Overview

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. The course is organized around the 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 analysis. Applications include the topics of electric mobility, biofuels, hydrogen, autonomous 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

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

We will use the iClicker student response system in class to make the course more interactive. Students are required to have either a personal iClicker (can be purchased from the SFU Bookstore) or a subscription of the iClicker-REEF mobile app.

REQUIRED READING: