charge for the roads we use Local Sourcing and Ecolabeling
“More than ever before, Americans take for granted buy- Labeling food with a Food Miles count could incentivize
ing imported fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers at their road-friendly consumer behavior. Food ecolabeling
local supermarkets; next-day delivery of goods pur- programs are gaining popularity in Europe and the US
chased over the Internet; and tracking express packages and can identify a food’s origin, environmental or social
online to know their whereabouts at any given time.” impact, or show miles traveled and transportation mode
So says the United States Department of Transporta- used. The 2002 Farm Bill included a Country of Origin
tion in its 2006 analysis of freight movement, “Freight in Labeling requirement, and a Lawrence, Kansas super-
America: A New National Picture.” The same report market, the Community Mercantile (the Merc) has
notes that trucking is the shipping choice for many busi- begun its own labeling program called Miles to the Merc
nesses and is increasing its market share. The antici- that labels the distances food travels to its shelves.
pated increase in freight traffic, taken together with the Denmark has even been experimenting with a sec-
shrinking transportation budgets of almost every state, ondary bar code database that shows images of the farm
suggests that one major response to where meat is raised, information on an
measuring the external costs of food “The New Oxford animal’s genetics, feed, medication
transport is to charge the full transpor- and slaughter date. Consumers who
tation costs of our food shipments by American know how far food has traveled will
tolling the food miles used. Dictionary declared know how many road miles their
Tolling is a user fee approach, as choices consume and can more easily
wildly unpopular a funding approach locavore, one who choose food that travels shorter dis-
with most consumers as a gas tax eats locally sourced tances to reach them.
increase. Tolling might become more
appealing, however, when considered food, the 2007 Road-to-Rail Shift
alongside the true costs of food trans- word of the year” Though rail played a leading role in the
port. The Truck Only Toll lane (TOT) is nation’s early infrastructure develop-
one type of tolling scheme currently under considera- ment, by 2000 it moved only 16 per cent of the nation’s
tion in the US by some State and Federal governments. freight; 78 per cent went by truck. By 1996, 93 per cent
TOTs come in a number of forms. They may be regular of fresh produce transported between cities in the US
lanes on existing roadways converted into truck lanes traveled by truck. Perhaps it is time to relieve our road-
and separated from other traffic by a barrier; lanes ele- ways and revitalize our rail lines. Shifting food transport
vated above existing roadways; or new construction to rail shares the same advantages as shifting any freight
projects, dedicated to truck traffic alone. The idea in all to rail: trains emit significantly less pollution, cause far
cases is to separate truck traffic from other traffic and to fewer fatalities, cause little highway congestion and
design roads with the needs of trucks and truckers in consume far less fuel than trucks.
mind. Rail is not as timely as truck transport, so fresh food
The trucking industry understandably might not want may spoil more easily traveling by rail. However,
to absorb costs they would incur under a tolled scheme. increasing local production of fresh food could reduce
Shippers exist not for their own sake, but to satisfy the the need to transport fresh food over long distances.
appetites of consumers who purchase the goods trucks
bear. So any costs imposed on shippers should be Transport Collaboration and Out of Hours Deliveries
passed on to those who profit most from long-distance Transport collaboration is a collaboration between
trucking: consumers. shippers to share the leg of a trip when neither has a full
When goods are priced to include the actual shipping load. A 2007 UK study shows that by combining collabo-
cost, prices will go up, but will only be paid by consum- ration between vertical supply chain partners and hori-

Food Miles
zontal collaboration between other logistics service

providers, shippers can more easily comply with new,
transport-friendly regulation, and can also reduce trans-
port costs. Out of Hours Deliveries, specific to urban
environments, help reduce urban congestion during
business hours by shifting freight deliveries to non-
business hours.
Food has always been a form of cultural exchange, a
way to learn about people in other parts of the world. It
is hard to argue with the educational benefits of eating a
new dish and knowing its cultural origins, different from
your own. Part of that education, however, is to discover
what can actually be grown in one’s own backyard.What
cannot be grown locally becomes a treat we pay for,
rather than an everyday entitlement we expect.
One apple at a time

“The solutions to this problem will require commitment
by the public, and by national, state and local officials to
increase investment levels and identify projects,programs
and policies that can achieve mobility goals.”
As congestion experts Tim Lomax and David Shrank
point out, the solution to our mobility problems will be a
collaborative effort between the public and the govern-
ment, applied to more than one area of change. Food
transport is one of those areas, and government is
beginning to play its part. Cities and counties have been
declaring official local eating days and weeks and
months for the last couple of years.
Recently Humboldt County, California joined the
ranks of official local eaters when the County Board of
Supervisors announced in 2007 that September was
Local Foods Month and Austin, Texas proclaimed
8-15 December Eat Local Week.
In British Columbia, Vancouver is taking local eating
to a whole new level. The City Council will soon con-
sider a proposal to extend a pre-existing set of “urban
agriculture” guidelines for high density developments
to all new multifamily projects in Vancouver. Those
guidelines include edible landscaping and food-pro-
ducing gardens in shared garden plots, and on rooftops
and balconies.
If knowledge is power, why not further arm consumers
with information about how their transportation dollars
are supporting the food system, and let them decide
whether and how they want to spend those dollars? In
2002 trucks bore 90 per cent of the dollar value of US
freight and the nation’s freight tonnage is expected to
increase nearly 70 per cent by 2020.
Learning the true cost of food miles could trigger a
reduction in the American consumer’s appetite for
freight in general. For a nation facing a staggering trans-
portation funding gap, measuring food miles might start
to look like part of the solution. TH
Gretchen Stoeltje works for Texas Department of

Transportation’s Government and Public Affairs Division.
She can be emailed at gstoelt@dot.state.tx.us
For an exhaustive list of references for both parts of this

