Sustainable Transportation

3 units

Transportation is essential to the function of cities and regions. Even in growing service/digital economies transportation remains critical for moving goods and people. The speed and quality of transportation has significant impacts on equity, economic function and mobility, and social cohesion. The transportation modes and technologies we deploy in our cities and regions have significant environmental impacts, with transport contributing 1/5 of global carbon, as well as major consequences for air and water pollution, health, resource consumption, and land-use. Creating sustainable transportation systems, particularly in the face of continued, rapid urbanization, is one of the world’s most pressing challenges. This course is an introduction to transportation, with a focus on urban and regional transportation, through the lens of making transportation more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. Students will be introduced to key transportation modes, their impacts, and current thinking on moving towards a more sustainable future. Transport is a huge and important field, and this class will inherently cover a lot of territory. The goal is to give students a foundation in sustainable transportation that will allow them to understand and critically engage the topic in their future studies, careers, and communities.