Two wheels on the road to sustainability
Students ride bikes through the City of Buffalo, experiencing the transportation infrastructure, firsthand.
By Peter Murphy
Published June 8, 2023
Students in Austin Angulo’s Sustainability in Transportation graduate class experienced inequity in roadways firsthand. Although, they weren’t working with electric vehicles or measuring levels of pollution emitted by cars – they rode bikes.
“When we consider sustainability in transportation, we often think of greenhouse gas emissions or vehicle efficiency, but that is only scratching the surface,” says Angulo, assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. “Connectivity, accessibility, public health, resiliency, inclusivity, adaptivity and equity are all major components that factor into how sustainable our transportation really is.”
Angulo, who is also an affiliated faculty member with the Stephen Still Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics (ISTL), took his students on a field trip to the GObike Buffalo headquarters in downtown Buffalo. The organization promotes active mobility options – like bicycling and walking – develops trails and greenways, and implements complete streets in Western New York. According to GObike Buffalo, it is “an active mobility culture within connected and sustainable communities. Its collective efforts are having a positive impact on wellness, the environment, streets and economy.”
Students learned about the GObike Buffalo organizers’ experience getting projects done and gained a better understanding of bicyclist roadway infrastructure in Western New York. This trip was also an opportunity for those students whose primary mode of transportation is a method other than biking or walking to travel around various sections of the City of Buffalo on bikes, and experience what it is like to travel through these vehicle-centric streets on a bicycle.
Angulo (right), Justin Booth, GObike Buffalo founder and executive director (center) discuss the organization's initiatives with students.
“I realized how important it is to have bikeways separate from other vehicle roads, and the importance of biker safety,” says Aviraj Nandkishor Limaye, a graduate student studying engineering sustainability. “It is unfortunate that bicycle users have to struggle for their right to ride. I hope someday this will change and the system evolves to acknowledge their significant place in our society.”
The group also heard about some of the challenges associated with advocating for bicycle and pedestrian design from community members and organizers. Keeping the priorities of walkers and bikers in mind is essential to developing a more sustainable transportation system, according to Angulo.
“For decades now, our approach to developing transportation systems and planning cities has been outdated, prioritizing the vehicle-centric design that has fostered unsafe, unhealthy and unequitable environments,” Angulo says. “I hope that students can see what communities gain from incorporating more active-mobility friendly infrastructure. It’s not about removing cars from our roads entirely. It’s about designing our roadways to serve all modes of transport in safe, efficient and effective ways to best serve the community’s needs.”
Angulo plans to visit GObike Buffalo with his Sustainability in Transportation graduate class every year.
Angulo earned his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Virginia. He joined UB in 2022. Angulo’s research topics include vulnerable road user safety, the use of virtual reality to study human interactions with connected and automated vehicle (CV/AV) technology and alternative roadway designs, the development of CV/AV applications, and transportation equity and sustainability.