<aside> 🏆 The goal is to develop a physical prototype of a linear induction motor capable of operating in a high-speed train travelling at 700-900 km/h by December 9th. The LIM should have increased energy efficiency while maintaining high speeds, lowering the overall cost of LIMs thus high-speed trains.

</aside>

The transportation problem in Canada is congestion, high GHG emissions

Estimated that **$11 billion annually in Canada** is lost due to traffic (people stuck in traffic, people trying to avoid traffic by staying at home, etc.) —from a study in 2013 by the C.D Howe Institute. In 2022, it was found to rise to $165 billion. Further, traffic doesn’t decrease even though highways are continuously being widened. The average time spent in traffic during run-hours for those in major Canadian cities is roughly [**144 hours](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/traffic-time-2022-1.6755102#:~:text=Drivers in some of Canada's,from location technology company TomTom.)** in 2022.

Currently, it’s not uncommon for drivers to travel 1-2 hours for a one-way commute, but this commute & route length has increased between 2011 and 2021.

In Canada, the two worst cities are Toronto and Vancouver, while for all of North America, they were the third and fourth worst and globally were 30 and 31st worst.

Average time spent driving in rush hour traffic based on a one-way 10-kilometre commute Source: [CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/traffic-time-2022-1.6755102#:~:text=Drivers in some of Canada's,from location technology company TomTom.)

“In Hamilton, drivers travelling 10 kilometres one-way in 2022 lost 114 hours in traffic, spewed roughly 1,737 pounds of CO2 into the environment and spent $601 filling up their tanks. That's 13 minutes and 40 seconds consumed by traffic daily” [Source](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/traffic-time-2022-1.6755102#:~:text=Drivers in some of Canada's,from location technology company TomTom.)

People migrating between cities exacerbates local city traffic, many travel across downtown to get to work, like driving from Mississauga to Scarborough, Ontario.

Long commute times are increasing GHG emissions nationwide

In 2022, Canada produced 180 million tonnes of CO2 just from transportation, which is a large peak compared to the low of 2019-2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic

“In 2022, transportation in Canada released 180 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO₂) into the atmosphere. This was an increase of 7.3% in comparison to 2021 levels. In 2020, transportation emissions recorded a significant drop due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which had a major impact on mobility.“ ”Annual transportation emissions in Canada have experienced considerable growth in recent decades, having more than doubled between 1990 and 2022. Road transportation is by far the largest source of Canada's transportation emissions.”

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the transportation sector in Canada from 1970 to 2022. Source: Statistica

"Money alone is not going to solve this problem, or rather, money spent in the same places that we've always spent it is not going to solve it" [Source](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/traffic-time-2022-1.6755102#:~:text=Drivers in some of Canada's,from location technology company TomTom.)

Car-obsessed culture is decelerating in the transition to better transit

In North America, the problems with transportation aren’t only about pollution and traffic, it’s also about our poor views and cultures toward transportation.

• Cars are a sign of luxury
• Public transportation is often not clean and always comes second to cars on the road
• Streets are designed with cars’ preferences in mind not for those who bus, walk or bike.
• ∼40% of Canadians drive to an outside city to work (15.9 million out of 40 million)

The car obsession is only increasing in the first quarter of 2023, there were 355,774 new registered motor vehicles which is a 4.7% increase from 2022. New motor vehicle registrations increased 2.7% compared to the last quarter of 2022. [Source.](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230802/dq230802b-eng.htm#:~:text=In the first quarter of,the fourth quarter of 2022.) For 2021-2020, the total number of road motor vehicles registered in Canada increased to 26.2 million in 2021, up 1.9% over 2020. [Source](https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/topics-start/automotive#:~:text=The total number of road,%2C up 1.9%25 over 2020.).

Vehicles are likewise becoming larger and heavier as family sizes shrink. Houses are also lowering making it possible by private autos. The private automobile sustains a land, energy, and resource-intensive large box retail/suburban economy that is fueling not only the climatic crisis but also broader ecological collapse. Source

High-speed trains

High-speed trains have been shown in countries like China, Germany, and France at varying speed levels from 300km/h to 600 km/h.

A high-speed train is generally considered one that operates above 250 km/h.

Cost is the leading factor for Canada’s push away from high-speed rail

Overall, high-speed trains are extremely expensive, and for places like Canada with several curves and lakes in the landscape, the majority of the expense will be put towards flattening the landscape to allow high-speed trains to travel in straight lines.

Thus, if a high-speed rail is built it will need lots of people and ridership to get to a breakeven point.

Japan’s L0 Series Maglev is the fastest train, 374 mph or 602 km/h. Source

** It is expected that people will be enticed to ride by a new train system that is new, fast, and green; however, we cannot just assume that the majority of Canadians will simply drop their cars and turn over to high-speed rail, public transit, as their new mode of transportation. Also, we don’t know how long the new-ness of a new high-speed rail will last which may make Canadians return to their cars.

There is also an underlying problem with ridership in Canadian public transit:

• people are avoiding paying fees (displayed heavily in the TTC’s negative profits which have accumulated over many years)