[All] Your column last week + Grand River LINE

[Robert Milligan]

Martin,

Your column inspired me to write this:

To both better balance the increased, possibly "monolithic", power  --  
potentially disrupting of Regional government -- of a likely  
amalgamated K/W and to give this general area bigger innovative clout  
("bigger splash") in the World. why not look forward to a new larger  
but very innovative municipal concept/form that displaces Waterloo  
Region and includes: WR, Guelph/Wellington, Stratford/Perth, Woodstock/ 
Oxford and Brantford/Brant -- we already have many academic and/or  
business connections with them. It could be called (using the very  
valuable Waterloo brand) the very unique, Waterloo Network, Ontario,  
"Canada's Innovative Metacity". To maintain the variety/diversity  
necessary to manage a very complex new hybrid city, the city, township  
and county councils would be maintained, with a new Grand River(?)  
County (council composed of all township councillors to best represent  
WR township interests) and powers/responsibilities of  counties held  
jointly with (e,g, planning) or allocated to (e.g. policing) the new  
meta city, Waterloo Network. (And Balsillie's hockey team could called  
the Waterloo Network Innovators.) Mailing addresses might  
(optionally?) take the possible form.

Best wishes,
Robert

PS: You may have some thoughts on this first part of my latest report/ 
article about  my LRT system design proposal --the rest of which is  
mostly finished:


Grand River LINE: World-class pioneering innovation for light rail  
transit success

Innovator's Credo: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.   
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” Goethe, http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/251-300/article281_body.htm

Imagination's Power: "Imagination is more important than knowledge.  
For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand,   
imagination points to all we might yet discover and create." Albert  
Einstein
http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_imagination.html

Design Principle: Ephemeralization -- "Doing more with less" R.  
Buckminster Fuller http://www.natlogic.com/resources/publications/new-bottom-line/new-bottom-line-volume-5-1996/new-bottom-line-volume-56-a-cyclical-materials-economy-what-goes-around-comes-aroundor-does-it/



"Invest in smart infrastructure" was one of 10 goals suggested by  
University of Waterloo President David Johnston to enable Waterloo  
Region become the Knowledge Capital of Canada. And he reminded us that  
we have a long "tradition of working collaboratively to accomplish"  
great community goals.  Similarly, the Regional Municipality -- led by  
Chair Ken Seiling -- invited the community to collaborate in its "barn  
raising" Rapid Transit Initiative project.

Realizing that a much more innovatively designed light rail transit  
system (LRT) could be a keystone part of a World-class "smart  
infrastructure", I accepted the open invitation to collaborate.

A local digital entrepreneur said, why not apply to the LRT system  
design the innovation benchmark set by the University of Waterloo of  
being many times more innovative than any other University in Canada.   
Such a high expectation could help inspire the creation of a  
dramatically improved LRT design? We could then realize an LRT system  
with much more value for much less money -- a possible cost-effective  
World exemplar!

Also, given their great shortage of investment funds -- and with  
similar LRT funding requests
from at least Ottawa and Hamilton -- the Federal and Provincial  
Governments may very
much appreciate an exemplary more cost-effective LRT system design  
proposal from the Regional Government.

But such an enhanced design would be especially favoured if it did  
more than just saving all participants many investment $ -- mostly tax  
$ -- and creating more value in the LRT system. If it also created  
much more indirect value -- and not disvalue -- for academia,  
businesses, community and tourism, it could thereby generate  
extensively more tax returns at all levels!

Framed by the name/concept of Grand River LINE, much knowledge had to  
be acquired so as to help imagine specific ways that the Region's  
current LRT system design could be enhanced. This was done by  
integrating innovative &/or smart technologies such as Intelligent  
Transportation Systems. After many, many imaginative iterations, this  
report/article is an attempt to describe the tentative results of that  
effort.


Collaborative World-class Innovation

Already-knowledgeable citizens may wish to collaborate by imagining  
complementary -- or competing -- LRT system design enhancements. Also,  
many citizens can critically imagine in their own minds how an LRT  
system with the suggested enhancements might be built and operate.

The greatest challenge might be to imagine ways that the LRT/bus  
experience can best serve a car driver who is free of the  
responsibility of controlling their car. For example, are there ways  
that the LRT/bus experience can use -- in a relaxed manner -- new  
media technologies to help re-vitalize both our curiousity about the  
World and our creative imaginations (say via participative edutainment)?

There is little doubt that the most technologically innovative area in  
Canada, the greater  Waterloo Region, has the potential to engage  
effectively in such social/technological innovation as implied by  
Johnston's urging us to "be as good in social innovation as it is in  
technical innovation." We could help create a World-exemplary LRT  
system design.

Etc.


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