With warmer weather just around the corner those of us who didn’t brave cycling through the winter months are preparing our two-wheeled transit for another season.  We are not alone.  In cities across North America bicycle ridership is on the rise.  Montreal and New York City have both increased their ridership by 35 and 28% since 2008 respectively.

While some advocate for a vehicular cycling model where the bike is just another vehicle that should use the road under the same conditions as their motorized counterparts, the more dominant model advocates for strategies confronting the culture of fear where cycling is made safer and more accessible to a wider range of people.   At one end of this approach we find striped markings on roads suggesting territorial bounds between cars and bikes. At the other end we have entire networks of separated lanes with their own systems of snow-clearing and traffic lights.  Wherever your municipality lies on this scale, one thing is clear:  innovative (both soft and hard) infrastructures play a major role in the development of these networks.

Across scales and degrees of permanence here are some projects worth noting:

Light Lane  - Instant Bike Lanes (soft + small)

[Light Lane: Dynamic Lane creation]

Bixi Bike (soft + large)

[BixiBike Station in Montreal]

Copenhagen Cycling Railings (hard + small)

[Copenhagen Bike Rails - image by Zakka/Mikael on Flickr]

D.C. Union Station Bicycle Transit Center (hard + large)

[D.C. Union Station Bicycle Transit Center - KGP Design]

As a peripheral extension to Union Station, already serving as a hub for trains, subway and buses, the Bicycle Transit Center (KGP Design Studio) seeks to connect the bicycle network to this the multi-modal terminal.  Providing bike parking, change rooms, lockers and bicycle related retail and service the transit center further supports the bicycle as a viable transportation option.

The melting of the polar caps will not only open up new shipping routes such as the North-West and Northern Passage, it has the potential to connect existing communities in the Arctic to a larger network of distribution.  Presently, most Arctic communities depend heavily on imported goods which are largely distributed via air.   As shipping routes emerge, local economies are enabled by producing and distributing goods both locally and regionally.  The following project, developed by Amrit Phull and Claire Lubell, in the Frozen Cities/ Liquid Networks studio at the University of Waterloo, examines how new infrastructure can be produced in the Arctic that allows for the transference from air to shipping logistics and, while doing so, addresses the issue of food production and coastal erosion in the Arctic.  It questions how remote coastal communities throughout Canada’s Arctic can establish self-sufficiency in anticipation of economic and environmental fluctuations.  As stated by Lubell and Phull:

The proposal seeks to provide a hard infrastructure which responds to the  immediate needs of the community, but is also the root of growth in a context where change in landscape, resources and community occurs at varying speeds. In particular the project examines the potential development of Port Churchill as well as a major international port in the Northwest Passage and how this can create a network of small ports, at existing communities, along the west coast of Hudson’s Bay.

[Systems Diagram showing the relationship created between the new infrastructure and community, cultural programmes, food production and energy. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

[Permafrost - current and projected showing areas of predicted coastal erosion. Freeze/ Thaw maps outlining new transportation routes. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull].

Many Arctic communities are currently serviced weekly by combi and turboprop aircraft, which are expected to be obsolete in the next decades.  These communities also rely on seasonal service by Sealift operations from Churchill and Montreal.  Many families eagerly await their seasonal shipping container of goods – whether food, clothing or cars.  The proposal by Lubell and Phull focuses on the community of Igloolik, situated at the opening of the Fury and Hecla Strait.  Igloolik is poised to be an ideal regional port that is opportunistically sited between the NW Passage (and its associated future international shipping ports) as well as local ports along the western edge of the Hudson Bay.  Igloolik currently has a populace of 1600, and home to centres of research and cultural programmes such as film and circus production companies.  Over the next five years, Igloolik has a projected population growth of 6800 – requiring vast amounts of resources for the increasing population.  The project is more specifically sited on the Northern shores of Igloolik, to reduce the coastal erosion in this vulnerable area.

[Ideal Siting of Igloolik to be a regional port that interfaces with an International and Local Ports. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull.]

[The difficulty and problems of imported food in the Arctic. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull].

