Mustafa Ardalan
Priyadharshini Balan
Drew Canfield
Grace DeSantis
Mandali Kejjo
Sylvia Kelly
Tyler Madell
Violet Perry
Taylor Reynolds
Andrew Schaefer
Nirupama Stalin
Kristopher Walton
Sydney Zuckerman

Bumjoon Kang

ARC 403URP 581/582
Spring 2019

MUP

The Smart Mobility studio’s purpose was to work with community partners to gain real-world planning experience and analyze the transportation challenges faced by urban, suburban, and rural areas in order to inform local planners in the region of smart mobility opportunities. This report details the data analysis, physical design elements, and implementation strategies recommended for smart mobility adoption in the Buffalo-Niagara Region.

To address issues related to transportation in the Buffalo-Niagara Region, this studio worked to identify smart mobility solutions. In line with the Greater Buffalo Niagara Transportation Council’s Moving Forward 2050 Plan, this reference report seeks to provide an overview of the possibilities of smart mobility for a variety of municipalities in the Buffalo-Niagara Region to help solve their most pressing transportation issues.

The Smart Mobility studio’s client was the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC). The GBNRTC is the metropolitan planning organization for Erie and Niagara counties that works to identify transportation needs and pushes for comprehensive transportation planning in the Buffalo-Niagara Region. The Smart Mobility studio worked in collaboration with the GBNRTC to research smart mobility technologies and implementations that lead to identifying opportunities for their implementation in the Buffalo-Niagara Region

Moving Forward 2050 is a plan for smart mobility in Erie and Niagara counties. They cite needing “new, innovative ways of planning, building, and financing [the] transportation system” (Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, 2018, p 11). The plan outlines ways in which the region can move towards more efficient transportation and systems of smart mobility.

It was created in response to a slew of issues facing the Greater Buffalo Niagara Region, including a stagnant economy, a lack of transportation connections, vehicle dependence, excessive energy, land consumption, and dilapidated infrastructure (Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, 2018). One major challenge facing the region is urban sprawl. The built environment is very spread out, with many smaller suburbs and towns surrounding the city. Many of these suburbs and towns do not have direct connections to the urban core. This leaves many people without access to transportation or ways to travel to other areas of the region. This includes, but is not limited to, elderly people, people living with disabilities, and people who cannot afford cars and rely on the inadequate public transit available. In order to combat these challenges, the GBNRTC outlined regional goals, specific objectives, and regional performance measures that will allow any progress made to be quantifiable

1. The studio met with GBNRTC to better understand the client's goals and objectives.

2. The studio focused on researching domestic and international case studies that exemplified innovative implementations of smart mobility solutions. This process enabled the studio to better understand the various applications, technologies, and designs associated with smart mobility solutions.

3. Research on how shared mobility and MaaS (Mobility as a Service) continues to grow and impact transportation networks in the U.S. and other cities throughout the world.

4. Conducted interviews with local municipalities, NGOs, and private transportation companies to identify issues and challenges that they face in the context of smart mobility implementations.

5. Conducted a mid-review with the GBNRTC to show completed research and identify directions that would lead to a final product that would be beneficial to the client.

6. Met with NFTA staff to better understand how the local transportation agency perceives how smart mobility impacts the Buffalo-Niagara region and public transportation services.

7. Data Analysis, Design, and Implementation teams crafted design concepts, produced tools for implementing smart mobility solutions, and made recommendations for planners, transportation service providers, and the private sector. 8. Final Review with GBNRTC at their office in Buffalo, NY.

The transit demand index (TDI) combines each individual variable to show where the highest demand for transportation exists. The studio developed maps that show how different census tracts are being served by existing transportation. Each map is a tool to be used by GBNRTC, public transportation organizations, local municipalities, urban planning professionals, and other transportation professionals to inform future planning for smart mobility options in the Buffalo-Niagara Region. The data shown in the maps should be used by organizations alongside their internal data to determine the best locations for mobility hubs or expansion of mobility as a service.

University Station is located on the northern tip of the City of Buffalo. It is considered a starting point or gateway into the City of Buffalo. The intention of selecting this existing structure is to reduce the cost of building a new mobility hub and to eliminate the “endpoint” and, instead, make it a place where multiple transportation systems connect.

The goal of this mobility hub design is to transform NFTAUniversity Station into a destination, rather than a regular transit stop. The transformation occurs by adapting the following placemaking principles:

1. Smart Park and Smart Ride: Instead of vast surface parking, the design has a smart, structured parking connected to the main mobility hub with an enclosed bridge. The structured parking and connecting bridge make the mobility hub easily accessible.

