Climate Considerations in Calgary’s Transportation System - City of Calgary

This session describes the changing climate in the planning, design, construction and operation of our municipal transportation system. The City of Calgary’s transportation department has been uniquely structured and motivated to deliver on the 2009 Calgary Transportation Plan, having environmental sustainability as one of its primary goals, and how it has strategically invested in technologies and infrastructure to help offset increases in energy use and emissions that are associated with a growing and thriving major city. The City has significantly shifted its capital investment priorities to expand infrastructure for public transit and active modes of travel in the past decade. This shift enables Calgarians and visitors to rely less on their cars and trucks to move around the city, recognizing that 80 per cent of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions come from personal vehicles. At the same time, we’ve been on the forefront of greening our operations so that our fleets and facilities are continually improving in their performance with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and tailpipe emissions affecting local air quality, and with consideration given to climate resilience. This will be an informative and wide-ranging presentation that outlines: land use and mobility aspects of energy use; strategic approaches to energy management including environmental management systems and sustainability design tools; fuel-switching from diesel to compressed natural gas and electric vehicles; transportation network changes made to be more resilient to a changing climate; and unconventional approaches to roadside vegetation management being explored for increased carbon sequestration and resilience to drought.

Presenter: Ethan Askey, Manager Sustainability Strategy for Transportation Planning at The City of Calgary.

Ethan Askey provides leadership to the City of Calgary’s Transportation department on environmental regulatory compliance, risk reduction, and strategic collaboration to advance environmental sustainability. He has driven and supported the implementation of countless initiatives in pollution prevention, biodiversity conservation, water resources management, energy management and climate responsive action. Currently Vice Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Council of the Transportation Association of Canada, he represents The City in the development and exchange of information on technical “best practices” at the national level. Prior to joining The City, Ethan consulted to local and provincial governments, First Nations, and private sector clients in power generation, electricity transmission, mining, oil and gas, land development and transportation infrastructure.

About the Calgary Climate Symposium

The Calgary Climate Symposium is an opportunity to open up the conversation about climate change – how and why to talk about it, how it affects Calgarians and what we can do about it together.

Connect with community leaders, entrepreneurs, prominent industry experts and City staff for a series of unique (and free!) learning opportunities at the Calgary Climate Symposium, March 25 to 26, 2021, with partner satellite events from March 20 through 27.The Calgary Climate Symposium will explore:• how Calgary can prepare for the impacts of a changing climate, • how Calgary can leverage economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to unlock new business opportunities and strengthen climate change resilience,• innovative solutions to climate change,• and much more!View the complete symposium schedule and register for other sessions at Calgary.ca/ClimateSymposium.

Join the Calgary Climate Symposium conversation: #yycClimateSymposium