[Typical Logistical Process for Food in the Arctic. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

[Delivery Process of Food. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

[The delivery process of food - Detail. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

Paved airstrips are an immediate necessity to service these remote settlements, while port facilities will address the future changes in the Arctic – longer shipping seasons coupled with rapid population growth and their associated servicing.  In fact, as the melting ice sheds infrastructural isolation of these communities, air servicing will no longer be practical.  Phull and Lubell begin by designing an airstrip with a planned second life.  They ask:

How can the airstrip, a mark of every arctic community, become a highly integrated meeting place for different avenues of infrastructure? How can it provide the necessary framework to grow as a port and eventually be absorbed into a spreading community?

[Phasing Diagrams. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

Phase 1 – 2010 to 2015

Building of pneumatic silos, piles and airstrip deck of 1100 meters in length accommodates current ATR combi aircraft. Sealift vessels can dock and unload cargo onto the deck using their own cranes and cargo can be driven back to the community.

Phase 2- 2015 to 2020

Second deck is built in two stages: first the community warehouse and marina then the barge docks, large cargo dock, and under water research center / film and circus school. Barge docks can be used as ice fishing platforms in the winter. The airstrip deck still accommodates atr combi as sealift operations are still infrequent but ATR’s are aging (they were built in the 1960s)

Phase 3 – 2020 to 2040

ATR combi aircraft are reaching obsolescence, therefore only 600 meters of airstrip is required to accommodate small passenger aircraft. At the same time as phasing out food mail deliveries by air, food production connected to the barge docks and heat pump is phased in. The hydroponic greenhouse consists of a permanent portion and expands in the summer in both directions to include a community greenhouse. These expansions are appropriated for hockey, an indoor market, and extra port warehousing during the winter.

Phase 4- 2040 to 2100

Once aircraft are completely phased out other silos are built up to house formal community programs such as health care, library, and museum/archives, while smaller ones serve as general warm spaces in an open field. Paint markings on the airstrip tarmac encourage informal activities such as outdoor markets, a drive-in theatre, small recreational areas attached to the warm nodes, etc. The airstrip becomes an open public space with a few grounding amenities as the community grows towards it.

[Exploded Axonometric showing programmatic, energy and infrastructural assembly. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull].

This cohesive infrastructural typology could be emulated in similar communities and takes the form of a permanent intervention bridging between land and water as well as local and regional communities and products.  The port integrates all scales of marine traffic (cargo, container, cruise, barge, ferry, fishing) with various programmes focused on promoting self sufficiency within the community, including food production.

[Plans/ Sections of the various layers of the project. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

[Plan and Section Detail. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

[Transverse Section showing layering of infrastructure, energy and food production with Community Programmes. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

[Rendering of New Infrastructure Typology. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

The current relationship between community and the goods they rely on is faceless, and with the decline of subsistence hunting due to changing migration patterns, the connection to food is disappearing.  The project emphasizes this connection through on site food production which promotes trade between communities, not to mention decreasing reliance on the south for fresh goods and associated dependence on air infrastructure (which is both expensive and largely consuming of jet fuel).  The (air)port effectively acts as an infrastructural hub for bringing together local community around production, as well as connecting this community to larger regional networks through shipping.  The Greenhouse coupled within the port takes on different functions in the non-growing season, and is complimented with a market and cultural programs.  This not only connects the local community to their food but reintroduces the inherent skills of sharing and traditional cultural rituals.  The exchanges in this new infrastructure are manifold – economic, cultural and logistical.

[View of Interior. Image courtesy of Lubell and Phull]

All images courtesy of Amrit Phull and Claire Lubell

By announcing $13 billion stimulus package aimed at the development of the groundwork for a high-speed rail (HSR) network, President Obama has catapulted intercity transportation to the front of infrastructural spending.

After peaking during the Second World War, passenger rail travel languished as America was connected with an impressive highway and aviation network.  A thinly scattered population paired with government subsidies for road and air travel suppressed rail’s role even further.

[Image from the US Federal Railroad Administration.]

