www.vancouver21.com

Hosted by TransLink and South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, the Trans-Expo 2010 is an annual event aimed at bringing transit professionals together across Canada. This year the gathering is held at the Vancouver Convention Centre on November 16, 2010. Nearly 100 exhibitors set up booths at West Exhibit Hall C to showcase their mostly environmental-friendly products. Trans-Expo 2010 is part of the fall conference of the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA).

The theme of the exhibit and conference is “Moving Experiences”. The Honorable Stephanie Cadieux, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Province of British Columbia was on hand at Trans-Expo 2010 and did a tour of a double-deck bus that is now on trial in Victoria, BC.

For the public, a good riding experience starts at the bus shelter. To that end, as John Duthie of Daytech explains, his company builds structurally engineered shelters with a street furniture design that are easy to install, do not rust as they are made of aluminum and built to withstand extreme environment. There are no stock items at Datech as such. Everything is made-to-order to fit in with the urban landscaping of a particular community so the public feels right at home as they wait for the bus to arrive to pick them up.

Quite a good number of newer and yet everyday technologies are also incorporated into the public transit system, many with sustainability features. Diesel-Electric hybrid engine, LED lighting, solar-powered devices, GPS, Wi-Fi, H.264 video codec etc. Many of these technologies are also not alien to the average consumer.

Solar-powered credit card parking meters are already in use on Vancouver streets today. There are actually 300 of those around the city. Practically every car-makers have a hybrid vehicle in their line and some are pushing hard for an all-electric model. GPS navigation systems is becoming a must-have feature in smartphones. Wi-Fi access to the Internet is widely available in coffee shops and even Mcdonald’s restaurants. H.264 are the cornerstone of the newer generations of video camcorders that record in the popular AVCHD format.

Depending on the cost of implementation, newer transportation system devices are or can be GPS enabled. For certain functions, it is a necessity such as stop announcement as in the double deck bus which will be discussed later requires real-time data obtained through a GPS link.

Many of the features are intended to give transit riders a more comfortable and enjoyable experience. With touchscreen interface being so common in many consumer electronic gadgets these days, New Flyer Industries thought the same effortless way of interaction could be applied to buses too. No more grabbing a handle and pushing it open to get off the bus. A touch on the doorframe would suffice. The bus driver is taken care of as well. Leather driver seats are available as an option on buses that New Flyer manufacture.

Video continues to be a driving force for security, litigation, monitoring, drivers training, fleet management and operation in the transportation industry. Cameras are being mounted inside and outside buses in strategic locations. These cameras offer wide-angle views that provide continuous visual data that can be stored onboard a computer inside the bus or monitored in real-time by transit operators in a back office. The latter idea is similar to the eye-in-the-sky concept in a casino monitoring situation. Interactive ticket vending machines made by a company like Parkeon has chip-embedded smart cards and mobile phone payment as the preferred methods of transaction although cash and credit card are still accepted. The device is solar-powered and requires no battery. 600 of these machines will replace 4,000 parking meters on the streets of Ottawa, ON.

Video is often compressed using H.264 codec for storage and processing efficiency. Frame rates varies from 15-30 fps which give a realistic rendition of motion. One company, Seon, offers the 720×480 format for a 16:9 aspect ratio just like your HDTV at home, although the resolution for this security system is not quite up to high-definition that has a minimum resolution of 1280×720 pixels.

Double deck bus is a concept that works well in a city like Victoria BC. Currently, there are 58 double-deckers operating in BC’s capital city. Since March 2009, Victoria has been testing a new diesel-electric double-decker. The pilot project consists of one hybrid vehicle by Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) and the trial will last until mid-2011. According to Stephen Walsh, a vice-president with ADL, it is conceivable that we may one day see hybrid double-deckers operating between Victoria and Vancouver. Wide-spread use of double deck buses in Vancouver, however, is not likely because the city still has plenty of overhead trolley power lines that would restrict the areas that the 14 ft tall double-deckers can serve.