article, please email jodie@h3bmedia.com

Climate Change
A TIME FOR
ACTION...
Stunted
growth
Experts from across North America convened to at the
University of Massachusetts’ Amherst campus to address
climate change and transportation and explored transport’s
impact on the environment and climate change’s impact on
transportation. AMY ZUCKERMAN reports
PETTIT
For two looks
days at the at the
end of May globalEuropean
experts from Territorial
Cooperation
academia, government and Programme
industry explored one and finds that like with
of the most urgent issues of our time - climate change
and transportation - as part of H3B Media’s Climate
priorities
Change Think Tank: Transportation’s Impacts &
Solutions, held on May 29 and 30 at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst.
Speakers focused on both the impact of transport-
related emissions on climate change and ways that
severe weather – the by-product of climate change –
could severely affect traffic infrastructure. Also pre-
sented were an array of solutions to reduce traffic
congestion and idling, which create greenhouse gases.
These range from deploying traffic management tech-
nology to developing alternative fuels, and promoting
public policy changes to address everything from driv-
ing habits, to congestion pricing, smart growth and
urban planning.
Given that climate experts estimate that all forms of
transportation contribute roughly 28 per cent of the
greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for cli-
mate change, Thinking Highways plans ongoing cover-
age of this topic and expects to tap the think tank
speakers and others for their knowledge and insights.
The following is a synthesis of their warnings and rec-
ommendations. and global change issues, is one of the Intergovernmen-
tal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientists who
Ray of hope? recently shared the Nobel Prize with former vice presi-
Raymond S. Bradley, a professor in the Department of dent Al Gore for collected work on global warming.
Geosciences at UMass Amherst and director of the Cli- Bradley works hard to make the science behind cli-
mate System Research Center, a campus-based facility mate change (or global warming to give its more popu-
that focuses on the climate system, climatic variability list name) intelligible to lay people and to point out the

Climate Change

climate change
Nobel Prize-winning Prof Ray Bradley

holds court via video
Quixote Corp’s Tim O’Leary (above)

Resource System Group’s Peter Plumeau (below)
RITA director Paul Brubaker
Joyce Wenger (Booz Allen Hamilton) and Mike Replogle

(Environmental Defense)

Climate Change
TRANSDEF’s David
Schonbrunn: “I hope
the people in that room
realise that they can
make a difference”
potential for its disastrous impact on the world’s trans-

portation infrastructure as he says the world experi-
ences more “extreme weather resulting from the heating
of the tropical oceans.”
Bradley predicts the rise in global temperature to con-
tinue “for the foreseeable future, even if carbon dioxide
levels were to be dramatically stabilized. Transporta-
tion is closely involved in this matter, through the contri-
butions that transportation makes to the ‘excess’
greenhouse gases and because more unusual climatic Congressman John Olver gave the thought-provoking
conditions in the future will affect transportation infra- keynote speech
structure. In particular,” he explained via a video
recorded especially for the event, “episodes of heavier
rainfall, more severe weather events, and increased and transportation infrastructures in the wake of new
coastal flooding (due to sea-level rise and more intense findings about climate change, Collura says there is a
storms) will require long-term planning. In addition, huge need to build awareness of climate change so that
strategic transportation investments can help to reduce state departments of transportation, local departments
the demand for fossil fuels, lower greenhouse gas emis- of public works and civil engineers start factoring
sions, and thus be a part of the overall solution to the changing weather patterns into their maintenance pro-
problem of global warming.” grams. Echoing report findings, Collura is not currently
“The program could not be more timely,” said John finding many practitioners making the connection
Collura, a key developer of the think tank program, and between climate change and their current missions to
director of the University of Massachusetts Transporta- build and maintain infrastructure.
tion Center. Nationally known for his work in transporta-
tion engineering and traffic management, as well as a A hard rain’s going to fall...
UMass Amherst Professor of Environmental and Civil Like Collura, David Ahlfeld, Ph.D, PE Professor of Civil
Engineering, Collura says that transportation planners, and Environmental Engineering at Umass, Amherst, is
engineers and operators are “rethinking, and in some concerned to raise awareness with practitioners about
instances changing the methods they use to provide transportation infrastructure’s vulnerability to extreme
safe and efficient transportation services” in reaction to weather events.
the serious information scientists are reporting on the “From flooded road surfaces to collapsed bridges,
impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the world’s cli- transportation facilities can be interrupted and
mate. destroyed by extremes in precipitation intensity and
However, despite the recent release of two key federal depth,” he said. He warned that a changing climate “is
reports pointing to a “looming disaster” for highway altering the means and extremes of hydrologic flows,

Climate Change
bringing into question the validity of the stationarity

(25-year storm) assumption. More frequent extreme
events will lead to more frequent failure of transporta-
tion systems.”
Suggesting that these changes “may require innova-
tive design procedures for new construction,” he said
“in addition, substantial retrofitting of existing drainage
infrastructure may be required.” Ahlfeld is concerned
with the “vulnerability of transportation infrastructure to
extreme events; recent trends and forecasts for future
changes in the frequency of extreme events, and current
thinking on how to incorporate these trends into infra-
structure design.”
Overselling the idea

Michael Replogle, Transportation Director for the Envi-
ronmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. is con-
cerned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through
traffic management that’s coupled with smart growth
and envisions a wide array of solutions. These range
Mike Replogle in full flow from building “greener, less polluting, more fuel effi-
cient cars, trucks, locomotives, and ships” to the “prom-
ise for new technologies to cut the carbon content of
fuels.”
However, he warns that in the “near-term, such tech-
nology fixes will not deliver large reductions in green-
house pollution. The auto industry faces financial
challenges retooling and adapting to changing markets.
Vehicles and fueling infrastructure, once sold, stay in
use, often for decades. In many cases, the least expen-
sive and most readily available way to reduce green-
house gas emissions is to find ways to grow the world’s
communities and economies while reducing the amount
of driving” as “over-sold techno fixes like biofuels, elec-
tric vehicles, and hydrogen-fueled transportation, are at
least a decade or two away from delivering major green-
house gas reductions.”
Speakers and delegates listened intently “Smarter traffic management,” said Replogle, “has
potential to reduce the amount of driving and to boost
the greenhouse gas efficiency of the remaining travel,
curbing CO2 emissions. In addition, it can make cities
and economies more economically efficient, healthy,
and livable.”
State of the (sm)art

Another smart growth proponent, Joyce Wenger, princi-
pal at Booz Allen Hamilton, based in McLean,Va. often
offers insights into linking traffic congestion solutions to
climate change. Responsible for Booz Allen’s federal
transportation business, Wenger considers congestion
mitigation and transportation funding “two of the big
issues being addressed today.This is generating numer-
ous ideas for solutions that include new policies, proc-
esses, and technologies. I suggest that climate change
Prof John Collura was (and other environmental issues that relate to climate
instrumental in the change) should be addressed at the same time so that
construction of the solutions can be balanced across all needs.”
speaker program Among the policies she advocates are congestion
pricing to reduce urban traffic congestion; PPP (public
private partnership) agreements on the environment an
climate change, and the technologies that support them.