It’s clear that something has to be done with respect to passenger mobility between urban centres.  Once seen as the world’s most advanced highway and aviation systems, the primary modes of intercity transportation in the U.S. are facing increasing levels of congestion and, not unrelated, rising environmental costs.  Mr. Obama recently stated that highway congestion costs the country $80 billion each year in lost productivity and wasted fuel.  Along similar lines, the country’s current transportation system consumes 70% of the nation’s oil demands.  According to Mr. Obama:

“What we need, then, is smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century…a system that reduces travel times and increases mobility, a system that reduces congestion and boosts productivity, a system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs.”

While there are some overlaps with the challenges faced by the transport revolutions of the 1960s, Obama’s transportation vision needs to address a set of new issues:   promoting energy independence and efficiency, building foundations for global economic competitiveness, and supporting interconnected, livable communities.

With all this in mind, HSR seems to be an obvious choice.  Recognizing that the US transportation system is the lifeblood of the economy, a HSR network can help support national and regional trade in a cost-effective and resource efficient manner.   In addition to supporting existing commerce, new investment in HSR will create high-skilled construction and operation jobs.  Along similar lines, manufacturing jobs will also emerge as essential components such as rails, control devices, and the train cars themselves will be required.  Secondly, HSR hits the mark with respect to energy efficiency and environmental quality.  It’s estimated that the implementation of the pending plans will result in an annual reduction of 6 billion pounds of C02.

Obama’s strategy focuses on ten rail corridors that move through regional population centres across the country.  The plan calls for a combination of investments in existing rights-of-way in order to permit running higher speed trains and the creation of entirely new routes.

[Map of Obama admin HSR network. Image from the Whithouse.gov blog.]

The major criticism of the rail-based solution to transportation issues is cost – start-up, operational, and end-user.  In terms of start-up costs we’ve seen that a recent HSR construction in Spain averaged $22 million per mile. Other start-up costs include acquiring land and rights of way privileges from land owners.   Operational costs are significant in that the government would need to pay the private freight companies that own the tracks in order to run the new passenger lines.  Further, the high speed trains would be sharing the rails with the freight trains limited to significantly slower speeds – undoubtedly lowering their efficiency.   These governmental, tax-supported, expenses don’t offer a free ride for the end-users either.  A ticket on the only high speed rail route in the US, the Acela Express, connecting Boston to Washington D.C. via New York City, costs close to $200.

A secondary criticism deals with the actual speed of the trains.  It turns out the US high speed trains will not be as high-speed as their Asian and European counterparts. US trains will peak at 240km/h while HSR trains in Japan, Germany, and China are running at 300km/h or more.

While the financial weight of this proposal should not be overlooked, it’s important to consider the implications that these new systems would have on the ground.  How will these new corridors relate to existing fabric – both urban and rural (and everything in between)? Will a new pattern of development emerge? What is the relationship of these new corridors to already existing conduits such as highways? What type of spin-off development can be expected?  What will the relationship of these new developments be to smart-growth principles?

As energy costs rise and resources continue to deplete, seemingly defunct technologies tend to resurface. Airships are one such innovation, garnering more attention in recent years after decades of dormancy. Airships are ‘lighter than air’ structures that remain aloft with a lifting gas, such as helium. Propelled in a similar fashion to boats – using rudders and propellers, airships are presently used for advertising, tourism and aerial observation. New innovative research, however, is improving the speed and maneuverability of airships, making them a competitive means of transport in a fuel starved economy.

[Strato Cruiser Concept design by Tino Schaedler and Michael J Brown]

Jetfuel currently accounts for twelve percent of the CO2 emissions in the United States. With increases in air travel, once ‘impractical’ alternatives such as biofuels and airships are becoming viable solutions to lower fossil fuel consumption. The Spirit of Dubai, an airship primarily used for advertising, boasts that it uses less fuel in a week than a Boeing 767 consumes by traveling from gate to runway. The low fuel consumption has incited explorations into the cargo transporting ability of airships, particularly when speed is not vital. Airships are also useful for ‘hovering’ – sparking design interests from surveillance and observation to an ‘internet airship’ that can provide wireless access to mobile computer users.

[Lockheed Martin\'s solar powered HAA]

Recently, Lockheed Martin was contracted by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Air Force to construct a prototype airship that would be solar powered. Termed the HAATM (High Altitude Airship), the airship is an unmanned structure that is located high above the jetstream (where the airs are calm) to provide surveillance and weather monitoring. The large surface areas of airships (which greatly increases their drag) provide an ideal site for solar farming – harnessing energy while transporting goods and people.

