Wednesday June 11, 2014 – 11am
Posted Jun 11, 2014 02:53:31 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
11:00- Dr. Vukan Vuchic, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Vuchic is a world renowned transportation expert who will receive an Honorary Degree from the University of Waterloo on June 10. Dr. Vuchic is often credited with re-igniting investment in North American transit systems – particularly light rail transit – with his organization of the first Light Rail Transit conference in Philadelphia. Throughout his career, he has had a vast influence on many cities and their transportation systems through his teaching, writing and consulting. “Vuchic presents a thoughtful, systematic and engaging evaluation of transit investments and their impacts on cities,” said Jeff Casello, Associate Professor of Transportation at the University of Waterloo. A professor at the University of Pennsylvania for 43 years, Dr. Vuchic has published more than 130 articles. Dr. Vuchic’s free community presentation on Medium Capacity Transit Modes is timely as construction on the Region of Waterloo’s light rail transit system, ION, will begin this year.
11:30- Pauline Houston, City of Kitchener’s Deputy CAO for Infrastructure Services
Kitchener Utilities will amend its gas-purchase policy to be based on a three-year horizon, as opposed to the current five years, using a market-responsive policy, the finance and corporate services committee agreed today.
Currently, Kitchener Utilities’ natural gas policy blends the purchase of fixed price and variable market-priced gas using a “rails” (minimum and maximum) approach over a five-year timeframe to provide a stable natural gas supply rate for customers. The recommendation from staff for the three-year timeframe emerged from direction from council to propose options to modify the natural gas purchase policy for a timeframe of one year, three years and five years. The decision reflects a third-party customer survey conducted from February-April 2014, which indicate a customer preference for stable rates. While there is an appetite for both variable and stable types of rate-setting policies, the majority of customers continue to prefer stable rates. Two options were presented to council – stable and market-responsive – within the recommended three-year policy timeframe. Both provide some rate stability for customers by varying the blend of fixed and variable market-priced gas to be purchased. The market-responsive option includes a greater portion of market-priced gas. The three-year policy responds to customers who prefer stable rates, while being able to react to market variability, which satisfies those who prefer more variable rates.
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