On the other hand, the double-deckers are right for Victoria as city streets are narrower which would prove to be challenging for the 60 ft long articulated bus that many large North American cities employ. However, the more compact 40 ft long double decker has essentially the same passenger capacity (80-100) as the much longer articulated bus but are much easier to maneuver around streets that have tighter corner turns. Double deck buses also require 30% less space than articulated buses for storage and maintenance. Not to mention lesser space at each bus stops. ADL, a British company, says its hybrid bus reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 20-25%.

Inside the demo hybrid double-decker at Trans-Expo 2010, there are several overhead LCD monitors located at different areas of the two decks that are used to provide advertising messages, next stop announcement etc. It looks like advertising onboard buses maybe a good revenue generator and the company seems eager to get that message out to potential buyers.

One feature that is becoming standard in a modern eco-friendly bus is LED lighting. Almost all hybrid buses incorporate the technology. It is easy to understand why. These light-emitting diodes not only save energy, but are also more durable and give out very little heat. All are in steps with moving towards a sustainable future.

So much for the new technologies, yet objects that have interesting heritage values are not forgotten either. The Transit Museum Society has an on-site exhibit with a few antique transit buses on display. These are the ones that your parents or grandparents used to ride. In fact, BC has been building interurban buses over 100 years ago. In 1905, the BC Electric Railway (BCE) shop in New Westminster built Car 1207 for the opening of the new Steveston line by way of the Arbutus Corridor connecting Vancouver and Richmond. Many long-time residents among those communities still remember the streetcar line and some have longed for its return.
Seon Video surveillance camera with infrared emitter on top

John Duthie, Daytech, the company that makes transit shelters

The Honorable Stephanie Cadieux, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Province of BC (on wheelchair) with others at Trans-Expo 2010.

Interior of a Nova Bus.

Wayne Feagan of Nova Bus shows standing stall inside his company’s 60 ft long articulated bus.

Almost 100 exhibitors showcased their technologies.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. double decker bus stairwell.

Interior, upper deck of the Alexander Dennis Ltd. Double-decker on trial in Victoria BC.

Nova Bus illuminated reading light, small table and facing transit passenger seats.

Solar-powered ticket cending machine made by Parkeon.

Overhead LCD screen shows advertising message onboard a double-decker on trial in Victoria BC.

Same model of a double-decker bus on trial in Victoria, BC.

Innards of a hybrid diesel-electric engine.

Fare collection box of the double-decker bus.

Touch door frame to open door to exit on a new Nova Bus.

Diesel-electric hybrid technology, New Flyer innovation.

New Flyer bus driver seat.

A Toronto York Region Transit (YRT) vehicle.

Transit Museum Society display Its older streetcars.

Pictures of 1930s passengers filled the windows of an old BCE bus.

Moving exhibit inside one of the heritage BCE buses.


Vancouver Convention Centre 1055 Canada Place, Vancouver BC

View Larger Map

• Photostream

Next Page ›

‹ Previous Page

Powered by Flickr Gallery

Post 2010 Games, Vancouver and BC are eager partners in hoping to turn the green business sector into a potent multi-billion dollar industry.

The west coast of Canada with its beautiful scenery, gentle and harmonious cities and…mountain pine beetles-infected forests is very much into promoting the use of eco-friendly technology and hopes to attract investments to the region. Hey, don’t laugh at all those deadwoods, they can still be a great source of clean energy production and if harvested in time, the woods are still rigid and stable enough to support large buildings.

Vancouver, the birthplace of Greenpeace, has always been proud of its own history in environmental protection. With the 2010 Games, the city has taken another giant step in that direction. The Vancouver Games is widely perceived as the greenest Olympics in the history of the Games.

The 30-ft tall 2010 Olympic rings that floated in Vancouver’s Coal Harbor were powered by a “made-in-Canada” hydrogen fuel cell technology. Fuel cells are a leading-edge clean power source. When hydrogen is fed into fuel cells, the only emission is water (H2O) vapor.

“]

2010 Olympic Rings at night in Vancouver. [Credit: Ray Van Eng

Hydrogen fuel cells are not only clean, they can also be used in remote locations as a source of safe, reliable and quiet electrical power. Those attributes provided a perfect way to make the iconic Olympic rings glow at night out in the ocean at Vancouver’s world famous Stanley Park.