Climate Change
She is concerned to bring together multiple sectors to the traveling public for severe weather conditions. . . In
address these issues. order to reduce our dependency on the automobile,
Another advocate of reducing driving while promot- efficient methods of mass transportation must be made
ing alternative transportation is David Schonbrunn, available.”
president of Transportation Solutions Defense and Edu- But he also advocates the use of the “many creative
cation Funds (TRANSDEF) in San Rafael, Calif. Like and innovative approaches [that] have been developed
Wenger, he would employ congestion pricing in urban to reduce green house gas emissions, including transit
areas as a means of reducing traffic congestion. Schonb- signal priority, offering buses and mass transit vehicles
runn argues that reducing emissions from vehicles “will priority through crowded urban areas – a proven way of
require multiple strategies: increasing the fuel effi- producing more rapid commuting and less idling.
ciency of vehicles; transitioning to electric and plug-in O’Leary is also concerned with the need to protect cur-
hybrid vehicles; and building renewable energy power rent traffic management infrastructure under severe
generating facilities to power those vehicles.” weather conditions, as well as providing alternate power
He recognizes that his proposals would amount to a supplies during outages so traffic technology can func-
“giant U-turn for transportation policy” and force Amer- tion and keep traffic flowing.
icans to re-assess auto ownership as a sign of wealth.
“Reducing emissions requires an entirely different set Strah poll
of values and expectations,” Schonbrunn said. Calling With trucks contributing about 8 per cent of that 28 per
for a convergence of transportation and land-use plan- cent of emissions from vehicles - cars, light trucks and
ning to create more walkable communities in the future, SUVS contributing about 20 per cent - Thomas M Strah,
Schonbrunn also supports locating a stable new source Editor of TT Magazines, publications affiliated with the
of transportation funding (to replace shrinking gas tax American Trucking Association (ATA) in Arlington, Va.,
revenues).“ notes that today’s “new diesel truck engines produce 90
per cent less smog-inducing nitrogen oxides and health-
The best laid plans.... threatening soot than the models of just five years ago.”
Peter Plumeau, director of Policy & Strategy Practice at However, Strah says “this extraordinary clean-air
Resource Systems Group, Inc. in Burlington, Vermont, achievement has come at a price . . .a worrisome loss of
says for a myriad of reasons climate change is posing “a fuel efficiency. As a result, modern trucks cost more to
daunting challenge” for metropolitan planning organi- buy and operate, and they consume as much as 10 per
zations (MPOs). Even urban areas where there is “strong cent more diesel to deliver the same amount of freight.”
awareness of climate change” are conflicted about how As public attention is focused on reducing greenhouse
to address climate change most effectively he said.
Plumeau notes that over 30 states have developed
statewide climate action plans with specific targets for
transportation and other sectors to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, many of which “assume very aggressive
land use and transportation strategies.”
But questions remain about how MPOS and partner
agencies will be able to plan for the future while protect-
ing current transport infrastructure, particularly in a
mood of budget cuts that force agencies “to do more
with less . . .” He advocates rethinking the role of MPOs
in regional growth management and land use, and cre-
ating “options for how a more integrated regional plan-
ning approach might be achieved in various geographic
and political settings.”
Curbing idling, which reduces emissions, is at the core
of Lee Armstrong’s work developing the WAVE (wire-
less access in vehicular environments) standard. Princi-
pal of Armstrong consulting in Southampton, Mass.,
Armstrong has been a driving force in developing
WAVE, which is expected to pave the way for embed-
ded transponders in vehicles that will allow for even
more efficient pass-through toll collection and less
highway congestion, along with alternative means for
drivers to receive traffic information while en route.
Tim O’Leary, president of the Intersection Control
Mike Replogle, Congressman
Group at event sponsor Quixote Corporation, based in
Olver and Diane Doherty of the
Palmetto, Fla , believes that “solving the global climate Western Massachusetts Small
change crisis requires industry to work on two critical Business Development Center
fronts: reducing the green house gases and preparing

(Photo by Lewis Randolph, all other photos by Amy Zuckerman
and Kevin Borras)
‘Virtual colleagues’ , H3B Media’s Kevin Borras and Amy Zuckerman with TT Magazines’ Tom Strah actually meet
gases, Strah predicts governments will start addressing co-founder of SunEthanol Inc. based in Hadley, Mass., is
regulation of carbon dioxide from diesel truck engines. commercializing “an exciting new technology for con-
In fact, he says leaders of the U.S. trucking industry, verting a wide array of waste biomass directly into etha-
including top executives of the largest, most influential nol. This fuel, known as cellulosic ethanol, can be
fleets, recently “decided they would join in, rather than substituted for gasoline, gallon for gallon. But it burns
oppose, developing regulations that address CO2 emis- much cleaner than gasoline, which helps to reduce air
sions. Further, many are embracing ‘green’ trucking, pollution. It can also be produced domestically from
spurred by customer demands (such as Wal-Mart and cheap and readily available waste biomass, which ...
Procter & Gamble),” Strah explained. reduces emissions and helping to combat global warm-
But with oil prices surging and alternative fuels and ing,” he explained.
“other power sources for heavy vehicles are barely in Joining Faber in discussing the potential for alterna-
their infancy,” Strah noted that shorter-term solutions tive fuels, Al Gullon, principal, Automobiles+Concepts
are needed “that address both oil dependency and +Environments based in Ottawa, Canada, argues that
greenhouse emissions.” it’s possible to both save fuel, save lives and crops. “To
Hard at work developing alternative fuels, John Faber, understand how saving lives can save fuel you must
understand that a fairly consistent empirical relation-
ship has been established between the numbers of
(accidents) ... and energy-wasting, braking applications
by drivers not involved in the original incident ... I am
proposing inexpensive solutions which would cut the
fatality rate dramatically and thus hugely reduce the
fuel consumption of the motor vehicle fleet.”
At the same time, Gullon is promoting awareness of
Iogen Corporation in Ottawa, Ontario, which is building
a commercial-scale plant to create cellulose-based eth-
anol fuel. This process utilizes agricultural waste to cre-
ate both transportation fuel and electric power, he
explained.
Really virtual, not virtually real

And this author, along with Collura and John Mullin,
UMass Graduate Dean and an economic development
expert, explored how the rise of the virtual work force
– where people work from homes or rental offices near
their residences – could have a major impact on both
traffic patterns and fuel consumption as the Internet and
communication technology make it possible to work
anywhere.
“If I was a transportation planner I’d make sure that
officials in my agency recognized that people are chang-
ing how they travel. Fixed routes and fixed schedule like
bus services won’t meet their needs like they did 50
years ago, because what’s inherent in the virtual world is
there are no predictable schedules,” Collura said. TH
www.h3bmedia.com

