The Balanced Transportation Analyzer

I recently had the opportunity to hear a luncheon speaker define sustainability as "trying to do more with less." This is a good definition - - probably represents one boundary of the sustainability debate and process (the other end of the spectrum, which we all want to avoid, is "having to do less with less").

Three idea and forces are embedded in the "more with less" sustainability definition. The first is innovation - - new ideas and creativity regarding our ability to solve problems with limited fiscal capabilities and fewer material resources. The second is the notion of information - - how can we utilize our existing data and information resources to make better societal decisions in the new era of "more with less?" The last idea - - given the powers and insight regarding our capacity for new ideas, creativity, and information - - how do we influence and change public behavior to support and accept "trying to do more with less?"

In the area of transportation management, economist Charles Komanoff has developed several tools. His Balanced Transportation Analyzer (BTA) is an enormous Excel spreadsheet he has build over the last three years to model every aspect of New York City transportation. Highlights of BTA include:

• Calculates how new fees and changes to existing tools affect traffic at different times of the day.
• It calculates which costs are borne by city dwellers and which by suburbanites.
• It calculates how long it takes passengers to dig for change and board buses.
• It allows any user to adjust dozens of different variables - - from taxi surcharges to truck tolls - - and measures their impact.
• The model is a statistical SimCity.
• He measures the time and money lost in traffic.
• The model translates all traffic impacts - - delays, collisions, injuries, injuries, air pollution - - into dollars
• The model potentially serves as the basis for transportation pricing (e.g., congestion pricing combined with fee public transportation).
• The model and ideas offered by Komanoff focus on incentives and revenues versus punishment.

The June 2010 issue of Wired cover BTA is detail in an article entitle - - "The Traffic Cop: Only one man can end gridlock in Manhattan: Charles Komanoff, Excel virtuoso."

Youtube also has a demonstration of BTA - - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uty1sTQcfXQ