My goal is to make a fictional film about transportation planners. Some people I know support my efforts, while others think I’m crazy and nobody would ever find a story about transportation planners interesting. I will try anyway. I hope you will support me.
In preparation for this project I have begun to write a series of short stories and articles to explore the possibilities. I would appreciate any feedback you can give me on what I have done so far.
“The Barrier” – A Transportation Planning Movie
I recently posted The Barrier a feature length movie about a transportation planner.
You can learn about the movie more at: https://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/
I used my two short stories below as the basis for the movie.
The project is an experiment to see if I can make a feature length movie with Xtranormal Desktop. Unfortunately, Xtranormal has gone out of business and the software is not currently available.
Note 2022 August 25: Xtranormal is now available under the name NAWMAL https://www.nawmal.com/
You can follow the development of this movie on my blog at https://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/category/film-projects/the-barrier/.
Short Stories
Tom Swiftly and his Incredible Traffic Model
Tom, Dick and Harry try to please the mayor and councilors.
The Gladstone Barrier
After he avoids an automobile collision one morning, Arthur thinks he’s found a new mission in life. However, what seemed to be clear cut has unexpected challenges. He learns that there are other dangers besides those on the roads.
The Glencoe Project: A Transportation Planning Adventure Story
Arthur looked forward to a quiet vacation with his wife, then a rush job landed on his desk. He worried that he might have to cancel his vacation, but more serious threats loomed in his future.
Although I wrote The Glencoe Project first, it happens after The Gladstone Barrier
Articles
The Evolution of My Transportation Planning Story
I’ve worked on this idea for a long time and have tried several different approaches.
Transportation: Planners Versus Modellers
A Review of “Future Babble: Why Expert Predictions Fail – and Why We Believe Them Anyway”
Blog Posts
Blog posts related to this project are listed here
I wrote a series of blog posts about conflicts in transportation planning that could be used in stories.
Issues in Transportation Planning #1: What I Want to Say
Issues in Transportation Planning #2: The Limitations of Models
Issues in Transportation Planning #3: Political Interference
Issues in Transportation Planning #4: It’s All Bad News
Issues in Transportation Planning #5: The Public and the Media
Issues in Transportation Planning #6: The Stick and The Map
I wrote several other blog posts that also addressed transportation planning issues.
Transportation Planning Movies and Stories
Transportation Infrastructure as Status Symbol
Transportation Planning Humour
Transportation Planning Experience
I worked as a transportation engineers for over 30 years. Here is my resume and two articles I published.
Resume for James Beattie Morison Last updated March 2011
Equilibrium Concepts in Modal Split Modelling Printed in the ASCE Transportation Engineering Journal September 1982.
Forecasting Demand for Demand Forecasting District 7 (CANADA) ITE conference, Victoria B.C. 1991