[Aeros\' Aeroscraft ML866]

[Aeros\' Aeroscraft ML866 - size comparison]

The Russian company, Ros AeroSystems is developing a high altitude airship that can carry 1200 kg – effectively transforming the routes that cargo is distributed. With an average daily power consumption of 100-230 kW, the ‘Berkut’ is equipped with solar cells to reduce energy consumption and increase endurance.

The American company Aeros has developed an ‘aeroscraft’ that can cruise at speeds of 200km/hr. An aeroscraft is a partially buoyant airship that also has gas cells that allows it to control lift while in the air or on the ground. Further, the 64m aeroscraft is being examined and tested to carry loads up to 60 tons. While unable to seat large number of passengers (currently seating only 20), the aeroscraft ML866 comes equipped with mobile program – conference rooms, libraries, hotel rooms, etc., effectively absorbing the grey goo of airport urbanism within the transport vessel itself.

[Manned Cloud, a flying hotel proposed by French designer Jean-Marie Massaud]

While airship travel is appealing, there are still some challenges to overcome before air cruises become universal. First, is the reliance on helium. While helium is the second most abundant element in the observable Universe, it is quite rare on Earth. Although hydrogen gas is more buoyant than helium, it does not have the non-flammable characteristics of helium. Secondly, the load capacity of airships needs to increase to make these viable for mass transport. Currently, they are ‘luxurious’ only because they have more space than load capacity. By increasing their passenger and cargo capacity, they can attract a larger-than-luxury consumer base. The last obstacle to overcome would be traveler’s patience. Perhaps being in an island on top of the world will be worth the week long trip to Europe.

With the cost of a barrel of oil dipping below $40 a few weeks ago (recall this summer’s price of $140), imagining a post-oil future may not be on everyone's mind .  This is not the case for venture-backed  Better Place and its partners.  Since 2007, Better Place, led by founder and CEO Shai Agassi, has been working to design and deliver a strategy to transform transportation infrastructure from oil-based to renewable energy sources thereby reducing harmful emissions.

The goal for the project is not about familiar half-measures such as hybrid or flex-fuel cars.  Instead, the plan calls for the complete decommissioning of the combustion engine in favor of a fully electric solution.

Embracing the electric car on its own doesn’t make for an original insight.  In fact electric cars have occupied our technological horizon since the beginning of the twentieth century.  Then, as now, the limiting factor in leveraging the opportunities of the electric car has remained the same – battery life.

Agassi’s plan is different in that he dismissed the shortcomings of battery life as a reality and instead reformulated the entire automotive model. His plan separates the battery from the car and views automotive transportation as a service instead of a good.

The Better Place zero-emission vehicle system needs three things for optimal performance:  charging spots, battery switching stations, and software to automate the entire experience.

[change spots and swapping stations: www.betterplace.com]

Charging spots, located everywhere you can park your car, will ensure that cars are always equipped with enough juice for 100 miles of travel.  For longer trips, roadside battery switching stations allow you to swap your depleted battery for a fully charged one.  The swap is fully automated – drivers pull in and out without leaving their cars in less time than it takes to fill your tank today.

What makes this all work is the innovative hybridization of the automotive and mobile phone industries.   You currently have a phone that you may have bought outright or chosen to take advantage of a discounted price by making a commitment via a contract.  Once you have the phone, you choose how you want to use it: unlimited minutes, maximum minutes, or pay-as-you-go.  Substitute phone with car and minutes with mileage and you have the Better Place model.

[the first electric parking lot in Israel at the Cinema City parking lot in Pi-Glilot]

The Better Place electric car network is becoming a reality.  Renault and Nissan have partnered to develop cars to meet the requirements of the plan.  Israel has also committed and promises a nation-wide infrastructure to be in place by 2011.  Israel is thought to be an ideal test ground because it is geographically small with all of its major urban centers less than 150km apart.  As a result 90% of car owners drive less than 70km each day.  Denmark is the next adopter. While similar geographic properties make Denmark another ideal early adopter, the extreme cold climate offers additional challenges.  Other markets planning to go online include Australia, California, and Hawaii.

