Fall 2022 - REM 355 D100

Sustainable Transportation Management (3)

Class Number: 4288

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 7 – Dec 6, 2022: Tue, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 15, 2022
    Thu, 3:30–6:30 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units or permission of instructor.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores trends in the transportation sector according to a resource and environmental management perspective, including air quality and greenhouse gas impacts. The perspective is interdisciplinary, organized around transitions to alternative fuels, efficiency and reduced vehicle use. Skills to be developed include sustainability management, lifecycle analysis and policy analysis.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course explores the sustainability of the transportation sector in Canada and globally, including air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and social impacts. We look at past trends in motor vehicle use and technology development to better understand present and likely future impacts. The course is interdisciplinary by design, drawing from the field of resource management to integrate insights from environmental science, public policy and ecological economics, as well as basic principles from engineering, consumer psychology, and sociology. We consider three categories of transportation transformation (or “three legs of the stool”), including transitions to: low-carbon fuels, more efficient technology, and reduced motor vehicle use. Skills to be developed include understanding and integration of concepts from environment, policy and economics, as well as specific methods such as lifecycle impact analysis and multi-criteria policy evaluation. Applications include the topics of electric mobility, biofuels, hydrogen, automated vehicles, and car-sharing. The objective of the course is to provide a broad understanding of these transportation issues, to develop methods and perspectives to evaluate these issues, and to develop and analyze strategies for improving the sustainability of the transportation sector.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Once you complete this course, you will be able to:

  1. Explain trends in Canada’s transportation sector according to economic, consumer, and cultural perspectives.
  2. Explain the role of the transportation sector in major modern environmental problems in Canada and globally, including climate change and air quality.
  3. Explain the three categories of transportation transformation (vehicles, fuels and travel demand), and identify technologies and practices that can reduce the environmental impacts of each.
  4. Evaluate and compare transportation policies relating to environmental and energy goals.
  5. Apply course concepts to a variety of transportation topics, including alternative fuels, autonomous vehicles, car sharing, freight and urban development.
  6. Develop collaborative, interdisciplinary learning and thinking skills.
  7. Demonstrate the level of respect and organization expected in the workforce.

Grading

  • Participation 15%
  • Assignments 35%
  • In-lecture Quiz 5%
  • Midterm 20%
  • Final exam - comprehensive 25%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Sperling, Daniel (2018). Three Revolutions: Steering Automated, Shared and Electric Vehicles to a Better Future, Island Press.
ISBN: 9781610919050

A number of online (electronic) readings will be uploaded to the course website, including book chapters, reports and journal articles. The syllabus and website clearly differentiate between required and optional readings (the latter may be useful for the assignment).

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html