Cover Story
Stunted
growth
priorities
"CHEEDQDMS
JHMCNEB@Q
BQ@RG
@KSNFDSGDQ
Climate Change
Cover Story

climate change

Cover Story
Microsoft® has been working with the automotive “holes” in the Microsoft software that allow viruses, Tro-
industry since 1995 to move its software technology jans, worms, spy-ware of all sorts and who knows what
from the office and the home into our automobiles. else to get into our computers. The injection of these
In the fall of 2002, they announced “Windows® Auto- damaging, foreign bodies through the holes in Micro-
motive” and the introduction of Microsoft.Net-connect, soft software causes chaos, grief to the user and to the IT
which is directed towards interconnecting in-vehicle service technician and results in a significant cost.
electronic devices.
Most of the major vehicle manufacturers have Speaking from experience
accepted Microsoft as the “software of choice” to sup- Recently we experienced a metamorphic virus that con-
port the deployment of their advancements in vehicular tinued to change its characteristics and replicate. None
technology. of the conventional virus protection software tools that
The initial focus of Microsoft software in vehicles we had would find and destroy this virus.
relates to in-vehicle entertainment, vehicle navigation We were running a recent version of Norton®; how-
and both internal and external vehicle communications. ever, it is a never- ending game between the generators
This includes management of cell phones in vehicles to of malware and generators of protection software. The
May-day reporting of accidents upon the detection of point to be made is that from years of experience using
the air bag activation signal. Microsoft software, perhaps many of us are not comfort-
Siemens has teamed with Microsoft to provide the in- able with it managing critical functions of our vehicle
vehicle processing infrastructure to support Microsoft while we are driving or it looking after emergency
embedded software. Thus we are nearing the era where response if we have an accident.
we can “relax because Microsoft Windows-like software When telematics is linked to Windows Automotive
will be taking care of us while we drive.” This of course software, especially through digital cellular links, then
should give us a good feeling - but does it? an Internet pathway is established. While VII )Vehicle
Infrastructure Integration) communications links are
Windows of opportunity certainly more “trusted” than digital cellular, they still
Most of us have had years of experience with Microsoft will be linked to computer systems that have linkages
software in our computers from Windows to Windows- into Internet for distribution of traveler information dis-
95 to Windows-Millennium to Windows-XP to Windows- tribution and can be compromised, even with the
Vista. Many of us are still struggling in an effort to deployment of firewalls.
transition from Windows-XP to Vista and some of us are Like PC security software, there is a continual chal-
purchasing XP to replace Vista that came with our new lenge by malicious people to create new versions of
dual core computer. malware that can overcome and defeat firewalls.
We have all experienced the“unusual software events”
in our PCs (and Macs of course) with the pop-up, “send Has anyone else thought of this?
Microsoft a Report”. Many of us have experienced the So, based on most of our experiences with Microsoft
software, possibly we should be concerned with Micro-
soft in our vehicles as follows:
• Software “lock up”: Pull over and press
“ctrl+alt+del”. If this does not fix the problem, turn off
your engine and “re-start”
• What is the software initializations time? Is it
like Vista and how long do I have to wait to leave during
an emergency?
• Do I have to wait for downloads before my car
Do we really want Microsoft shuts down or do I eat a cold dinner?
Windows running our cars? • Will the virus scan inhibit the emergency mes-
saging from VII and VVI ?
BRUCE ABERNETHY and • Where is the Operating System’s (OS) “service
HAROLD KEELER examine station”?
what could happen if the • Will the Trojan send my driving records to my
insurance company?
operating system hangs • Have the police embedded a Trojan in my vehi-
when you’re doing 65 mph on cle software to report traffic violation? (Boy, will the Civil
Liberties Union have fun with this one!)
the freeway • How about the police using a “magic packet” to
“turn off” my vehicle or gracefully shut it down?
• Will the CO/CO2 detector in conjunction with
the vehicle software shut the engine down when high
levels are detected (even if the sensors are in error)?
• Will intrusion detection software “lock me in”
upon detection of an intrusion event?

Cover Story
• What do I do when I get the “Blue Screen of

Death (BSOD)” fatal error?
• Does my Microsoft license come with my
vehicle?
Cars for concern

Obviously these are slightly tongue-in-cheek questions
that arise out of a person’s typical experience with
Microsoft software in office and home computers, but
they are all founded in serious concerns. The point to be
made is that there are many challenges, especially when
transitioning to VII and VVI (vehicle to vehicle). Software
reliability is critical and it is still very questionable if
instant changes in a human driver’s emergency action
can result in confusion to a platoon of vehicles.
It is also questionable related to action delay times as
software processes messages and reads and processes
in-vehicle sensor information. Those that are familiar
with video codec understand the several hundred
millisecond delays comparing digital video to analog
video (all caused by the compression/decompression
processing time).
“Who is responsible
for corrupted
software in a
vehicle that causes
an accident?”
While one would not argue that a dual-core and quad-
core computer certainly has more processing power
compared with a single core processor, there is operat-
ing system overhead to manage task assignments to
multiple processors and to exchange information
between processors. Certainly Vista is a much larger
software program compared with XP®, but XP initializes
much faster in a single core processor compared with
Vista® in a multi-core processor.
Real-time management and control of a vehicle is
much different than executing office software in a gen-
eral purpose computer. Real-time computing requires
time critical execution. Overhead processing delays
can not be tolerated. The control software must be pro-
tected from changes caused by hardware malfunctions,
electromagnetic interference, data transmission errors
and malware injected from external sources.
Who is responsible for corrupted software in a vehicle
that causes an accident? Most likely “trial lawyers” will
line up to represent an injured person should vulnera-
bilities be identified in in-vehicle software responsible
for the operational safety of the vehicle. I await Mr
Gates’s response to that with baited breath! TH
Bruce Abernethy is principal of Arcadis.

Harold Keeler, a certified Microsoft
software engineer,is the firm’s project
intelligent systems specialist.
Based in Allen, Texas, they are contactable
via email at firstname.surname@arcardis-us.com

