When transit flows, a neighbourhood thrives.

When buses are frequent, arrive on time and run into the night, it means more kids make it to after-school activities, more students can get to class on time, more shift workers can get home safely late at night and more commuters can leave their vehicles at home.

The end result is robust movement throughout a community, according to Orly Linovski, an urban planning professor at the University of Manitoba.

That was the vision Winnipeg Transit promised as it rolled out its all-new Primary Transit Network earlier this summer.

The new routes and redistribution of bus stops implemented as part of the transit-system overhaul were intended to deliver faster and more reliable service to better serve all corners of a growing city.

A Free Press/Narwhal analysis of the city’s transit system before and after the June 29 transition date reveals a different story.

Read the full article here

Set in Victoria Beach, Manitoba and inspired by a white-tailed jackrabbit seen at dusk after a first snowfall, “Good Night, Good Night, Victoria Beach” takes young readers on a magical journey through the four seasons filled with whimsical characters and imaginative adventures.

Rae Bridgman

I am thrilled and deeply honoured by this recognition,” says Rae Bridgman. “Creating stories that celebrate Manitoba and resonate with readers here and elsewhere is a true joy, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share ‘Good Night, Good Night, Victoria Beach’ with the world.”

Rae Bridgman’s unique blend of storytelling and illustration has garnered critical acclaim, captivating audiences with her creative narratives and vibrant artwork. Her MiddleGate fantasy books for kids have also received many glowing reviews and numerous awards.

For more information about “Good Night, Good Night, Victoria Beach” and Rae Bridgman’s award-winning work, visit Rae’s website.

To listen to the full conversation, please visit CBC Manitoba. 

Here is the article featured in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Here is the article written by CTV Winnipeg.

Linovski is the 2023 recipient of the Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Researcher Award in the Interdisciplinary category, in recognition of her research on the impacts of private-sector planning and her work on making transportation systems more equitable.

UM Today caught up with Linovski to learn more about her and the research she is undertaking.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your research.

I am an associate professor in the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba. My research focuses on two broad areas. The first is professional practice, specifically understanding how planners work in different contexts, particularly in large private sector and publicly traded firms.

The second area is transportation equity, which involves understanding the barriers and opportunities people have with different modes of transportation. I focus on how planning can ensure that people can access the activities and destinations they need, regardless of their chosen mode of transportation.

Why is this research important?

Transportation equity is crucial because access to transportation significantly impacts people’s lives, including their ability to access education, employment, health care and recreation. In Canada, people face significant barriers if they are unable to drive or afford a car.

So, I think it’s really important to understand transportation from a social perspective and work towards making it equitable for everyone.

What does winning the Rh Award mean to you?

It’s a huge honour for me, especially knowing that so many of my colleagues put a lot of time into preparing the application. I really appreciate all the effort that went into it.

What do you hope to achieve in the future?

There is growing attention to equity in transportation, and it’s important to understand how we can move forward from a policy perspective. I plan to continue working on the policy side and collaborating with elected officials, who are key decision-makers in the transportation planning process. That’s where my future research is heading.

What about you might people find surprising?

I have a twin sister. Also, I don’t love to drive, which might have influenced my research area. But anyone who knows me wouldn’t be surprised by that.

Any advice for early career researchers and students?

As a scholar, you often have the opportunity to do something you’re passionate about. It’s exciting to see new research focused on improving the world, especially in planning. Keep working persistently on research that has a meaningful impact on the world around us.

“Places in the inner city, like Point Douglas, have needed more direction to try to figure out what the vision is for the future for that neighbourhood.”

The city will hold consultations over the coming months with community members.

The plan is expected to go before council early next year.

To read the full story, please visit CBC Manitoba.

“So many times now, there’s no marking of the crossing, no celebration of the crossing, no recognition that there’s something underneath the bridge, especially the rivers.”

That’s an especially important issue in Winnipeg. Our rivers “should be celebrated, not ignored,” Milgrom says.

Read more

This year the 2023 Design Residency was hosted by DIALOG’s Calgary-based office and led by DIALOG Partner Emeritus Doug McConnell, Associate Architect Pauline Thimm, and intern architect Neal Philipsen. 

Abigail McLaren, a Master of City Planning student at the University of Manitoba, joined eight other students and a diverse team for a four-day intensive workshop over the February winter break to tackle the challenge of envisioning more inclusive access to Calgary’s downtown.