2. Transit Oriented Development (TOD): To make use of the existing infrastructure, the proposal includes a mixed-use building enclosing the structured parking with connections to both levels of the mobility hub and a mixed-use building on the opposite side of the University Station across the main street.

3. Enclosed waiting area at the circle of the bus stops: Currently, bus riders wait for their buses either in the unprotected bus stops or in the main lobby. In order to make the public busing system more efficient and comfortable, the proposal includes an enclosed waiting area that follows the bus loop.

4. Adding a second floor to the existing building: The existing building is currently not supported by any facility that makes the experience of using the public transportation system a desired destination.

5. Bus layover zone connected to the main building: The design proposes a place where the drivers can take a break and park their buses safely and connecting in with the main building.

6. Autonomous supporting surfaces / electric car parking with charging docks: Electric and autonomous vehicles are becoming more popular; therefore, a parking lot has been dedicated for these types of vehicles at grade level for easy accessibility.

7. Prioritizing unprotected public space users such as pedestrians and bicyclists in the design: The mobility hub provides several locations for bike racks and interconnected bike paths with the adjacent bike network.

8. Redesign street section to put pedestrian, public transportation user, and bicyclists first: The street cross section has been revised to reduce the pavement area and to increase the connectivity across the main street. In addition, the street edge has been revised to accommodate the installation of new technologies such as wayfinding, smart bus stops, bike racks, smart lighting system, and flexible zone. In the concept design below, the above mentioned principles that combine placemaking principles and intelligent technologies that solve the existing challenges and help transform the existing station into a smart mobility hub

The intersection of Bailey Avenue and Kensington Avenue is the spine of East Buffalo and an important transportation node that usually is congested during the rush hours on account of poor infrastructure and lack of development. With some implementation, it could be an important destination that could attract businesses and encourage the economic development of the East Side of Buffalo. This intersection is very active on account of the number of cars and buses that are using this intersection to reach different destinations. It located in an area with many active facilities, like the University at Buffalo, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Sisters of Charity Hospital. Also, this intersection is located less than half a mile from Kensington Expressway, which connects the Downtown area with the Airport.

Foundational elements of the Smart Mobility Hub and Smart Corridor are implemented and incorporated into the design to create a development that could present potential opportunities to solve current issues in urban areas.

The design for Bailey Avenue includes a Smart Mobility Hub building that includes decent waiting areas, Wi-Fi free connection, ATMs, travel kiosk, ITS and Smart Technology learning center, library, café shop, indoor market, a wellness facility, and other recreational facilities. Also, some sustainable techniques will be included in this building to increase energy efficiency by using solar panels and intelligent energy controls. This building also has an outdoor public space with landscape and seating areas where people can sit and enjoy while they are waiting.

The studio envisions Bailey Avenue as a walkable and pedestrianfriendly Smart Corridor with a safer transportation system and less traffic congestion by redesigning the corridor to have bus stop area, shared lanes between cars and buses, bike lanes, a flexible parking zone and curbside, electric charging zones, a pedestrian lane, and green space. Also, this corridor has space for bike racks, a bike share program, a travel kiosk, red light cameras, and electronic speed signs. This Smart Corridor will create a Transit Oriented Development with mixed-use buildings on both sides of the corridor, providing space for retail, business offices, and a potential location for affordable housing units.

Smart Mobility, in whatever form it took, serves cities best when it meets the existing community needs. During the process of creating this report, community engagement emerged as a key component of success in Smart Mobility implementation. Cities that invested in new technologies, simply for the sake of having what they saw as the newest innovation, often saw a poor return on those investments and little or no improvement in the overall function of their city transit systems. Cities that had community engagement and involved the public, not only in identifying those needs, but finding and implementing the solutions as well had better outcomes by far. Additionally, planners much be aware of issues of equity when selecting Smart Mobility solutions. Technology is not an end unto itself; it is a tool, and new technologies that are implemented without consideration for existing economic or social challenges may exacerbate those challenges. If cities are not aware of or ready to address existing equity issues, they will not be able to implement effective Smart Mobility solutions. The studio hopes that this report can assist municipalities from villages to urban centers in moving towards a more equitable transportation future.

Excerpts taken from student report, Smart Mobility - A Framework for Local Governments in the Buffalo-Niagara Region)