Border Security
Stunted
growth
priorities

Climate Change
Border Security
No going
back...
climate change
LEE J NELSON on the US’s revamped border security

program designed to protect the country and its
citizens. A combination of technology, personnel,
infrastructure and co-operation is needed...
Last November, the US Government Accountability The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
Office (Washington, DC) published its Border Secu- Areas which fall under WHTI are the US, Canada, Mexico
rity Report to Congressional Requesters. and 17 Caribbean locales (Anguilla, Antigua and Bar-
The authors made the principal observation that: “US buda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the British Virgin
Customs and Border Protection (CBP; Washington, DC) Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Dominican
faces a much greater challenge to identify and screen Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, the Nether-
individuals at land ports-of-entry, in part because of the lands Antilles, St Kitts and Nevis, Santa Lucia, St Vincent
lack of advance traveler information and the high vol- and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos Islands).
ume of traffic at many locations. Unlike travelers who Surprisingly, what constitutes WHTI-compliant proof
enter the country at airports, travelers entering through surpasses just a passport and - as we go to press - also
land ports-of-entry can arrive at virtually any time and includes:
may present thousands of different forms of documenta- • A Trusted Traveler Card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST)
tion, ranging from oral declarations of US or Canadian • An Enhanced Driver’s License (when available)
citizenship, driver’s licenses, birth certificates, pass- • A Native American Tribal Photo-IDCard
ports, visas, permanent resident cards or US military • An Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)
identity cards.” Card
• An Enhanced Tribal Card
A new declaration • Form I-872 American Indian Card
On the heels of that advisory, CBP pronounced that US • US Military Identification with Military Travel
and Canadian citizens no longer would be able to estab- Orders
lish identity and nationality exclusively by oral declara- • US Merchant Mariner Document (Z-Card)
tion. Instead, each traveler over 19 years of age entering • A US Passport Card.
the US via a land-based port-of-entry must present an Incidentally, US citizens directly traveling to or return-
approved document. Anyone unable to comply could ing from a US territory (American Samoa, Guam, the
be delayed by CBP officers as they attempt to verify the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Swains Island
person and his/her citizenship. and the US Virgin Islands) are considered never to have
To strengthen US border security while facilitating left the US and, at least for the time being, are not gov-
entry for citizens and legitimate visitors, the Intelligence erned by WHTI.
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created Established in 2002 as part of the Shared Border
the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). By Accord, NEXUS is a partnership between CBP and the
requiring standardized documentation for everyone Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; Ottawa,
entering the US,WHTI aids the Department of Homeland Ontario) that promotes legitimate trade and travel, vital
Security (DHS; Washington, DC) and CBP in identifying to both economies. The program allows pre-screened,
travelers more quickly and reliably. low-risk travelers to be processed with minimal delay at

Border Security
designated high volume border-cross-

ing highway lanes, at special kiosks, at Canadian Pre-
clearance International Airports and at certain maritime
locations. Approved applicants are issued a photo-iden-
tification/ proximity card. Texas, Vermont and British Columbia) are pursuing
The Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid development of EDLs. Farthest along are Washington
Inspection (SENTRI) border management process, insti- State which issued its first EDL ON 22 January 2008 and
tuted in 1995, accelerates examinations and expedites British Columbia - in co-operation with CBSA and Citi-
entry for certain pre-enrolled visitors. Identifying per- zenship and Immigration Canada (Ottawa, Ontario) -
sons who pose little security risk, the system confirms which released an initial lot of five hundred earlier this
their low-threat status and re-screens those accepted year. By next Spring, British Columbia officials expect
participants and their vehicles, each and every time EDLs to become standard issue.
they enter the US. A Native American Tribal Photo-Identification Card,
When an approved international traveler approaches an Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Card and
the border in a dedicated SENTRI lane, the automobile an Enhanced Tribal Card (with RFID tag, when availa-
automatically is recognized (by a license plate reader) ble) - each with an affixed photograph - are considered
and passengers’ identities are verified. The latter is WHTI-compliant. Additionally, members of the Kicka-
accomplished with records maintained in a SENTRI poo Band of Texas and the Tribe of Oklahoma may
registration database (which contains digitized facial present an American Indian Card (Form I-872), issued
photographs), together with encoded magnetic stripe by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (Washing-
identification cards and officers’ visual authentications. ton, DC). A US Military Identification with Active Travel
Orders and a US Merchant Mariner Document (Z-Card)
Hard and fast method round out the short list of acceptable credentials under
The Free and Secure Trade (FAST) Drive Program, an current WHTI guidelines and replace more than 8000
outgrowth of the Smart Border Declaration, is adminis- documents which previously were permissible, accord-
tered jointly by CBP and CBSA. Since inception in late- ing to DHS.
2002, enrolled commercial motor vehicle operators
receive an identification card, are authorized to use The Passport Card
dedicated FAST lanes and typically enjoy accelerated The concept of Passport Cards came about in response
customs and immigration processing when crossing to petitions from border community residents for a less
US-Canadian and US-Mexican borders. expensive and more portable alternative to traditional
A State or Provincially-issued Enhanced Driver’s passport books. US Passport Card applications pres-
License (EDL) can provide both proof of identity as well ently are being accepted and, based on current projec-
as citizenship. An EDL makes it quicker and easier to tions, the Department of State (Washington, DC) expects
cross back into the US because it employs an embed- the Cards to be in full production by summertime. Pass-
ded radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip and a port Cards only will be valid for land and sea travel
machine-readable barcode, either of which facilitates between the US and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean
access for CBP officials to biographic and biometric and Bermuda. Like EDLs, Passport Cards will employ
data stored in secure government databases. Several passive vicinity RFID technology. Manual swiping
jurisdictions (Arizona, California, Michigan, New York, through card readers will be unnecessary since the

Border Security
chips can be interrogated, wirelessly, from distances up prised of General Dynamics Information Technology
to 30 feet (9 meters). (Fairfax, Virginia), L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc. (Stamford,
Ann Barrett, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Connecticut) and SI International, Inc. (Reston,
Passport Services, said, “As people are approaching a Virginia).
port of inspection, they can show the Card to the reader Those organizations are providing electronic chips,
and by the time they get to the inspector, all the informa- card stock, printers and software plus incorporating
tion will have been verified and they can be waved on Passport Cards into the existing procedures used to
through”. generate US Passports. Intermec Technologies Corpo-
Fears of privacy invasion notwithstanding, RFID tech- ration (Everett, Washington) is supplying RFID readers.
nology has been in use for more than a decade in Can- And, as a sub-contractor to Boeing Integrated Defense
ada and Mexico. And, the State Department affirms that Systems (Saint Louis, Missouri), Unisys Global Public
security protection will be integral to the wallet-sized Sector (Reston,Virginia) received a task order to deploy
Cards. Cutting-edge anti-forgery and anti-counterfeit- and manage the card reading system and furnish opera-
ing also will be included. tions, maintenance and help desk services. That base-
year transaction is valued at US$37.2m (€24.1m) and
What’s in store could approach US$62m (€40.2m), if the Government
Phase-in of the above changes began in January. It exercises all options.
marked the beginning of a transition period, intended Perceptics LLC’s (Knoxville, Tennessee) License Plate
to prepare the public for full-blown WHTI implementa- Reader automatically identifies, reads and records each
tion, slated for 1 June 2009. At that time, travelers will be entering vehicle’s license plate. That information is que-
required to present a single WHTI-compliant document ried against a complex of domestic and international
(denoting both citizenship and identity) when seeking law enforcement databases (refer to Thinking Highways,
entry into the US through a land or sea border. WHTI’s November/December 2007) to aid in distinguishing
secure document requirement already is in place for high-risk travelers, generating accurate statistics and
persons arriving by air. updating existing records.
RFID technology forms the core of EDLs, Enhanced Those captured data are shared with other CBP sys-
Tribal Cards and Passport Cards. The Departments of tems and retained locally so future searches can be per-
State and Homeland Security recently allotted more formed even more quickly and easily.
than US$160m (€103m) for electronic identification CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham called technol-
using RFID to augment border crossing systems. ogy deployment (see sidebar), a “tremendous step
The State Department awarded a five-year, US$99.3m [toward] more efficient borders which will allow a more
(€63.8m) contract for Passport Cards to a team com- convenient crossing experience, as well as contributing
© Digimarc Corporation