Dr. Lisa Landrum, Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Architecture, connected with Abigail to learn more about her experience.

What was theme of this year’s DIALOG Design Residency?

We were asked to create a narrative and design intervention that responded to a gateway site in Calgary’s East Village. The northeast gateway to downtown Calgary is a complex intersection of mass-transit, busy roadways, and bridge infrastructure over the Bow River, together with recreational pathways and a mix of corporate, cultural and residential development. This area of Calgary’s East Village suffers a variety of physical and social challenges, with different user groups and competing land and transportation needs. We especially focused on how the area can better respond to marginalized groups and traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, and the Métis Nation.

Who was involved in the workshop?

I was the only student from the University of Manitoba. Other students on the team included a planning student from the University of Calgary; three architecture students, one from the University of Calgary, one from the University of Waterloo, and one from the University of California at Berkely; a landscape architecture student from University of British Columbia; a student studying human geography and another studying public health, both from University of Alberta; and a graphic design student from the Alberta University of the Arts. DIALOG hosted a dinner the day we arrived to give all the students a chance to meet. It was a great opportunity to socialize and share our different disciplinary backgrounds before getting to work.   

How did your work progress?

The first day focused on grounding the project. After an orientation at DIALOG’s Calgary office, we toured the downtown project site. The tour ended at the Central Library, where we heard from guest speakers representing Calgary’s Drop In Centre, the East Village Community Association, the Calgary Municipal Lands Corporation, the Calgary Police, and an Indigenous Engagement Specialist.

DIALOG also prepared two workshops. The first focused on generating and sharing a personal land acknowledgement from our home cities; the second involved a pin-up of our chosen precedent studies. I shared the Amoowigamig Public Toilet in Winnipeg as an example of a socially minded design intervention. This busy first day ended with the students debriefing over dinner and drinks on what we heard and possible ideas to explore.   

On the second day, two workshops informed and advanced our design process. In the first, we used DIALOG’s Community Wellbeing Framework, engaging specific themes (such as environment, social and political) to generate ideas and synthesize our collective thoughts into three design objectives. In the next workshop, we used these objectives as prompts for a sketching exercise, which was more about finding and communicating intentions than artistic quality. At the pin-up it was great to see everyone’s unique approach to their group’s objectives. Later that night, the students compiled ideas, and collaboratively developed our own framework to inform our design.

Photo by DIALOG

What were the results of these collaborative exchanges?

Our design really came together the third day. Supported by the knowledge and tools generated during the first two days, our student-led framework focused on addressing dignity, stewardship, and common ground. The approach aimed to build commonality and understanding between different user groups. Our designs included landscaping interventions, such as a healing circle, wayfinding with traditional place names, an enclosed winter garden, adaptive reuse of existing structures, and traffic reduction strategies to reclaim space for the public. DIALOG scheduled two pin-up reviews to check in on our progress and offer suggestions.

After intensive work and a late night we presented our proposal on the morning of the fourth day to a panel, including DIALOG professionals and community group representatives who we had heard from earlier in the week. We were proud of all the content, site plans, sections, and vignettes we were able to generate within three days. After a stimulating discussion, DIALOG provided charcuterie and drinks to celebrate the work and conclude the week. 

What were your main takeaways from the experience?

This experience has been great in so many ways. For me, one of the main takeaways was a reminder to not be afraid to challenge myself or engage in new ways of thinking. One of my favourite parts of the week was witnessing how nine students – previously strangers from different backgrounds and training – came together as a multi-disciplinary team to produce a design of which we were all proud.

I am especially grateful to DIALOG for sponsoring the event and their team for being such welcoming and generous hosts. In addition, I am very grateful to the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture for nominating me for this opportunity. I am already incorporating lessons learned into my current studio work, and will carry these lessons with me into my future career.

This report asks what a just recovery would look like for the people and communities of the inner city.

As the authors insist: “A just recovery is about moving beyond the pandemic through a transformation toward a more equitable and inclusive society.”

A recent Winnipeg Free Press article by Dr. Cooper, and graduate students Lila Asher and Kayla Villebrun-Normand, highlight the urgency of placing community at the heart of recovery from COVID.

Read their article from Feb. 23, 2022.

Involving students from all disciplinary streams across the Faculty’s Bachelor of Environmental Design Program, these projects encompass diverse research topics: from studies of homelessness, relationship-building and policy-making; to children’s toys and how they shape spatial thinking; to biomimicry and urban wildlife; to techno subcultures in Berlin and theatres of architectural imagination.

