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Work

School Bus Migrations – MIT Transportation Showcase References

My poster, entitled “School Bus Migrations – Repurposing and Replacing Transit Vehicles in the Global South,” tied for third place in the Economics, Finance, Policy and Land Use Category at the 2011 MIT Transportation showcase.

Poster references:

Muñoz, J. C. & Gschwender, A. (2008). Transantiago: A tale of two cities. Research in Transportation Economics 22, 45-53.
Schalekamp, H. & Behrens, R. (2010). Engaging paratransit on public transport reform initiatives in South Africa: A critique of policy and an investigation of appropriate engagement approaches. Research in Transportation Economics 29, 371-378.
wa Mungai, M. & Samper, D. A. (2006). “No Mercy, No Remorse”: Personal Experience Narratives about Public Passenger Transportation in Nairobi, Kenya. Africa Today 52, 51-81.
Santiago Cardoso, A.C. (2011). Da ideia à cidade, do plano ao projeto: gênese do processo de transformação urbana em Curitiba a partir do plano preliminar de urbanismo. Dissertation, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná.
Rizzo, M. (2011). ‘Life is War’: Informal transport workers and neoliberalism in Tanzania 1998 – 2009.
Müller-Schwarze, N. (2009). Diablos Rojos: Painted Buses and Panamanian Identities. Visual Anthropology 22, 435-456.

… Read the rest

Read Full Post | November 17 2011 | Transport and Work | No Comments » |

In the News: Pontificia Universidad de Chile Engineering Website

For the last month and a half, I have been working on a transit evaluation project with the Across Latitudes and Cultures – Bus Rapid Transit Center of Excellence hosted by the Catholic University of Chile in Santiago. The University’s engineering department put together a quick overview of my work here (the result of my first ever interview in Spanish). Below is a loose translation:

Anson Stewart has completed nearly a year touring countries in Central America and Africa, observing transport systems

Anson Stewart, with bachelor degrees in urban studies and engineering from Swarthmore College (Philadelphia) and a masters student at MIT, is undertaking his investigation “School Bus Migrations” thanks to the Watson Fellowship, which 40 young people from the United States receive annually. This scholarship promotes the exploration and learning about other cultures around the world during a year.

June, 2011

South Africa, Tanzania, Guatemala, Panama, Belize, Nicaragua, and Argentina were some of Stewart’s destinations before arriving in Chile. In these countries he began his investigation about school buses that the United States exports en masse to different countries of the world for public transportation. After a bit of exploring, Stewart encountered some interesting findings.

All of the countries of Central America are scrapping the yellow buses which served in previous years as public transportation. Today there exist ongoing implementations or at least plans for bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, as was established in Colombia with the name Transmilenio at the beginning of the past decade, and recently in Johnnesburg. Nicaragua and Tanzania are in the planning stages, Guatemala has two corridors, and Panama has the buses but still do not use them because of the lack of political agreement.

Stewart believes that this tendency to implement BRT in all of these countries does not end up positively in all cases. “I think that the countries are replicating a technical model without necessarily thinking in the specific cases of culture, political system, or infrastructure,” he says.

Although there are not agreements among experts about its definition, according to Stewart, BRT is understood as a system of exclusive corridors for buses with prepaid fares. According to this definition, Transantiago corresponds to a BRT model in the trunk routes where prepaid boarding areas exist.

“Transantiago is the only case in which the change was complete at the level of the city, and not gradual, in contrast with the other countries where BRT is being implemented. This leads to quite a few challenges, and I think that the system functions quite well,” affirms Stewart. Among the positive aspects of Transantiago, the expert highlighted the ease of obtaining and using the Bip farecard,website services, and the security that results from drivers not having to race and compete for passengers.

To complement his investigation, Stewart hopes to travel to Punta Arenas and Puerto Montt, the furthest destinations to which school buses from the US have arrived. At the end of July, he will return to the US where he will begin his MS Transportation studies at MIT to complement his studies in urbanism and engineering.

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Read Full Post | July 01 2011 | School Bus Migrations and Work | No Comments » |

Sustainable neighborhood development must be pedestrian centered

[Another blog entry I wrote for ACE]

October 22, 2008

Over the course of a month this summer, three pedestrians were struck and injured by cars along Washington Street between Dudley Square and Melnea Cass Blvd. These tragedies are common and indicative of the unsafe conditions that traffic congestion creates in Dudley Square. Pedestrians from nearby parks, schools, stores, and housing must contend with cars and buses, often speeding down Ruggles Street, Washington Street and Shawmut Avenue (which bound ACE’s office at 2181 Washington Street). Read more…

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Read Full Post | October 22 2008 | Work | No Comments » |

The Hidden Curriculum

Monday was my second session of Introduction to Education. Our theme for the day was the “hidden curriculum” of schools. We spent the afternoon discussing and analyzing the socially reproductive functions of the classroom in socializing children along lines of class, gender, and race. There was some engaging discussion, especially about the hidden curriculum of Oregon Trail the computer game. We started the class by writing nametags. I couldn’t help but think that this was part of a hidden curriculum preparing us to be teachers. Or at least a hidden evaluation of our “teacher” handwriting…… Read the rest

Read Full Post | September 09 2008 | Swarthmore and Work | No Comments » |

Water Quality Lab

My lab group collecting samples in Ridley Township [Photo courtesy of Professor McGarity]

Last week was my first lab session for my Water Quality and Pollution Control class. Our group retrieved and analyzed samples from an autosampling setup on a tributary to the Little Crum Creek. It was good to be back in the Engineering Department Suburban for the first time this year. It’s always an adventure having professors drive around in the Suburban (which is even older than my dad’s truck). I also enjoyed feeling like I was back in a chemistry lab after a few years of heavily mechanical/electrical labs. We analyzed the samples, which had been taken during a recent rain event, for total suspended solids, nitrates, and phosphates. Professor McGarity’s work on local watershed issues is outlined here.… Read the rest

Read Full Post | September 08 2008 | Swarthmore and Work | No Comments » |

Green Jobs Hearing

I sat through a four hour long hearing on green jobs at the State House today. It was slightly ironic that they were discussing energy auditing, green jobs, and renewable electricity while the temperature in the room on an 85 degree day was about 55 degrees. The rally beforehand was cool. And at least it didn’t go until 3:14 AM, like the unfortunate July 25th, 2006 Irvine City Council meeting.