Border Security
to the overall security of our nation by knowing the iden-

tity and citizenship of every traveler.”
SBInet and the Secure Border Initiative

The Secure Border Initiative (SBI), established on
2 November 2005, is a multi-year plan to ensure legal
entry and exit of people and goods, together with SIDEBAR
enforcement of immigration, customs and agriculture The Department of Homeland Security, together with
laws at US borders, within the country and abroad. A Customs and Border Protection, are employing personnel,
critical component of the strategy is SBInet, a compre- technology, infrastructure and response capabilities to gain
hensive means for transforming border management. effective control of United States’ land and maritime borders.
Fielding the most effective and proven technologies, Established on 2 November, 2005, the Secure Border
infrastructure, staffing and response platforms - and Initiative’s multi-year plan is well underway with installations at
integrating them into an all-inclusive security suite - the 39 land-based ports-of-entry which process the largest
remain a key objective.
annual volume of travelers.Those portals account for 95
By extending requisite resources and capabilities, the
percent of all cross-border traffic. In order of most-to-least
SBInet Program Management Office (Washington, DC)
buttresses DHS’ mission to bring effective control to US busy, they are:
borders. SBI’s seven-year strategic plan (through 2012) • San Ysidro, California
outlines how SBInet is to equip frontline agents and offic- • El Paso,Texas
ers with the resources required to achieve exceptional • Brownsville,Texas
border security. • Hidalgo,Texas
The system and services overseen and managed by • Laredo,Texas
Unisys represent “...a logical next step in the overall • Buffalo/Niagara Falls, New York
effort to secure the US borders. The SBInet program... is • Otay Mesa, California
designed to help monitor and secure the border • Calexico, California
between official points-of-entry. WHTI will cover the • Detroit, Michigan
entry points, themselves.
• Nogales, Arizona
Together, they create a high-tech, comprehensive
• Eagle Pass,Texas
system designed to enhance security at US borders,”
opined Greg Baroni, Senior VP and President of Unisys’ • San Luis, Arizona
Federal Systems. • Calexico East, California
• Blaine, Washington
On the horizon • Douglas, Arizona
President Bush’s fiscal year 2009 budget request for DHS • Del Rio,Texas
- roughly US$50.5billion (€32.3billion) - is a 6.8 per cent • Port Huron, Michigan
increase over 2008 funding. The appeal targets areas • Champlain-Rouses Point, New York
which are deemed essential to preserving freedom and • Roma,Texas
privacy, meeting future challenges and fulfilling the • Calais, Maine
mission of securing America. Among the many emerg- • Progresso,Texas
ing and evolving initiatives is US$140m (€90m) to sup-
• Rio Grande City,Texas
port final rollout of WHTI.
• Tecate, California
The President also asked for an extra US$442.4m
(€283.1m) to hire, train and equip 2200 more Border • Massena, New York
Patrol Agents... an advancement toward achieving CBP’s • Point Roberts, Washington
stated goal of doubling its ranks (compared to January, • Presidio,Texas
2001) by year’s end. • Sault Saint Marie, Michigan
In the past, the State Department admitted to being • Andrade, California
somewhat overwhelmed by new applications for US • Alexandria Bay, New York
passports. Wait-times for US citizens to obtain a WHTI- • Sumas, Washington
compliant Electronic Passport (e-passport book) is on • Fabens,Texas
the order of four weeks. Readers planning to attend the • Naco, Arizona
October International ITS Conference & Expo in Shang- • Derby Line,Vermont
hai, China, would do well submit their applications as
• Lukeville, Arizona
soon as possible. TH
• Madawaska, Maine
Independent analyst and Thinking Highways’ Contrib- • International Falls, Minnesota
uting Editor, Lee J. Nelson, is at the forefront of • Columbus, New Mexico
high-performance electronic imaging applications for • Lynden, Washington
the transportation industry. Contact him at: +1-703-893- • Highgate Springs,Vermont
0744, lnelson@rcn.com or www.garlic.com/biz
56 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways

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VII
Stunted
growth
How ready
priorities
are we?
Is the time when we no longer need roadside infrastructure
fast approaching or is it still some way off? Who better to ask
than members of the International Benefits, Evaluation and
Costs Working Group....
It’s a concept that goes by many names “vehicle processing information, the potential impact of VII/VIC
infrastructure information” or “VII” in the US, is enormous. Data transmitted from roadside to vehicle
“co-operative vehicle infrastructure systems could warn a driver that it is not safe to enter an intersec-
(CVIS)” or “vehicle infrastructure co-operation tion. Vehicles could serve as data collectors and anony-
(VIC)” in Europe. Other synonyms are “car to infra- mously transmit traffic and road condition from every
structure (C2I)” and “car to anything (C2X).” By any major road within the transportation network, finally
name, it is a cooperative effort among regional, achieving the long-elusive dream of universal instru-
Federal and local departments of transportation, mentation.
and automobile and in-vehicle equipment A commercial vehicle driver could be informed that,
manufacturers. based on his current speed and route, a truck parking
With its vision of every vehicle and every piece of space has been reserved for him at the location he will
infrastructure collecting, transmitting, receiving, and be when his hours-of-service for that day will expire.