BC is a leader in fuel cell technology and the province intends to apply hydrogen power to public transportation. There is a demonstration of sorts for a hydrogen fuel cell transit bus at the BC Pavilion during the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Ford, Chevy, Mercedes-Benz etc. all have automobile designs that use hydrogen fuel cells. Though they are not ready for prime time yet. The hydrogen fuel cell technology is still too expensive for cars and refueling stations (or infrastructures) are not yet in place.

But that didn’t stop the car-makers from lending help to VANOC, the Vancouver organizers, for use in its daily operation. GM supplied eight hydrogen fuel cells cars for use during the 2010 Games. The company hopes to commercialize the cars in five years time.

Although even by 2015, the only vehicles available would likely be government and commercial fleets with their own refueling infrastructures.

There are also twenty hydrogen fuel cell buses in use in Whistler. They reduce greenhouse gases by more than 60% compared to diesel buses.

Large companies like Walmart & Coca-Cola are using hydrogen powered forklift trucks for their distribution centers.

With broad industry support and an agreeable provincial government, the city of Vancouver may just have the potential to fulfill its role as a major player in the world’s green economy future.

No doubt that the Sustainable Product Index is a Walmart’s long term goal. Short term, the company is taking some immediately actionable initiatives.

Besides, encouraging suppliers to drop PVC packaging, Walmart would also install efficient LED lighting that can eliminate 35 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually. The giant consumer goods seller also plans to educate consumers about compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs), and hopes to sell hundreds of millions of them. The result would be saving the equivalent output of several coal-fired power plants which pollute the environment.

Working with BP and SunPower, Walmart is actively putting solar panels on the roofs of its own stores in California and Hawaii to generate power for its own store operation.

So what can we do as a consumer? As individuals, how can we take part in reducing  our own carbon footprint?

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says that we can accomplish a great deal by simply making some small changes in our daily habits. The NRDC is an environmental action group in the U.S. aiming at reducing global warming and create a clean energy future.

Beyond finding ways to slow climate change, the NRDC urged Americans to do a number of things.

First of all, the United States is the world’s second largest emitter of global warming pollution, pumping 7 billion tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) each year. But by paying attention to home energy use, transportation, food consumption and waste, Americans can help reduce one billion tons of carbon pollution.

That’s a 15% reduction which can be done at little or no cost. Nor will it severely affect our lifestyle. It isn’t hard to do at all, says NRDC.

Specific recommendations include reducing unwanted catalog subscriptions, decreasing vehicle idling, using a programmable thermostat would help cut down greenhouse gas emission also. Other recommended practices are  replace lightbulbs with CFLs, set computers to hibernate mode, turn off unused lights often and eat poultry instead of red meat two days a week.

Such changes will not only reduce carbon emissions, but will save on home energy, transportation and food costs as well.

All is swell, but Americans are a nation of people of extravagance and waste. So how does NRDC actually plan to convince people to cut back?

NRDC seems to believe that the key to accomplish that is for people to realize that they aren’t doing this alone but others are doing it with them as well. Collectively, everyone’s contributions will aggregate and together we would make a difference. 

Not quite scientific and it relies on quite a bit of a herd mentality.

Will it work?

NRDC thinks so and they are working with the Garrison Institute’s Climate Mind and Behavior symposium group to shift public behavior on a large scale. They think that the opportunity exists right now to apply their principles and insights in a concerted manner which will get people to adopt them faster.

Participants in the symposium were asked to form social groups to sketch out community projects and network them with building managers. All designed to actualize and accelerate the massive potential for positive climate impacts through individual choices and behavior shifts.

Certainly quite complex but it seems to have what it takes to handle a problem which ties into our very own existence. 

The environmental cause requires a critical mass.

We have probably moved pass the early-adaptor stage. However, a little education is still necessary for sustainability to progressively advancing to mainstream practices.

I think the best thing is when it comes down to a very individual level, each and everyone of us can make a contribution for a better world tomorrow.