Better Place has effectively decoupled the issues of energy source and transportation. This open-source model allows for innovations in renewable energies to continue and the electric car network to grow in parallel.  In fact, introducing millions of batteries capable of storing the fluctuating output of energy derived from renewable sources (think solar and wind) only reinforces and strengthens the opportunities of a sustainable future.

Chasing down one of the designers of the Peak 2 Peak gondola linkage for Whistler, we stumbled upon Ecosign. They have certainly carved a niche in ski resort planning, or what they call "mountain design." Obviously a misnomer, mountain design sounds inverse to what actually takes place in their design process. Through a rigorous analysis of sun angles, prevailing winds, and topography they arrive at some kind of idealized clearings for the pleasure of downhill maneuvering, the mountain proper remains untouched.

[Ecosign: mountain design for Luosta, Finland.]

These guys are the double-diamond of the industry. They have designed "350 resort development projects in over 32 countries spanning 6 continents as well as the design of 4 Winter Olympic Games and several World Alpine Championships venues." They have been mogul-making since 1975.

[Ecosign: runs for Sierra Nevada, Spain.]

The possibilities for bifurcating runs and slopes is a little underexplored in their 30+ year history. What is needed in an exercise like this? And what should it address? The networks of routes mark the speed of mountains, and are then ranked according to difficulty. In addition, routes expand and contract according to popularity or some pachinko logic of converging skiers. There is room for rethinking the simplified independence of a skiers energy and a chairlift, or the organicist criss-crossing routes relationship to difficulty ratings. Like a net cast over a peak, the infrastructures supporting this sport have a Benton MacKaye logic of geotechnics using ridge lines, transects, and cross grain topos.

[Ecosign: Sun Valley, Idaho.]

It is becoming commonplace to hear the superlatives coming out of the Middle East and China in terms of infrastructure, but not this time. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the two peaks at opposing ends to Fitzsimmions Valley, Whistler and Blackcomb will be linked. In the ultimate aerial shortcut, a sky cab gondola has linked these two tips using only four support structures, converting a minimum one hour down-the-hill-and-up-the-lifts commute into an 11 minute ride. it is called Peak 2 Peak and it opens on December 12.

[Section through Peak 2 Peak gondola showing parabolic span.]

[Restraining the pull of 56mm diameter cables across the Valley.]

At just over 3 kilometers, it is the longest unsupported span. When the sky cabin reaches the low-point of its trip it is 436 meters above the creek and actually at the highest occupiable point above ground (at least until the Burj Dubai finally tops out somewhere around 700m).

[Wireframe of topography as it relates to all lifts. Peak 2 peak is in red.]

[The gears churning the 28 skycabs round and round in perpetual motion.]

Now, if you are thinking what I am thinking: What if this thing snaps? Well the cable is pretty strong so it is less likely to happen out of the blue than if it is triggered by something, such as an airplane. No worries, that is covered via a state-of-the-art OCAS, or Obstacle Avoidance Collision System developed in Norway. A radar is used to constantly scan the area for potential collision intruders. If, for example, an aircraft is detected, the radar alerts the system and immediately tracks the aircraft, calculates its speed, heading and altitude. If a collision hazard exists, the pilot is warned by flashing high intensity strobe lights and an audible warning transmitted over all aircraft radio frequencies.

[The skycabs were developed in, you guessed it, Switzerland, where the Alps have been an ideal catalyst for developing advanced aerial pods like the P2P.]

Shipping just got a whole lot smarter. With the advent of software able to forecast the optimum shipping route and method for products still relying upon our globalized capital, suppliers and manufacturers are better able to soften the constricting power of rising fuel costs. The software is able to suggest when air, road, or sea transport is the most efficient, economic, or ecological. With this comes great anticipation for the revival of some of the worlds great inland waterway systems. Revival also fueled in part with the shores of inland waterways claimed as prime gongoozoling territory. Nowhere is the potential for a revived transport network more enticing than the British inland waterway system.

[The Pontcysyllte aqueduct completed in 1805 carries the Llangollen canal over the valley of River Dee in Wales. With its conversion to a leisure waterway, it is now a major tourist attraction.]