Climate Change
VII
When
to replace DAVID
a CICAS SCHONBRUNN
[cooperative intersection collision
avoidance system], for instance.”
Several respondents also mentioned the rate of com-
pleteThinking Highways
turnover of the vehicle fleet, whichhe takesfelt
about 15
tocompelled
20 years, as a factortoin write
the need an article
for roadside infra-
structure. Mark Cartwright, Director at Centaur Con-
sulting in the U.K. noted: “Infrastructure will only begin
transportation’s
to decline at the stage that it is alreadyimpacts
probably useless,
onm and solutionsaccepted
i.e., adds no marginal benefit and is fully for, by a
substantial majority of people as adding no marginal
climate
benefit.” Cartwright change
added: “This is a very long way off,
I suspect.”
Several respondents urged those debating this ques-
tion not to forget about vulnerable populations. Paul
Vorster, Executive Director of ITS South Africa extolled
his colleagues to remember countries, such as his own,
whose economies are in transition and that are just now
trying to tackle a backlog created by years of road infra-
structure neglect. Vorster predicted that South Africa
will not be making the leap to all-wireless transport any-
time soon. “We have a dichotomy. One part of our coun-
try is high-tech, state-of-the-art; other parts are less
than low-tech.”
Many respondents predicted that, while roadside
infrastructure would still be needed in the future, we
would need less of it and it would take a different form.
Jacques Nouvier, Head of the Traffic and Telematics Unit
at CERTU in France said:“Several devices, such as loops,
will be progressively replaced by other, more sophisti-
cated means (e.g., phones, license plate recognition,
etc.)”
But, in this new environment, will we even need road- IBEC members came to the conclusion that, yes, road-
side infrastructure at all? Recently, members of IBEC – side infrastructure will still be needed in the future (in
the International Benefits, Evaluation and Costs (IBEC) the next 20 years or so). But, we will need less of it and
Working Group, a group of over 350 ITS professionals this infrastructure will be different than what is in the
from over 40 countries dedicated to information field currently. The roadside infrastructure will enable
exchange on ITS evaluation methods and results – wireless communications and also serve as a foundation
weighed in on this question. for safety-critical applications. This is in contrast to
None of the IBEC members responding said that road- vehicle-based equipment that will inform the driver.
side infrastructure could be eliminated entirely, but IBEC is sponsoring a one-day workshop on VII/VIC in
many argued that much less of it would be needed in the conjunction on the 2008 ITS World Congress to be held
future. About the closest anyone came to saying “No” in New York City, New York, USA on Sunday, November
was Glenn Havinoviski, Associate Vice President at 16, 2008 at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers. The
HNTB Corporation: “I hope that public agencies are not workshop will look at what the U.S., Europe and Japan
master-planning dynamic message sign installations 20 are doing in the area of VII/VIC, what are the VII/VIC
years out in the future.” deployment challenges and how can these challenges
All other responders, and even Havinoviski himself, be overcome, what are the costs and benefits of VII/VIC,
provided some variation on the answer “Yes, but…” and how can the international ITS community work
Jack Opiola, Principal Consultant at Booz Allen Hamil- together to share information on evaluation results. The
ton in the UK said:“The current set of overhead signage, registration fee for the workshop is US$75 and partici-
lane signals, cameras, traffic signals and other sensors pants can register online at the official 2008 ITS World
will still be needed both for unequipped vehicles and Congress website www.itsworldcongress.org.
for legal purposes.” The workshop agenda includes much time for interac-
Several respondents mentioned the permanent need tive discussion so that participants can learn from each
for roadside infrastructure to perform safety-critical other as well as from the impressive slate of speakers
functions which must be available to the drivers of all that the workshop planning committee has assembled.
vehicles, both equipped and unequipped with in-vehi- IBEC has a six-year track record of sponsoring informa-
cle systems. tive and thought-provoking events. Readers are encour-
Said Tim McGuckin, Executive Director of OmniAir aged to register today to continue this exciting discus-
Consortium in the US: “Right now, I don’t see V2V [vehi- sion in New York City in November. TH
cle-to-vehicle] communications as being robust enough www.ibec-its.org

Stunted
growth
priorities
Climate Change
Australasia

Bruce Abernethy’s Thinking Highways he felt
Postcards from
climate change
Australia and
New Zealand
In our April/May 2007 issue, BRUCE ABERNETHY regailed us
with his traffic-related observations from his vacation in
China. One year later he was on his travels again, this time
heading south west from his Texas base. An Antipodean
travelog ensues...
Recently I visited six cities in New Zealand and three and dairy farms are prevalent in New Zealand as well as
cities in Australia on a vacation. kiwi fruit farms. Sheep ranchers seem to be struggling
As usual, I was interested in transportation conditions economically with competition from China and a number
and deployed technology supporting transportation are looking for alternative ways to obtain an income.
management. Cities visited in New Zealand included Lumber is also a major export from New Zealand. Coal
Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, is exported from both New Zealand and
Napier, Tauranga, and Wellington. In “New Zealand has Australia with Newcastle, Australia
Australia, cities visited included Mel- a natural beauty being a major port for the export of
bourne, Newcastle and Sydney (the pho- high grade coal.
tographs are from all of those cities). that is difficult to Both countries have environmental
Cities in Australia were much more con- find in any other protection laws and are concerned
gested than the ones I visited in New about pollution, destruction of wildlife
Zealand. All the cities visited were sea- part of the world” and of vegetation. I visited both coun-
ports and their economies were based on both tourism tries at the start of their summer season. There was sub-
and sea transport of raw materials, agricultural products stantial rain and overcast. The sand flies in Melbourne
and finished goods. were almost intolerable; however, the beauty of the city
All photographs by Bruce Abernethy
offset the discomfort of these pests buzzing around your

A grape time was had by all face for what seemed like the majority of my time there.
Both New Zealand and Australia have many vineyards New Zealand has a natural beauty that is difficult to find
and produce some very good wine. I was able to visit a in any other part of the world. Fortunately for tourists,
few vineyards and taste some of the products. Sheep New Zealand does not have a particularly large popula-

