Education

Students Look Ahead to Accessible Transit

The next generation of architects at North Dakota State University recently had a chance to design the next generation of accessible mass transit facilities.

NDSU's Small Urban & Rural Transit Center (SURTC) helped the university's Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture develop a proposal for a class project. Fourth-year students in architecture and landscape architecture were assigned to develop a proposal for either a downtown or suburban mobility center that incorporated multi-modal transit and transit-oriented development while incorporating the concepts of universal design. The assignment was part of the Advanced Urban Design Studio course.

"One of the focuses of the class was the concept of transit-oriented development. Everything we did during the semester revolved around transportation issues," says Cindy Urness, an instructor for the course.

"As future urban planners and architects, these students are a key audience for us," notes SURTC director Jill Hough. "We want to help make them knowledgeable about mobility and transportation issues and get them started early in incorporating those issues into their concepts and thought processes." SURTC's research and outreach programs are designed to increase mobility in small urban and rural areas.

"I think the project opened the students' eyes to transit and mobility issues in people's lives," Urness says. "It also gave them a new awareness of accessibility and universal design. The students are all aware of ADA requirements, but this project helped them realize that in many cases designers and builders comply with the letter of the law and not the spirit."

At the end of the intensive two-week project in December, proposals developed by the 15 students were judged by a panel of transit professionals from NDSU, local transit agencies and the North Dakota DOT. "It was a gift to have people who are actually involved in transit ask questions and talk about practical issues. There's nothing like having a real client review your work." Urness says.

Student Matt Brehmer is a Fargo native and appreciated the opportunity to develop a transit-oriented vision for his hometown's future. "I'm always biking and rollerblading so I knew there were some real gaps in accessibility around the community. It was exciting to design a new part of the city and make it completely accessible and pedestrian oriented."