A Short Essay: What is sustainable transportation to you?
by Ryan Barry (rsbarry@gmail.com)
Imperfect musings blending the practical, philosophical, and at times provocative on Sustainability, Resilience, Regeneration, Well-being, Cities, Economic & Sustainable Development, Conservation, the Changing Nature of Work, Innovation and other topics relevant to our modern times.
August 26th, 2022 (Originally Written January 30th, 2022)
One may claim, the most sustainable of transportation is no transportation at all. This may be translated as a person utilizing their own mechanical energy to move — walking, biking, or paddling upon the water as the most sustainable means-of-transportation. Or, that a product produced in location-x and consumed in location-x utilizing the least amount of transportation being more sustainable than a product produced in location-x and consumed in location-y. On-the-surface, this may seem correct, though, with the complexities of the modern world, it’s what’s beneath the surface that often matters.
Sustainability-by-nature, is about systems and systems-of-systems. In an exploration of “what is sustainable transportation” we must go beyond the elements that enable movement — the modern-modes-of-transportation: cars, trucks, boats, planes, trains and infrastructure that enable those modes: roads, bridges, tracks, airports — and more broadly ask, what is being transported and why? This is when we truly begin to delve into the essence of sustainable transportation. Transportation is a means of mobility, of movement of physical, tangible, touchable things. Movement in itself can cause disturbance. Though, too, movement is critical to living-systems. Current-modalities-of-transportation come with duality, both great benefit and harm — causing pollution (air, water, noise), natural habitat and wildlife disturbance, safety, and health issues.
What is sustainable goes beyond movement of the goods, services, and component parts that make the modern-economy tick. Manifestation to unsustainable ways are part-and-parcel of what has become known as modern-society and the modern-economy. To become “sustainable”, we may need new-patterns. Beyond being the engine-of-the-modern-economy, what else should we ask of a modern-transportation-system? Further, a modern-sustainable-transportation-system? Sustainable-transportation, indeed, is about efficiency and optimization, but not in all scenarios. Getting goods and people from point-A to point-B as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible. Said another way, with the least waste. Though, our lives aren’t solely about maximization. The pathways and modes-of-movement we take could make us more whole as individuals and communities. In certain scenarios, sustainable transportation may be about place-making. Creating a sense-of-community, place, and thus purpose. Place-making could come in the form of beautification or of building-symbiotically with nature thus preserving the fragile natural environment. Sustainable-transportation may even be about regeneration and rewilding of the natural environment. In build-out of modern-day-infrastructure we have often manipulated, neglected, and morphed the natural-environment — diverted rivers, filled-in wetlands, degraded floodplains, cut-down trees, paved over precious soils, and fragmented ecosystems and wildlife habitat. What if we built future-transportation-infrastructure in a way that blends with the natural setting, with the bounds and limitations of the planet in-mind. A modern-infrastructure, that’s more in-tune with the natural setting. Both enabling the continued movement of goods and services but also minimizing the externalities of current-transportation-systems. A modern-sustainable-transportation-system will be adaptable, enabling, durable, resilient, regenerative, efficient, high-low-and-no-tech, safe, environmentally-friendly, equitable, and diverse. What if we could build, enhance, and morph the transportation-system into one that as a by-product brings livability, mental-health, and well-being to its users. One that helps to build or re-build communities rather than separate them; reconnects habitat both terrestrial and aquatic; and helps all people flourish — to live their best lives. All of this, while propelling livelihoods and the modern-economy. That’s sustainable-transportation.
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A quote from Janine Benyus: “Imagine applying an ecosystem services lens to creating roadways…how many ecosystem services can a roadway and its easements produce? There are a bunch of people in engineering that are going to be learning how to do infrastructure when we finally get around to reinvesting in ourselves. And what if they do it with a completely different design paradigm in mind — If they can design for as many ecosystem services — provisioning of ecosystem services as possible?”
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