These student-professor teams are advancing research and design strategies toward creating more inclusive, sustainably and thriving societies.

Short interviews with each student reflecting on their summer research experience are featured below. 

The URA program is supported by the University of Manitoba Office of the Vice-President Research and International. Applications for summer 2022 will be due in January. More information on the program is available here.

_____________________________

Tengun Bold and Derelyne Raval, ED-Architecture 

Kahnowiiyaa

With Prof. Shawn Bailey        

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

The focus initially involved the dissection of Jesse Thistle’s definition of Indigenous Homelessness in regards to designing housing for a homeless community in North-Western Ontario. By learning more about Indigenous ways of knowing, the direction quickly evolved into a sincere inquiry into what it means to be connected to nature, each other, and the intangible yet fantastical aspects of existence. 

The various projects tackled include the North-Western Ontario Housing project, the Forest School project, and the Microhome 2021 Housing Competition (which is still in progress). The work primarily consisted of a mix of drawing, photography, model making, and writing.

What have you found most exciting?

Tengun: For me the most exciting aspect of this research was the philosophical discourse that happened around the idea of a home. The dichotomy between housing that focuses on the individual versus a living that is concerned with the broader community. Thus, through the values laid in Jesse Thistle’s definition of homelessness, the issue of Indigenous homelessness becomes not strictly an indigenous issue, and even if someone has a house or an apartment, we could consider them homeless. Therefore, as designers, we should focus on creating spaces that build relationships, both between humans and between humans and the land.

Derelyne: The unanticipated evolution of the work was extremely exciting. The project began quite structured and slowly morphed into something extremely rich and philosophical as we began to examine and understand topics such as healing, reciprocity, and homelessness. As the work progressed, we began to discuss topics such as what home is and means, and how Indigenous ways of knowing combined with modern day approaches can help rebuild our relationships with nature, each other, and oneself. Additionally, having the opportunity to be involved in traditional Indigenous ceremony was an extraordinary and life-changing experience.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Tengun: The research project has definitely inspired me to think about design in a more holistic and responsible way. Specifically, how it is impossible to solve the social, political and environmental issues, such as homelessness and climate change, unless we address our fundamental values as architects. How design/architecture should be grounded, divorced from the ego of the architect, to focus on the values we set, which in our case (I believe throughout my future work) is building spaces that promote relationships, among all peoples and beyond. 

Derelyne: The experience has furthered my interest into the social and political aspects of architecture. Specifically, how architecture can inform and inspire policy making and what that means in regards to the role of the architect. Architecture of course cannot solve the world’s issues, although it must be acknowledged that its impact reaches far beyond the bounds of style and aesthetics. In order to enact change, architecture must confidently acknowledge issues such as homelessness and the climate crisis with immense compassion and rigour, whilst being aware of design’s inevitable limits. This concept is something I hope to delve into further in my studies.

How can we find out more?

Read Jesse Thistle’s definition of homelessness here: https://www.homelesshub.ca/IndigenousHomelessness

Is there anything else you would like to add?

A big thank you to Dr. Jonny Grek and Becky Shorrock from Compassionate Kenora, TJ Richard from Grey & Ivy inc., Liane Veness, Terri Fuglem, Calvin Skead and of course Shawn Bailey for opening our minds and guiding our hearts towards profound ways of viewing the world and the built environment. Also thank you to the University of Manitoba for giving us the opportunity to be involved in such an amazing experience.

_____________________________

Nadine Lowden, ED-Interior Environments

Eclectic: The Bridgman Architectural and Building Toys Collection

With Dr. Rae St. Clair Bridgman        

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

Professor Rae St. Clair Bridgman’s research focuses on child-friendly cities. As an extension of that, she studies construction and building toys, which are often a child’s first introduction to developing their own spatial and building capabilities. Over the summer, I catalogued Rae’s collection of over 200 construction and building toys and formatted them on a website. I also researched and wrote articles that are featured alongside mini-exhibitions of the collection. These cover topics such as the history of toy design, integrity and inclusion in collecting, and today’s hyper-gendered toy market. 

What have you found most exciting?

I feel incredibly lucky to have spent my summer on this project, and I am grateful for Professor Bridgman’s guidance and trust, which allowed me to explore the research and bring my own perspective and ideas to the collection.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Designing for play at any age is something I’m very interested in and hope to explore further in future work and studies!

