2025-07-10

July 10 (the second Thursday of the month) is the 133rd meeting for Systems Thinking Ontario. This will be an in-person session. The registration will be at https://systems-thinking-transit.eventbrite.ca OR https://guild.host/events/what-can-system-thinkers-mabq30 

What Can System Thinkers Learn from Public Transit Planning

Ontario is going through the largest public transit development in its history. From a systems thinking perspective we can appreciate that transit is about more than just about getting from A to B. Transit weaves through many aspects of life: work, education, housing, recreation, social wellbeing, etc. 

In this session, we’ll dive in and deeply explore the various dimensions that connect transit planning to systems thinking. We’ll have Andrew Miller and Sergio De Lara as discussants on the topic of transit planning. Zaid Khan will moderate.

Discussants

• Andrew Miller, Ph.D is a consultant, advisor, and speaker on innovative mobility and smart cities. He has 20 years of experience spanning academia; Canadian government at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels; and private-sector advisory.
  
  Andrew sits on the boards of a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that aim to improve mobility networks in the greater Toronto area. He was also a Visiting Fellow at the Roots of Progress Institute where he authored essays on the effects of changing mobility on society. Andrew continues to write about the topic in his newsletter Changing Lanes.
  
  

• Sergio De Lara helps helps devise solutions to complex problems and build bridges between stakeholders by interweaving systems thinking and design thinking. He has a Master's of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation with a thesis exploring the impacts driverless vehicles could have on urban spaces. He has over 20+ years of experience in numerous industries across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. In recent years, Sergio has been providing innovation consulting services to a broad range of industries across the private and public sectors, predominantly on projects focused on urban mobility.
  
  

• Zaid Khan is a strategist, transit enthusiast, and has experience working on public transit in the region.

Timing, Venue, and Registration

• Thursday, July 10, 6:30 pm - 8:15 pm (option to continue conversation at a restaurant nearby)

• OCADU Graduate Studies, 205 Richmond Street West, Room 510

• Please register at https://systems-thinking-transit.eventbrite.ca OR https://guild.host/events/what-can-system-thinkers-mabq30 

Suggested pre-readings / audio / video

• Miller, A (2025). Progress and Public Transit, Changing Lanes Newsletter. https://www.changinglanesnewsletter.com/p/progress-and-public-transit

• Miller, A (2025). Canada Shouldn’t Build High-Speed Rail. Changing Lanes Newsletter. https://www.changinglanesnewsletter.com/p/canada-shouldnt-build-high-speed

• De Lara, S (2020). The Driverless City. [MRP] https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/2940/

Agenda

Post-meeting artifacts

Bloggers are encouraged to write about their learning and experiences at the meeting. Links will be added to this page.