Doctoral Dissertation Research: An Evaluation of the Social Effects of Transportation Infrastructure

本博士论文研究项目将研究两种公共交通系统对处理城市碎片化相关问题的公民和政治影响。该研究项目将为城市设计师和规划者如何理解他们开发和部署的建筑环境技术以及基础设施使用的日常政治如何基于不同的动机提供新的见解。该项目将评估交通项目作为解决城市碎片化问题的技术解决方案的可行性，为包括美国在内的发展中国家和发达国家的城市所面临的问题提供新的视角。由于该项目将直接参与规划人员、设计师和工程师的工作，它应有助于确定和分享“最佳实践”，以改进他们在设计新系统时采用的评估技术。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。在Bruce P. Braun教授的指导下，博士生Laura Cesafsky将通过对21世纪初在哥伦比亚波哥大建成的两个公共交通系统的详细检查来开展这个项目：一个是“黄金标准”的快速公交系统，另一个是广阔的独立自行车道网络。学生将收集有关系统使用的数据，以及来自访谈、焦点小组、参与者观察和档案研究的信息，以评估这些系统的资金、维修和管理历史，以及它们引起的公众争议

This doctoral dissertation research project will examine the civic and political effects of two public transportation systems on efforts to deal with issues related to urban fragmentation. The research project will provide new insights regarding how urban designers and planners understand the built-environment technologies they develop and deploy and how the everyday politics of infrastructural use are based on different sets of motivations. The project will assess the viability of transportation projects as technological solutions to problems of urban fragmentation, providing new perspectives on an issues evident in cities in both developing and developed nations, including the U.S. Because the project will directly engage planners, designers, and engineers, it should assist in identifying and sharing "best practices" to improve the evaluation techniques they employ when designing new systems. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.Under the guidance of Prof Bruce P. Braun, doctoral student Laura Cesafsky will conduct this project through a detailed examination of the two public transportation systems built in Bogota, Colombia, in the early 2000s: a "gold standard" bus rapid transit system and an expansive network of separated bicycleways. The student will gather data regarding system use as well as information from, interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and archival research to evaluate the history of these systems' funding, repair, and management as well as the public controversies they have engendered