MAR 25 > JUL 31

Phase I: Weekly discussion on life in 2060

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Week 6: (Scenario 1) What values do you think should guide transportation planning and investments over the next 10 years?

Discussion of the Week, on This Topic

Lindsey Alexander

Moderator, Students Speak Out

For the past few weeks we’ve been thinking about what life in 2061 might look like. Your perspectives have informed the development of three future scenarios. What we want to talk about this week is transportation in those scenarios. For the purposes of MnDOT’s work this is a very important piece of project, so give your answers some thought. You can use values more than once. (For example, it’s fine if you pick 1, 2 and 3 for Scenario 1 and want to pick them again for another scenario, etc.)

Scenario 1 (created by YOU!):

In 2061, public resources are highly strained and investments in infrastructure are very limited, leading to frequent failures of systems including water, sewer, and the electrical grid. Countries war over polluted water sources, leaving even less drinkable water for those in the cities. In response, almost all cities are requiring rolling blackouts and grant each citizen a certain amount of water each week. Public resources are concentrated into heavily populated areas. Some communities become more and more isolated since electronic communication is no longer dependable.
The competition for resources is growing, and class divisions increase dramatically. The rich pay exorbitant sums of money for clean water, dependable electricity, and other utilities. Few can afford food, with a loaf of bread now costing $6.75. Corporate farming is taking over so mass-produced products can be sold more cheaply.
But there are some things even the rich can’t avoid. With prices so high, economies in even the most stable countries are on the verge of crashing. The health care system has suffered greatly due to all the arising problems coming from the environment, and medicines are no longer as effective. Electricity rebounds into the plants blowing up and creating a chain reaction, killing many people. Sewers are backing up daily, causing numerous deaths from the toxic gases.
Aquatic ecosystems have begun to collapse due to the polluted ocean water (oceans are a curious shade of black). It is no longer healthy to eat much seafood.

Given this scenario for 2061, what values do you think should guide transportation planning and investments over the next 10 years? (Choose three.)

[Note the timeframe: it’s not 2061, it’s planning and investments over the next 10 years. The idea is to say, if this scenario were to happen, what do YOU think is important in planning for transportation in light of this scenario.]

Fix it first – within each type of system (rail, highways, etc.), maintain existing transportation infrastructure (roads, bridges, tracks, etc.) before building new
Expand choice – prioritize diversify of travel choices versus reliance on a single option.
Support existing communities – investments in existing communities before expanding to serve yet-to-be-built communities
Align system with other public purposes – emphasize environmental stewardship, economic competitiveness, public health, energy independence and education.
Emphasize reliability/predictability – the reliability of the system and predictability of travel time are more important than speed.
Ensure regional connections – key regional centers need to be connected to each other and to the Twin Cities.
Use partnerships – coordinate with the private sector and with other units of government to make transportation projects and operations more efficient.
Other ….. (describe)

Now say a bit about WHY you selected the three answers that you did?

Louise E.

1. Maintain existing transportation infrastructure

3. Support existing communities

5. Emphasize reliability/predictability

In this scenario, public resources are very limited. The first priority would be to maintain existing infrastructure because there will not be enough resources to work toward expanding the system. Similarly, people won't be thinking of yet-to-be-built communities with limited resources for existing communities. It would make sense to concentrate the available resources in large, existing communities where they can be used to help the most people. Although it would be difficult to increase reliability and predictability of transportation systems when resources are limited, it would be the biggest need for the community. This factor would be especially important for those who cannot afford to pay for cars and must use public transportation to travel. By making public transportation systems dependable, it would allow for the community to have equal access to transportation, allowing people to commute to work, visit friends etc.

Ann D.

1. Fix it first/ maintain existing transportation

3. Support existing communities

8. Other: Make local transportation more affordable for all classes

Starting with eight, I think this will be really important due to the greatened class divisions. If we make transportation more affordable it already begins to help the community. Then, from there, with communities being supported more, they can take it upon themselves to become more green, because it will be more likely they will then have the resources and capability. I think 1, 3, and 8 are really the stepping blocks to getting earth back in order.