How can we find out more?

The Bridgman Architectural and Building Toys Collection, and all accompanying articles, exhibitions, and resources can be found at https://www.architoytonic.com/

_____________________________

Alexandra Margulets, ED-Architecture

Architecture through Techno: Post-Reunification Identity in Berlin

With Prof. Ralph Stern           

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

I have been studying Berlin as a centre of architectural and artistic production. I have specifically looked at the subculture of techno music by studying post-reunification as a landscape of ruined, abandoned and underused architecture. Furthermore, I have studied the architectural opportunities that led to the development of club topography and the formation of techno subculture in Berlin. I have further explored the techno scene through the avid poster culture of Berlin, identifying the importance of graphic design as a communication tool that has helped secure Berlin’s image as the center of techno music in Europe.

What have you found most exciting?

I enjoyed the experience of conducting research firsthand, from poster analysis to film screenings to article readings and interviews. There are countless ways to go about research, and I found it exciting to play the part of a detective who gathers clues to form a new perspective on a topic.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

This research project has provided me with an opportunity to research Berlin’s architectural scene through cultural and social trajectories. This topic has sparked an interest that I hope to explore further in my undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

_____________________________

Dominico Obmerga IV and Mary Angeline Reyes, ED-Architecture

BIOM_Lab

With Dr. Mercedes Garcia-Holguera

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

The BIOM_Lab is a biomaterial-oriented study that revolves around the principles of biomimicry and sustainability. Our research has been focused on growing and cultivating bacterial cellulose and mycelium-based materials, and integrating their material properties in the field of architecture and design. Throughout the summer we were responsible for mycelium and bacterial cellulose growth checks, mold design, physical modelling, experiment preparation, sample documentation and publication submissions.

What have you found most exciting?

Angeline: It’s been really exciting to closely work with bacterial cellulose and mycelium-based materials, as there was always something new to discover about their material properties and potential roles in design. Due to potential sources of contamination and a challenging growing environment, we’ve learnt that having patience and a close attention to detail goes a long way. It’s also been a real pleasure collaborating with everyone at the Sustainability in Action Facility! The interdisciplinary practice between Architecture, Science, and Engineering has broadened my perspective and taught me valuable knowledge about nature, biomimicry, and design.

Dominico: I have really enjoyed venturing beyond the confines of designing from home following the recent events of the global pandemic. It has been a gratifying experience to learn from my seniors in the faculty as they have opened my mind to new and sparsely explored territories of materiality and design. More importantly, I enjoyed learning the theories behind biomimetics and divulging into conversations around the wealth of knowledge we can attain for nature and implement in design. 

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Angeline: Through the research, I believe that I have been more thoughtful and conscious to take inspiration from nature and emulate its principles and values into my work as an emerging designer. I hope to involve myself more in collaborative and interdisciplinary practices with different fields (such as engineering and the sciences) for the remainder of my academic life and into the professional environment. Additionally, I am also ecstatic to see the future growth of our current research, the BIOM_Lab, and how we may contribute to the bigger community in finding solutions for environmental and social issues such as climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Dominico: Throughout this summer, our work with bacterial cellulose and mycelium-based materials has peaked my interest in biomimetic studies and created a new sense of appreciation for hidden treasures of design inspiration littered within our environment. In the future I would hope to continue to be invigorated by ideas surrounding sustainable design and green architecture. Looking forward, I am excited to see our research flourish and continue to strive towards reaching a larger audience with projects of a grander scale. 

How can we find out more?

Our work will be featured in the forthcoming 30^th volume of the Warehouse Journal, edited by Chelsea Colburn and Teresa Lyons. Follow us too on Instagram: @BIOM_Lab !

_____________________________

Sabba Rezai and Max Sandred, ED-Architecture

Theatres of Architectural Imagination (Archimagination)

With Dr. Lisa Landrum

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

This summer we have been working with Professor Lisa Landrum on numerous projects relating to the Theatres of Architectural Imagination project. Our summer began with organizing, promoting and hosting the international Theatres of Architectural Imagination symposium, co-hosted virtually by the University of Manitoba, UQAM in Montreal, Quebec, and the University of Adelaide in Australia. This international symposium explored relationships between theatre and architecture. 

Currently we are working together with graduate students Andria Langi and Alixa Lacerna on a virtual exhibition in collaboration with Arts Letters and Numbers that will be exhibited at the 2021 Venice Biennale.

