Examining Urban Street Design in Buffalo and Beyond

Photo of a pedestrian street.

Curious and creative urbanists wanted to examine urban street design for pedestrians and cyclists! 

Project is Not Currently Available

This project has reached full capacity for the current term. Please check back next semester for updates.

Project description

Do you ever feel un-safe as a when walking or biking? This project will directly engage urban street design in Buffalo and beyond, specifically addressing how street design plans and policies are impacting the physical built environment and the safety and accommodation of pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users. Part of this project will involve partnering with GObike Buffalo a local nonprofit cycling advocacy group . As GObike strengthens its focus on equity issues, it seeks to understand how its involvement in street safety improvement projects impacts various equity, inclusion, and accessibility indicators. We will use our skills as researchers to supplement their capacity. Additionally, we will potentially evaluate specific projects in Buffalo and policies across the US and Canada. 

Project outcome

Students will gain exposure to active research projects in Buffalo and globally relating to street design for vulnerable road users, street safety, transportation equity and accessibility, and transportation policy analysis. It will also expose students to the dynamics of partnerships with local advocacy organizations and potentially community engagement. They should be prepared to develop a brief powerpoint presentation summarizing their work and experience as well as a poster presentation. Students will also be encouraged to use the development funding to present their work or attend an appropriate research or professional conference. The NACTO (National Association of Transportation Officials) Designing Cities Conference, offers exposure to contemporary street design issues, or the Congress for the New Urbanism Conference address broader issues of urban design. 

Project details

Timing, eligibility and other details
Length of commitment About a semester; 3-5 months
Start time Fall (August/September)
Summer (May/June) 
In-person, remote, or hybrid? Hybrid Project 
Level of collaboration Small group project (2-3 students) 
Benefits Stipend
Who is eligible All undergraduate students 

Core partners

  • Primarily students will be collaborating with Assistant Professor Kelly Gregg P.h.D.
  • Depending on the development of the scope of the project, students interests, and partners capacity they may be also collaborating with GObike Buffalo https://gobikebuffalo.org/ and/or other research faculty in planning and/or civil engineering. 

Project mentor

Kelly Gregg

Assistant Professor of Planning; and co-director of the Undergraduate Environmental Design Program

Urban and Regional Planning

Phone: (814) 449-0382

Email: kgregg@buffalo.edu

Start the project

  1. Email the project mentor using the contact information above to express your interest and get approval to work on the project. (Here are helpful tips on how to contact a project mentor.)
  2. After you receive approval from the mentor to start this project, click the button to start the digital badge. (Learn more about ELN's digital badge options.) 
Start the Digital Badge

Preparation activities

Once you begin the digital badge series, you will have access to all the necessary activities and instructions. Your mentor has indicated they would like you to also complete the specific preparation activities below. Please reference this when you get to Step 2 of the Preparation Phase. 

Students should familiarize themselves with street design discussions and specifically designing for pedestrians and cyclists and other vulnerable road users. 

Keywords

Street Design, Walkability, Urban Planning, Urbanism, Biking, Walking, Transportation, planning, environmental design, architecture, geography, public health, engineering, Urban and Regional Planning