Britain's inland waterway system reached peak expansion in the late 1800s as it became the infrastructural catalyst for the industrial revolution. After falling short in matching the speed of rail and later roadway transport, the canals fell into decay. A 1967 plan positioned the systems conversion into a leisurely liquid network. Today, there are approximately 5,090 kms (3,160 miles) of fully navigable inland waterways in England and Wales. Now managed by British Waterways, the canals and the waterscape website invites holiday-goers to plan their canal adventures. With contemporary iconic engineering works such as the Falkirk Wheel modernizing regeneration of the waterway.

[The Falkirk Wheel completed in 2000 connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. A feat originally done through an 11 lock system.]

[British Waterways brochure pitching the idea that it is \'your local canal.\']

[Sites of restoration as part of the Waterways 2025 vision.]

[Waterscape Dynamic Mapping of a partial section of Birmingham\'s inland route complete with canal technicalities, facilities, and morrings.]

An icebreaker does exactly what it sounds like, a boat that breaks through sea ice using a strengthened hull and a wide ice clearing girth. Recognizing increased seasonal access as both opportunity and hazard, countries like the US have recently increased their interest in developing a new fleet of icebreakers. It takes a minimum of about 8 years to develop and construct an icebreaker. Russia maintains a fleet of about 14 icebreakers compared to only 3 for the Unites States. Meanwhile, Canada operates 21 of the world's estimated 110 icebreakers.

[The Healy, shown in May 2007 in the Bering Sea, is an ice-breaking ship used mainly for science. Photo: United States Coast Guard.]

The largest is a nuclear-powered Russian ship called 50 Years of Victory – which took about 20 years to construct. Its crew and staff of 140 serves about 128 guests. The ship has a dining room, a professional bartender, indoor pool, gym and sauna, a library, store, and other amenities. (Would set you back $30k for a trip in it from Murmansk to North Pole.)

[Plans from 50 Years of Victory.]

[50 Years of Victory crushing ice in the Arctic Ocean.]

The European Union is funding an icebreaker / drilling platform combination called the Aurora Borealis which is scheduled for its first run in 2014. It will be the world's first icebreaker that is also a drilling ship and will operate year-round, although it will only drill in the summer months.

[Aurora Borealis, sheer plan (AWI/SCHIFFKO GmbH visualised by quitte|pruin architekten, Hamburg, Germany)]

[Aurora Borealis]

[Testing the icebreaking capacity of the Aurora Borealis. Tests by Aker Arctic Technology in Helsinki, Finland. Photo: AWI/Jan Meier, Bremen]

Related Post: Thawing Continent(s) and Moving Islands

Stumbling upon a map produced by GOOD magazine (and executed by the reliable graphics of Graham Roberts), suggests the power of historic routes to mark the very teritory in which they navigate – whether it be land, water, or air. Some chartered in open territories are literally exploratory while others are massive infrastructures intended to cheat time-space relationships, or geographic hurdles.

One interesting trend here is the fact that 20 out of the 23 routes highlighted predominately move horizontally. Leaving only three routes – De Soto's Expedition, Pan-American Highway, and Pizzaro's travels in Peru – with longitudinal aspirations. The radical climatological differences of a longitudinal route providing a deterrent. Additionally, the Equator forms a natural mean center to all of these travels, while the size of South America and Africa as a barrier to maritime travel becomes overtly evident.

The Pan-American Highway is unique piece of infrastructure extending from Prudhoe, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina. The highway charts the dominant habitable climates and ecologies on the globe. One obstruction prevents it from being an entirely continuous system: The Darien Gap, a 87 km stretch of rainforest.

[The Pan-American Highway is a road network approximately 48,000 km long of (almost) uninterrupted vehicular infrastructure.]

[The Pan-Am Highway in Peru near the Nasca Lines. (photo by Liam Quinn)]

The search for the source of the Yangtze in 1985, led explorer / photographer Wong How Man on a calculated navigation through the Tanggula mountains using satellite data.

[The ancient Yangtze River only recently had it source officially located by Wong How Man.]

[Orginiating in a glacier in Geladandong, the Yangtze drains into the East China Sea in Shanghai.]