Author Description

These indicators, like all those in the Genuine Progress Index, are based on the clear objectives of preventing harm and providing benefit both to current and future generations of humanity and to the natural world. [...] Although this report focuses on Nova Scotia, it provides a potential template for the country as a whole and for other jurisdictions that are interested in adopting indicators of sustainable transportation and in assessing trends and transportation costs. [...] In doing this, the analysis provides more comprehensive guidance for transportation planners than traditional methods of evaluating transportation options, and can help identify policies and programs that better meet the needs of users and contribute to genuinely sustainable development. [...] Figure 2 indicates two ways of illustrating the natural hierarchy between the environmental, social, and economic spheres of life, and the dependence of all human activity on resource and energy flows from the encompassing natural world. [...] This is by no means the first exercise of this type, but builds on prior research on sustainable transportation indicators2,3 and on the quantification of transportation impacts.4,5,6,7 Table 1 lists the types of impacts considered in sustainable transportation analysis.