Max: I will have an audio-visual installation that I created in collaboration with composer Örjan Sandred called Sonic Trails: Lockdown exhibited virtually in this exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and in person at the A2G Gallery in the Arch2 Building at the UofM. This installation will run from Sept. 7-11 virtually and in-person (following COVID 19 restrictions) at the A2G Gallery. 

Sabba: I have been supporting research and coordination for a group submission for the Biennale Architettura 2021. A large portion of the work that I did was graphic design, such as managing and producing posts for the @frascari_v Instagram page, and designing posters for an exhibition. I also prepared transcripts of symposium sessions for Dr. Landrum’s own research and related book publication.

What have you found most exciting?

Max: Being able to develop my own work (Sonic Trails: Lockdown), and to have it exhibited at an event as important as the Venice Biennale is very inspiring and exiting.

Sabba: I found that this summer provided an opportunity to try a variety of new things within the realm of design, including videography, animation + poster design.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

Max: Sonic Trails: Lockdown is one of the most ambitious projects I have worked on so far in my life as an architecture student, and I would like to develop many of the ideas in this project further in the future. I’m particularly interested in how our experiences of the built environment are in many ways similar to how we experience music.

Sabba: The knowledge and experience that I have gained this summer has allowed me to reflect on what I appreciate most in design and architecture and what it is that I truly want to achieve within my education. It has enabled my growth as both an aspiring architect and as a person who is passionate about design.

How can we find out more?

On the Theatres of Architectural Imagination Symposium, see the UMToday story here, the Frascari website, https://www.marcofrascaridreamhouse.com/past-events, and Instagram @frascari_v 

More the exhibition we are working on at the Venice Biennale titled  

Theatres of Archimagination: https://artslettersandnumbers.org/theatres-of-archimagination/ 

More information about Sonic Trails: Lockdown: https://artslettersandnumbers.org/sonic-trails/ ; and here https://maxsandred.wordpress.com/ 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Max: I am very thankful for all of the great opportunities Professor Lisa Landrum has provided me in my two summers working as an undergraduate researcher for her. I am also very thankful for support of the Arts Letters and Numbers collective on my Venice Biennale submission. 

_____________________________

Owen Swendrowski-Yerex, ED-Landscape + Urbanism

Wild Winnipeg

With Prof. Kamni Gill 

Tell us about the research you have been doing this summer: 

At Wild Winnipeg, we aim to document the interaction of people and animals in the urban and suburban woodlands around the city. We use a network of ten wildlife camera traps located in greenspaces to record the diversity and activity of urban wildlife. We also have a website where residents of Winnipeg are invited to submit their own animal encounters and narratives to add to our database.

Starting the summer off, I took field notes for each of our cameras, documenting site info like prevalent plant species and their average density, and relationships with the immediate context, then layering this info onto atmospheric drawings that attempt to capture the visual-spatial experience of the site. I have also been regularly maintaining our trail cams and collecting their memory cards, processing collected images through classification software, as well as organizing our public outreach effort. We are now drawing from our archive of over 700,000 images to create data visualizations representative of the city’s animal population.

What have you found most exciting?

Access to our database of animal images is a singular privilege – the constant influx of new and fascinating photos spurs so much intrigue, prompting questions about animal relationships with the urban environment, the human population or other species; about identifying patterns of movement and behaviour that lend themselves to design interventions; about whether they get up and start walking on two legs when nobody is watching, and so on. These would be very difficult to even begin to answer without such a broad and encompassing foundation like this image repository that Profs Gill and Meagher have laboriously assembled. I also very much appreciate having the opportunity go out on my bike to check the cameras regularly. Working from home leaves a certain desire for “doing-something-other-than-just-sitting-at-the-desk-in-your-room-for-7-hours-a-day.” This research got me out in the city.

How is the experience sparking ideas for future studies or career goals?

The premise of this research – a multi-faceted inquiry into urban wildlife – should be very important to landscape architecture, considering that humans and animals coinhabit outdoor space on earth. Yet, consideration for animals in LA projects is often, but not always, less than satisfactory: animals may superficially suggest form, or even be taken for ornamentation in a space designed solely for humans. This underrepresentation has made me quite curious about the intersection of wild animals with people in urban environments. I’ve become eager to explore that in my studio work this fall term.

How can we find out more?

