School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- Creators: Pijawka, David
- Creators: Christensen, Jill E.
Description
This report describes the process by which I created a concise but comprehensive online source of information about best practices in sustainability for urban planners. The goal of the project was to provide accessible information that would help planners in ways that help them comprehend and implement sustainable solutions to common planning problems that are found throughout the United States. To create the website, I researched methods for communicating clearly to planners, took a graduate course in communicating about sustainability, and drew on information that I had compiled on sustainable solutions for transportation, economy, water, green space, and governance.
ContributorsNassar, Cara (Author) / Pijawka, David (Contributor) / Kyle, Kathryn (Contributor)
Created2017-12-01
Description
Of the many challenges cities face, congestion and air quality are two interrelated issues that despite technological improvements in vehicle emissions standards and engine efficiency, continue to worsen. Of the strategies attempting to reduce automobile dependency, a popular approach adopted by cities is the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD). The strategy aims to better integrate land use and transportation planning, and is often characterized by a mix of land uses, high density, and proximity to quality public transit. While practitioners and academics argue the economic and environmental benefits of TOD, there are several examples along the Valley Metro light rail corridor where the strategy appears to be failing to attract people, businesses, and ultimately transit riders. The purpose of this study is to explore how urban infrastructure characteristics, specifically transportation connectivity, urban design, and land use interact to support light rail ridership. The study utilizes a rendition of sustainability’s triple-bottom-line framework, wherein economic, environmental, and social elements are represented as criteria in the transportation, land use, and urban design analysis of six Valley Metro light rail stations. Each element has supporting criteria that are ranked relative to the other stations under analysis, culminating in overall TOD scores for each station. The number of TOD projects and ridership trends are also compared, and in combination with the evaluation of urban infrastructure elements, the results suggest the importance of transportation connectivity, pedestrian-scale infrastructure, a sense of place, and employment centers for TOD stations to yield high ridership. Findings are analyzed through a sustainability lens resulting in the proposal of strategic solutions for improving TOD planning methods.
ContributorsSantiago, Rebecca (Author) / Pijawka, David (Contributor) / Prosser, Paul (Contributor)
Created2017-04-17
Description
The Carbon Reduction Transportation Initiative (CRTI) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) was created to improve both recruitment and retention
efforts while significantly lowering NAU’s carbon footprint. Through a collective subsidization between NAU and the City of Flagstaff, the CRTI would
be able to provide all NAU students and staff free access to public transportation. This initiative would also help to reduce the amount of traffic
congestion in Flagstaff’s downtown business district and free up valuable parking spaces both on and off campus. In addition, Flagstaff’s public bus
system, the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (NAIPTA) would become eligible to apply for larger grants with the
anticipated increase in ridership. This would then allow NAIPTA to increase both the number and the frequency of bus stops which would benefit the
entire Flagstaff community.
efforts while significantly lowering NAU’s carbon footprint. Through a collective subsidization between NAU and the City of Flagstaff, the CRTI would
be able to provide all NAU students and staff free access to public transportation. This initiative would also help to reduce the amount of traffic
congestion in Flagstaff’s downtown business district and free up valuable parking spaces both on and off campus. In addition, Flagstaff’s public bus
system, the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (NAIPTA) would become eligible to apply for larger grants with the
anticipated increase in ridership. This would then allow NAIPTA to increase both the number and the frequency of bus stops which would benefit the
entire Flagstaff community.
ContributorsChristensen, Jill E. (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2020-05-13