Hannah O.

1- Fix it First,
4- Align system with other public purposes,

7- use partnerships.

Firstly, I feel as though, because this is such a broken society, it’s incredibly important to fix the brokenness before we move to building more. One of the most interesting parts when thinking of how some cities flow, is looking at their transportation systems, and I truly feel as a system, it all has to be working together cohesively in order to make sure it’s (the society’s) working well. I also think that because everything is a system, in order to make sure there’s order, it’s important to align the system to emphasize the importance of public health and push for environmental stewardship, as well as trying to create more independence for energy. If we align the transportation to help emphasize these needs, then the number of deaths due to the toxic gases and explosions should be reduced. In such a segmented society, it’s also crucial to try to make the systems work more efficiently by coordinating with private sectors to try and build a more efficient operation.

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by Louise Edwards on Jun 10, 2011 @ 2:21pm

The reason I chose number 1 is because it seems like the existing infrastructure is a good starting place to build from. Instead of totally restructuring the entire infrastructure (which would take a lot of resources), it makes sense to try to use what is in place already. If it was determined that this system was not efficient enough, perhaps the materials in the existing infrastructure could be "recycled" in some way to help build a more efficient infrastructure.

I agree with Joey and Hannah that using partnerships is a good idea as well even though that was not one of the priorities I originally chose. By pooling resources that different partners have, it seems like more progress could be made especially since resources are limited in this scenario.

I also agree with Ann that making transportation more affordable would be a good idea. (I had a really hard time choosing only three priorities.) I never thought about how making the transportation affordable for everyone would help numbers 1 and 3 as well. Although choosing top priorities is important, it seems more important to me to find how multiple priorities can be met or combined. Such as how can the existing infrastructure be maintain to make it more reliable? or how can partnerships support existing communities?

by Joey L. on Jun 10, 2011 @ 6:35am

I picked #7 because it seems like we would need a lot of help to make sure all of the systems could keep going. Partnerships would allow for more money and time spent on transportation, making them better and better with each new generation.

by Ann D. on Jun 8, 2011 @ 6:55pm

I think #8, more affordable is definitely a top priorty, because that would help the economy and be a starting place for the other two (#3 and #1). Those two are sort of tied for me though. They kind of go together and one can't really be prioritzed over the other.

by Hannah Oakes on Jun 7, 2011 @ 5:00pm

I included number 7 because I'm truly an advocate for the idea of working together in order to better the whole, so I see salvation of what few connection that could possibly be made in order to really make society work a little better in or at least work to make transportation better.

I said fix it first in hopes that we can fix what we have in order to make it work better as well as more effiecient. (I didn't put both, but I was thinking about effieciency and fixing it)

by Lindsey Alexander on Jun 1, 2011 @ 1:33am

All - you all picked #1 "fix it first." Does this mean that we should have the focus on existing network of roads and highways, even though many of you have adovcated for more efficient means of transportation?

by Lindsey Alexander on Jun 1, 2011 @ 1:31am

Ann, so, is your order that #8 (more afforadable) is your top priority, second is #3 and last is #1?

by Lindsey Alexander on Jun 1, 2011 @ 1:30am

Hannan and Joey - your inclusions of #7, use partnerships, stood out to me. I think that's really interesting. Can you say more about that? What sorts of partnerships did you envision?

by Joey L. on May 30, 2011 @ 6:37am

1. Fix it first,

4. Align it

7. Use partnerships

Okay, first all existing means of transportation need to get fixed. We need to have a stable building block, and without working transportation its hard to have something to build off of. Once repaired, we move on to alignment, reducing costs and making more energy efficient and green transportation. Finally, we move on to using partnerships to continue to improve the transportation. I think this is the way it needs to go for this scenario because the world is so messed up it is barely habitable. If you do anything different, then you can run the risk of damaging the environment even more, and costing more lives and damages.