We can be found online at https://www.wildwinnipeg.org/, where the participation tab is hungry for your responses. Please participate, should you feel inclined!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Go Jets go! And listen to my friends’ band Jamboree, they really rock!

_____________________________

Yutaka Dirks also worked with Dr. Sarah Cooper as part of the URA program this summer.

Public transportation plays a vital role in society. It makes it possible for people to travel to and from work and school, access essential services like grocery shopping, daycare and medical care, and participate in social and recreational activities. But what happens when that public transportation is unreliable, inaccessible, ineffective, unsafe or too expensive? Who exactly does it affect? And what kind of impact does that have on those individuals and on society as a whole?

Orly Linovski, assistant professor of city planning in the Faculty of Architecture and a registered professional planner.

Those are some of the questions that Orly Linovski has been addressing since arriving at UM eight years ago. Linovski is an assistant professor of city planning in the Faculty of Architecture and a registered professional planner, with a profound interest in social justice and equity issues and the way that those issues keep individuals from fully participating in society.

That interest is reflected in all of her research.

“My research focuses on transportation equity,” Linovski explains. “So it’s thinking about what are the barriers for people in terms of the transportation system, how it limits what sorts of opportunities they’re able to access, and how we can improve that through transportation planning and investments.”

“it’s thinking about what are the barriers for people in terms of the transportation system, how it limits what sorts of opportunities they’re able to access, and how we can improve that through transportation planning and investments.”

That research, she continues, is two dimensional. One side of it focuses on the planning process and how planners and engineers work to understand the needs of equity-seeking groups that have been historically and currently marginalized in terms of access to opportunities. The other area of her research works directly with equity-seeking, community-based organizations and their members to understand their needs and how they can be better integrated in the planning process and in outcomes from transportation investments.

Linovski’s current primary research project is focused on that second dimension. The project, funded by a SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant, is exploring community members’ lived experiences with public transit and equity and seeking to understand how aspects of a person’s identity affect their experiences of discrimination or privilege in the realm of public transit.

“A lot of transportation research focuses on modelling, so trying to understand potential opportunities and potential barriers,” Linovski explains. “But the lived experience research really wants to understand people’s experiences in their day to day lives, things that are not easy to understand through quantitative methods—so things like experiences with policing, with violence, with harassment and with multiple barriers that inform how people have access to opportunities or don’t have that access.”

Linovski and her graduate student team of researchers are gathering that data in collaboration with several well-established community-based organizations, as well as from targeted public surveys that the team designs and distributes to equity-seeking groups representing people of colour, people from low income neighbourhoods and people living with disabilities, among others.

Public transportation barriers are a huge concern and burden for people from these demographics, Linovski emphasizes. People who have mobility options, who own their own vehicles or who have easy access to vehicles, have agency over their time and their ability to get where they need or want to go and take advantage of all sorts of opportunities. But individuals who rely on public transportation do not have that agency and as a result miss out on countless opportunities and experiences.

What do they do when they have a family emergency to respond to? How can they can get to work on time or pick up their children from daycare on time when a bus is running late?

“Equity research is important because there can be strong incentives for the groups in society who benefit from inequity to not see or understand the systems that serve those with privilege at the expense of marginalized groups,” says Aaron Snider, a student in the Master of City Planning program and one of Linovski’s research assistants. “I see research like Dr. Linovski’s as key to highlighting those systems and to understanding where inequity originates.”

Once all of the current project data is collected, Linovski and her team will begin the task of synthesizing and translating the findings for a range of stakeholders, including government, which, ideally, will then use the findings to facilitate best practices in policy and program development.

“All of my research is motivated by having an impact on policy, hopefully in a positive direction,” Linovksi says.

“Transportation inequity can be so severe and negatively impact so many facets of peoples’ lives.”

Transportation inequity, she adds, can be so severe and negatively impact so many facets of peoples’ lives. The good news, however, is that community engagement, combined with equitable planning, programs and policies—and equitable investment—can help to alleviate much of that imbalance.

Combined High-need Indicator

Higher score: ↓ income/education; ↑ unemployment/recent immigration

Maps showing access to built and proposed transit, based on need indicators.

Community responses to the question of: “What measures should be used to make transit investment decisions?”

What communities benefit from investment?

49%

Can people get to the places they want to go?

73%

Did previous investments achieve their goals?

42%

 

Do transportation issues prevent participating in activities?

76%

Do equity seeking groups face more barriers in getting to where they want to go?

62%

 

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