Robert E. Paaswell, Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at The Graduate Center and City College, is Director of the Region II University Transportation Research Center (UTRC), a consortium of 12 universities in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, which is administered from City College. As director of this center, Dr. Paaswell oversees research and training programs designed to improve transportation in USDOT Region II (New York and New Jersey). In addition, Dr. Paaswell was named Director of the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems; the focus of this new institute is to examine twenty-first century infrastructure with regard to the need for new technology, institutional change, and financing. Research at these centers is funded by USDOT, NYSDOT, NJDOT, the Port Authority, the MTA and others ($3.5-4.0 million in 2003-2004). Over twenty doctoral and master's students participate in the many projects of these centers.
One of the most recent projects is a study on smart growth in the New York metropolitan region, which was sponsored by the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems and the Revson Foundation. Over the last two decades smart growth has emerged as a strong national movement and its policies have been widely accepted in planning and government circles. New Jersey has adopted a smart growth management plan and it was a top priority in the Governor's 2003 address to the legislature. In New York State, however, it has been overlooked as a tool for managing growth. In 20/20 Vision: Smart Growth for the New York Metropolitan Region, shortly to be published, Dr. Paaswell and his associates, Harry Schwartz and Linda Davidoff, call for the principles of smart growth to be implemented in the New York metropolitan region and emphasize several elements of this concept:
2. Decentralizing economic growth to existing regional centers already served by transportation facilities and other infrastructure, such as downtown Brooklyn and Jamaica in New York City and the center of Newark,
3. Preserving open space and the natural landscape by reducing leapfrogging suburban sprawl and concentrating new residential development around exiting centers,
4. Limiting expenditures for new highways and using public investment to upgrade existing transit services and build new facilities, as is being done at New Jersey Transit In addition to describing the principles of smart growth and how they could be employed in specific situations in the region, the report describes legislative, regulatory, and fiscal measures that are being used to implement smart growth. It also offers a wealth of practical information on national, regional and local organizations active in the expanding field and a comprehensive bibliography on various aspects of smart growth.
"New York in the New World Economy," another research project that Dr. Paaswell has recently completed, was undertaken by UTRC and Michael Gallis & Associates and funded by USDOT and NYSDOT. The initial work addressed major transportation corridors in New York State, noting the importance of connectivity within state regions, between states, in the NAFTA corridor and throughout the globe. The research team then highlighted the major transportation corridor in the Eastern part of New York State that serves as crossroad points to New England, the Midwest, and the South, and that promotes commerce, tourism, commuting, and a range of other activities. They examined the roles of urbanization and economic activity, the impacts of landform, the role of transportation, and transportation issues and opportunities in the corridor's three distinct regions -- New York City, Interstate Route 84 to the Capital District, and the Capital District to the Canadian Border.
A pivotal project for New York State DOT, the Office of the Commissioner and Executive Staff used the findings of Dr. Paaswell and his team as well as related UTRC research to focus the DOT on the global impact of its undertakings. In shifting some focus from mainly regional concerns within the state to integrating multi-modal issues, NYSDOT wanted to address how both state support of transportation investments and the work of DOT can assist the state in developing capabilities for growth in the new global economy. The UTRC team was asked to use some of these themes in addressing significant organizational change, and they have presented their suggestions to a number of DOT groups.
A third project that Dr. Paaswell has recently completed is "New Jersey's Links to the 21st Century: Maximizing the Impact of Infrastructure Investment." His findings were reported on August 13, 2003, in a New York Times article entitled "Commuter Rail Hub May Help Energize the Economy."
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s new rail station in Secaucus.