tion (a little over 4m on two islands totalling 103, 738 sq ing meters. The traveler inserts payment for parking,
miles, roughly the population of Kentucky in a state the receive a ticket and put it in your car window. Hardly sci-
size of Colorado) and traffic congestion seems to be entific but it doesn’t need to be. Incidentally, I did not
minimal. The exceptions may be in the larger cities of observe any toll roads in New Zealand.
Wellington and Christchurch; however, even there, traf-
fic congestion was nowhere near that experienced in Australia, likewise, only more so
large cities of Europe and the USA. Traffic signals, for the most part, were similar in con-
In all of the cities, tourism played a major economic struction as seen in New Zealand. I noticed a toll road in
role. Thus, most of the cities had good public transporta- Sydney from the City to the Airport which included
tion. In many of the cities public transportation was free dynamic message signs and seemed to include modern
for the “hop on-hop off” buses and trolleys. Usually pub- tunnel monitoring and management technology. No
lic transportation was easy to access from sea port areas open road toll collection was observed on this toll road.
where large cruise liners dock. Tour and tourist infor- In Melbourne and Sydney, various forms of dynamic
mation is readily available for visitors. message signs were provided. Some included a combi-
In cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland, the nation of fixed messaging with an embedded dynamic
dock area had many tourist attractions. In Sydney, the message sign. They were utilized to identify congestion
beautiful Opera House is adjacent to the dock and there status as well as parking status. Freeways included DMS.
are many tourist shops and restaurants that surround the It was obvious from messaging that freeways had con-
harbor area. It is similar to the “walking Street” in Barce- gestion management sensors deployed. CCTV surveil-
lona with musicians, mimes and other forms of enter- lance cameras were also deployed at some intersections
tainment offered to the tourist for a donation. You can and on freeways.
even have your photo taken with a Native Australian Speed Enforcement Radar and Cameras were
accompanied by the atmospheric, indigenous sounds deployed along some of the major corridors. Of course
of a didjeridu (or didgeridoo, depending on your pref- these ITS devices are not appreciated by tourist who are
erence). driving rental cars.
New Zealand Transportation, Traffic and ITS I wrote this while on vacation...
One of the first observations is the terms used on street It should be noted that this article is only based on
signs. Instead of “Yield” you will see “Give Way”. There observations in the listed cities as a visitor. Other cities
are many roundabouts in New Zealand, may have different deployments of ITS;
as indeed there are in the UK. Another “At a number of however the cities visited included the
observation was that traffic signal heads
are generally mounted on the side of the
the key bus stops largest in the countries. In general, Aus-
tralia seems to be more progressive in
corridors and are generally relatively DMS were deployed deployment of Intelligent Transporta-
low compared to those in the USA. This
was also true in Australia.
providing the tion System (ITS) devices. This can cer-
tainly be said of the seemingly greater
In larger cities, traffic signals includedtraveler with the populated Australian cities I visited.
red/yellow/green signals as well as red/
yellow/green turn arrows. Thus, six LED
identity and Both countries have very good public
transportation. All cities visited support
signal sights were deployed at an inter- sequence of water transportation and “ferries and
section. In the tourist areas, PEDS
included audio as well as time remain-
incoming buses” water taxies” provide transportation
both for commuters as well as tourists.
ing to cross. Attention has been given to accommodat- In Auckland, Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney I uti-
ing pedestrians with disabilities in just about all of the lized water transportation to visit sites of interest. Water
cities visited. transportation is well managed in both countries. No
The City of Auckland had “SMART bus and Bus Stop” safety information was announced on any of the boats
technology deployed. At a number of the key bus stops, utilized for water transportation; however signs were
dynamic message signs were deployed providing the posted related to locations of life vests.
traveler with information on the identity and sequence Both countries are certainly worth devoting a vacation
of incoming buses and estimated arrival time.The buses time to. The foliage is absolutely beautiful and species
themselves include security cameras as well as traveler of flowers that I have never seen before grow there.
information. Transiting the Milford Sound provides scenic beauty of
waterfalls that cascade from high up on mountains and
Where is everyone? flow serenely down to the sea. Maori history as related
There was not significant traffic congestion in any of the to New Zealand is interesting and visiting a Maori vil-
New Zealand cities visited. Portable dynamic message lage outside Napier is well worth the tour. Without ques-
signs (DMS) were observed for road work warning; tion, ITS is thriving in Australia and is emerging in the
however, no permanent DMS were observed. larger cities of New Zealand. TH
In both New Zealand and Australia, on-street parking Bruce Abernethy has recently been appointed as
fees were collected using a “pay station/ticket”, thus principal of Arcadis US, Inc, based in Allen, Texas.
eliminating the need for numerous and un-sightly park- bruce.abernethy@arcadis-us.com

Advertisers
Index
Davin Optronics .....................................64
ESRI ...........................................................21
FAMAS ......................................................57
Gatsometer .............................................31
GE IFS .............................inside back cover
Inex ............................................................57
ITS World Congress ...............................38
JAFA...........................................................33
Jupiter Systems ........................................02
OSI Laserscan .............. inside front cover
PBS&J .........................................................37
Samaritania .................outside back cover
Tamron......................................................37
Telegra.......................................................05
Transurban ...............................................07
TRMI..........................................................33
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national public safety certifications. clearance, motorist, and public safety single patrol hourly billing rate.
02 We provide a complete turnkey program at assistance. 15 Operators adhere to detailed conduct
not cost to motorists. 08 Provide a variety of different custom service policies
03 Provide Internet based Fleet Management patrol vehicles with and without tow 16 Standard Operation Procedure
Systems. capabilities. Development
04 Provide public safety grade AVL/GPS incident 09 Endorsed by Departments of Transportation 17 Local office and project management
recording/reporting systems. and State Governments. 18 Provide Complete Indemnification and
05 Personnel, vehicles, equipment, AVL/GPS, 10 Endorsed by State Police, Fire/Rescue, hold harmless agreements.
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THIN KING

OLDER, BUT WISER?

Data Collection and

The right climate

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 1

When DAVID SCHONBRUNN

56 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 57

INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT COVER STORY

growth Eating up 60 For those of you that enjoy looking at other

account of what was meant to be a two-week

56 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 57

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 3

Will high gas prices slow down ITS?

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) ) *+,-&&./ 0 #1"&2)340'..# &5.#64)7

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KEEPING CITIES MOVING

All for toll and

8 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 9

strategic element is to get as by the need to maintain a high In such an environment

10 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

of considerable customer and However, the potential is mounting tape. This is

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 11

12 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

When DAVID SCHONBRUNN

When is performance good enough? What is

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 13

14 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

Table 2. The Relationship Between Organizational Characteristics

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 15

• Customer satisfaction surveys Table 3. Capability Maturity

16 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

Table 4. Definition of Incident Management Maturity Levels

Measurement Ad hoc data collection Performance measured Performance is Data is analyzed

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 17

John, we haven’t seen you at industry trade events

18 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

When DAVID SCHONBRUNN

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 19

Who do you see as your competitors in North

Some in the US may be familiar with your personal

Considering how often industry and political objec-

20 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

Real-time display of traffic congestion and incidents.

Traffic congestion growth and incident trend analysis.

22 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 23

the college immense amounts of money not building Unhealthy debate

24 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

across the 418,000 people individually marketed - to the

Meanwhile, back at home...

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 25

26 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 27

28 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

When DAVID SCHONBRUNN

read the April/May issue of

www.h3bmedia.com Thinking Highways Vol 3 No 2 29

Contrast and compare: sea

economies in the world. However, India’s glo-

30 Vol 3 No 2 Thinking Highways www.h3bmedia.com

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