For the Fall 2011 semester at Rutgers, Carlos Rodrigues led a studio of 10 students commissioned by Raritan Borough, New Jersey to create a regenerative urban design plan for an underutilized portion of the borough fronting the Raritan River. I acted as Project Manager and Transportation Planner for the studio, and contributed to the site plan design. Additionally, I designed the final presentation slides and am in the process of creating a website for the project. In December 2011 I co-presented the completed vision with three other students to the mayor, planning board, and other stakeholders from the borough and county.
- Studio Website: (RaritanWaterfront.com)
- Presentation Slides: (PDF document) (View at Slideshare)
- Somerset Messenger-Gazette Article: (NJ.com)
Screenshots:
Raritan Borough Waterfront Revitalization Site Plan
Raritan Borough Waterfront Revitalization Site Plan
Raritan Borough Waterfront Revitalization Site Plan
Raritan Borough Waterfront Revitalization Site Plan
Raritan Borough Waterfront Revitalization Circulation Plan
Proposed Orlando Drive Cross-Section
As part of John Pucher's Walking and Cycling for Sustainable Cities course at Rutgers University, I worked in a group with five other students to create a comprehensive policy and design package for improving bicycle and pedestrian conditions in New Brunswick, New Jersey, specifically targeting the city's large Hispanic and college student populations. My main contribution to the project was a complete redesign of French Street and Suydam Street to introduce traffic calming elements, safer pedestrian crossings and bicycle infrastructure. Design work was done in AutoCAD with illustrative elements added in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
- Final Report: (PDF)
- Presentation Slides: (PDF document) (View at Slideshare)
- Webcast of Presentation: (Adobe Connect)
Screenshots:
French Street Cross Section
French Street and Joyce Kilmer Ave
French Street and Bayard Street
Suydam Street Cross Section
French Street and Suydam Street
Suydam Street and Commercial Avenue
As part of a Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy course on graphical communication for planners, I created a vision for a future multimodal center in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina that would combine intercity rail, commuter rail, light rail, intercity bus, and local bus along with pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in one new facility. AutoCAD was used to design a site plan based on the exact dimensions of the proposed site, and Adobe Illustrator was later used for an alternative site plan with several changes and a more graphical nature. Google SketchUp was used to design a 3D model of the multimodal center, with Indigo Renderer used to output still images. Finally, Adobe Photoshop was utilized to create a before and after photographic comparison of the site. A website was created to showcase the project in addition to a brief Adobe InDesign portfolio, both of which are linked below.
- Project Website: (UnionStationRaleigh.com)
- Presentation Slides: (PDF document) (View at Slideshare)
Screenshots:
Alternate version of Union Station site plan created in Adobe Illustrator
Altered photo of downtown Raleigh to show the Union Station rendering created in Adobe Photoshop
Main entry plaza to Union Station created in Google SketchUp
Northern end of Union Station train platforms created in Google SketchUp
Bird's eye view of Union Station complex created in Google Sketchup
Union Station intercity and commuter bus terminal created in Google SketchUp
Union Station light rail platform and flyover created in Google SketchUp
For a final project in a transportation and land use course at Rutgers, I studied the LYNX Blue Line light rail, which opened in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2007. In addition to research analysis to detail history and impact, visual studies were conducted at five stations along the line to examine the effects the line has had on land use in four years.
- Final Report: (PDF)
- Presentation Slides: (PDF document) (View at Slideshare)
Screenshots:
Slide on I-485/South Blvd Light Rail Station
Slide on Bland St Light Rail Station
Slide on Ridership Impact of Charlotte Light Rail
As part of a course on methods of planning analysis at Rutgers, I conducted a qualitative and quantitative study with another student of the entrance plaza in front of the Rutgers Alexander Library in New Brunswick. The study examined the effectiveness of the plaza as a public space and the pedestrian safety level of the plaza and the street in front of it. Policy recommendations to improve the plaza were written, detailing ways to make the space more inviting.
- Final Report: (PDF document)
Screenshots:
Graph examining how patrons use the paths in the entrance plaza
Graph examining how pedestrians and motorists interact at crosswalk in front of library
Photo of student attempting to use crosswalk
At the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, I co-authored a report on the Three-Foot Law for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Twenty American states have a Three-Foot Law, which legislates that a motorist must allow a minimum of three-feet between their vehicle and a bicyclist when overtaking the bicyclist from behind. The core component of the report was a section profiling each of the twenty states that have passed such a law with information gathered from interviews with key bicycle advocates in those states. Subjects were asked questions related to the main advocates and opponents of the bill, the strategies used in passing it and the effectiveness of the bill after implementation. The final report will be posted here once published.
As a term project for a course in transportation modeling at the Rutgers Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, I experimented with Citilabs' Cube transportation modeling software and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority's regional travel demand model. I manipulated demographic projections for the year 2035 in Jersey City, New Jersey in order to study the effects of underestimated or overestimated population projections on road network usage. Ten key road network links in Jersey City were studied, and the results detailed in a paper and presentation.
- Final Report: (PDF document)
- Presentation Slides: (PDF document) (View at Slideshare)
Screenshots:
Road network links examined in Cube modeling software
Data collected in Cube modeling software
The final project for a Rutgers course on GIS involved creating a series of maps focused on a municipality and tied together loosely by a theme. I assembled a set of maps of Rahway, New Jersey using ArcGIS. I concentrated some of my maps on transit oriented development in Rahway around the NJ Transit rail station, as it has been the epicenter of recent downtown revitalization efforts, and the city is a designated New Jersey Transit Village.
- Presentation Slides: (PDF document) (View at Slideshare)
Screenshots:
Screenshot of a population density map
Screenshot of a land use map
Screenshot of a land use map
Screenshot of a geocoded map
GASCAP (Greenhouse Gas Assessment Spreadsheet for Transportation Capital Projects) is a tool developed by the
Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center for the New Jersey Department of Transportation to assess the greenhouse gas impact of transportation capital construction and maintenance projects. I was tasked with developing the interface using Microsoft Excel and Visual Basic macros. The Excel workbook contains over 50 user facing and back end worksheets and over 5,000 lines of code which allow greenhouse gas emission estimates to be calculated for materials, equipment, construction staging, lighting, and rail project related items. There is also a section to calculate a credit against emissions from recycled materials used, and an in-progress calculator for emissions from routine maintenance over the project's lifespan. Additionally, I created a user guide to accompany the software.
Screenshots:
Screenshot of the first section of GASCAP
Screenshot of the Non-Road Equipment emissions estimation sheet in GASCAP
Screenshot of the cover of the GASCAP user guide
This paper was co-authored with five other students as the final project in a transportation planning policy course at Rutgers. The paper examines two planning elements that can often work together and have gained attention recently: urban freeway removal and redevelopment of waterfronts. Examples of projects in Portland, Milwaukee, Toronto and Buffalo are detailed, and common themes for success are presented. A presentation on the topic was also given.
- Final Report: (PDF document)
- Presentation Slides: (PDF document) (View at Slideshare)
Screenshots:
Screenshot of Freeway Removal and Waterfront Redevelopment presentation slide
Screenshot of Freeway Removal and Waterfront Redevelopment presentation slide
