Dissertation Research: Design for a Pluralistic City: Multimodal Transportation in Oakland, California

本论文的研究课题旨在研究美国城市多式联运的设计。它将审查旨在使现有运输基础设施多样化的相互依赖的技术、组织和文化变革。它包括正式的设计过程和人们的日常经验，以了解如何在行人，自行车，汽车，公共汽车和铁路模式的设计中协商“街道”和“安全”。多模态设计的组织概念侧重于研究在针对多种潜在冲突需求的设计中对多样性的协调。本项目将考察这五种模式的不同视角如何应对现有基础设施的技术、组织和文化惯性，从而设计出满足多元人口需求的共享基础设施。在美国，多式联运是一个及时的话题，因为《多式联运地面运输效率法案》（ISTEA, 1991）和《21世纪运输公平法案》（TEA-21, 1998）提供了变革的可能性。在艾森豪威尔州际公路系统建成之后，这项立法标志着美国运输政策的转变，不再把道路建设作为解决运输问题的主要办法。为了回应对先前高速公路政策的政治关注，这项立法还增加了大都市和州一级决策的作用。本研究将探讨多式联运设计如何通过在人们的日常生活中提供可行的交通替代方案来解决汽车依赖及其伴随的空气污染、城市扩张和石油依赖问题。它对于评估非政府组织在交通变革中的作用、更广泛参与设计的机会以及设计过程、项目和政策中的最佳实践，促进政治稳定和环境可持续性，具有重要的社会意义。该项目以加利福尼亚州奥克兰市为研究地点，包括行人、自行车、汽车、公共汽车和铁路模式。每一种模式都将通过交通规划者、民选官员、倡导者和塑造和被这些模式塑造的居民进行审查。为期一年的实地研究将使用以下数据收集方法：1)对交通规划者、民选官员和多式联运设计倡导者进行35次重点访谈；2) 15个关于居民日常城市旅行体验的信息性摄影和启发性访谈；3)参与/观察公共听证会、倡导会议和交通项目的教育推广。这三个数据集将被分析，以确定协商的街道设计和安全的五种交通方式的社会世界。实地研究将在地区、州和联邦政策以及这些交通方式的文化意义的背景下进行。

This dissertation research project proposes to study the design of urban multimodal transportation in the United States. It will examine interdependent technical, organizational, and cultural changes directed at diversifying existing transportation infrastructures. It includes formal design processes and people's everyday experiences to understand how "the street" and "safety" are negotiated in designing for pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, bus, and rail modes. The organizing concept of multimodal design focuses the research on the negotiation of diversity in designing for multiple and potentially conflicting needs. This project will examine how diverse perspectives on these five modes grapple with the technical, organizational, and cultural inertia of existing infrastructure to design a shared infrastructure that meets the needs of pluralistic populations. In the United States, multimodal transportation is a timely topic because of the possibilities for change afforded by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA, 1991) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21, 1998). Following on the completion of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, this legislation marks a shift in United States trans-portation policy away from road construction as the primary solution to transportation problems. In response to political concerns over previous highway policy, this legislation also increases the role of metropolitan- and state-level decision making. This research will examine how multimodal design addresses automobile dependence and its attendant problems of air pollution, urban sprawl, and oil dependency by providing viable transportation alternatives in people's everyday lives. It is socially significant for assessing the role of nongovernmental organizations in transportation change, opportunities for broader participation in design, and best practices in design processes, programs, and policies that foster political stability and environmental sustainability. The project uses the city of Oakland, California as a research site including pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, bus, and rail modes. Each mode will be examined through the transportation planners, elected officials, advocates, and residents who shape and are shaped by these modes. One year of field research will use the following data collection methods: 1) thirty-five focused interviews with transportation planners, elected officials, and advocates on the design of multimodal transportation; 2) fifteen informant photography and photo-elicitation interviews with residents on their everyday experiences of urban travel; and 3) participant/observation in public hearings, advocacy meetings, and educational outreach on transportation projects. These three data sets will be analyzed to identify social worlds that negotiate the design of the street and safety for the five transportation modes. The field research will be situated in the context of regional, state, and federal policy and the cultural significance of these transportation modes.