While Professor Brown came to Eugene to teach and continue her research, she discovered a versatile transportation network that she uses on a daily basis. She commutes to campus every day via bicycle. “It’s so easy,” she explained in a recent conversation. “There’s safety in numbers here, and people are a lot more aware that cyclists are on the road here. The bike network is a lot more complete.” Compared to biking back in Los Angeles, she says, “biking here has been wonderful.” In turn, she actively embraces the transportation modes she regularly studies.
In the winter of 2019, Brown will lead an SCYP class focused on transportation planning in the cities of Eugene and Gresham. While she is still planning with the cities to determine their exact goals for the partnership, the partners are mostly interested in how new mobility will change their cities. The cities, Brown says, are focused on “not letting the technology happen to them, rather using the technology to achieve their goals.” Students in the class will focus on two primary topics: the redevelopment of parking infrastructure and the transportation network. With regards to parking, Brown is excited to see what innovative ideas students can come up with. “There are a lot of opportunities in parking even though it seems to be such a mundane piece of our cities,” she explains. “We have a lot of potential with the technology to think outside the box and rethink a lot of our cities, so I’m hopeful that the students… will provide some interesting solutions for the city.” More broadly, students will look to see how Gresham and Eugene can incorporate scooters, bikes, and other future forms of sustainable transportation. Students will look at the potential reuse of existing space to facilitate these alternative transportation modes. Overall, Brown anticipates a fun and engaging course that will match student talents with cities’ needs.
We are thrilled to welcome Professor Anne Brown to SCI and the University of Oregon!