Sustainable Transportation Planning
Course Syllabus: Spring 2014
Meeting Time: Wednesday 4:05-7:05 p.m. The course is cross-listed as ENVS-184, CDAE 195
Z12. Room: Lafayette 411
Instructor:
Dr. Richard Watts, 802-656-9775 rwatts@uvm.edu
Office Hours: Bittersweet – 11:30 – 1:30 Tues and Thursday
Communication Note: Email & BB will be used for communications.
BB: Instructors will post the syllabus, class schedules and selected readings to BB. PPT lectures
prepared for class will also be posted. BB is used extensively.
Books:
James Howard Kuntsler. 1993. The Geography of Nowhere: the Rise and Decline of
America’s Man-Made Landscape. Touchstone. Publisher: Free Press; (July 26, 1994).
ISBN-10: 0671888250
Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time. North Point
Press; Reprint edition (November 12, 2013) ISBN-10: 0865477728
Selected Chapters/Other (Posted to BB)
David Jones. 2008. Mass Motorization & Mass Transit. Indiana University Press.
Selected Chapters. Publisher: Indiana University Press (February 19, 2010). ISBN-10:
0253221714
Academic articles as assigned
Daily news-source – transportation news
Objective: The United States is the most auto-dependent country in the world. In this class we
examine our automobility, reviewing how we got here, some of the ramifications of this
dependence and what it suggests for our future. The class will focus on four types of solutions;
education, policy, design or technology and four specific transportation modes; transit,
walking, biking and car-pooling.
Students will draw from the readings, class discussions and their own knowledge to examine
issues related to automobility and possible future-oriented solutions. The course has three
primary objectives.
1) Examine the underlying causes of U.S. automobility and present trends.
2) Develop solutions to reduce automobility and increase sustainable alternatives that
provide mobility and access.
3) Engage students in transportation issues through hands-on projects. This is a servicelearning class.
Course Components:
1
A : Seminars
Lectures by the instructor and limited speakers will include presentation of background
information, description of current transportation challenges, solution mechanisms and class
discussions. Attendance and participation in discussions is mandatory and will be considered in
assigning the final grade.
B : Readings
Required readings are posted to Blackboard. Students are required to complete these readings
and use them as a source for questions of speakers, for class discussion and in written materials.
C: Short Papers
There will be 5 short papers assigned in this class. Students must submit 4 papers over the course
of the semester. Papers should be 1-2 pages single-spaced and draw from the readings, class
discussions, the academic literature and the student’s own research. Re-writes of these papers are
not allowed. Late papers are not allowed. Instructor grades these papers based on 1) Clarity and
organization of the writing (including typos), 2) Quality of content and originality, 3) Use of
class materials and related transportation research resources.
D: In-Class Assignments
There will be four in-class writing assignments in this class that relate to the readings and class
discussions.
E. Class-project
There will be one semester long project in which students work in groups with a community
sponsor to conduct research and applied work related to the class (See Assignments).
F : Grading
Short Papers
Class Participation (per ½ course)
In-Class Assignments
Class-project
4 x 8%=
2 x 12%=
4 x 2.5%=
1 x 32% =
32%
24%
10%
33%
90 - 100=A
80 - 89 =B
70 - 79 =C
G. Class participation
Over the course of the semester you must submit ten items to BB, these can include short writeups of transportation-related events you attend, news articles, video clips, comments on each
others postings, reviewing each others papers etc. Get about half of these done by the break and
half after the break. You must attend two events outside of class related to transportation as
part of your class participation grade & write short summaries of the event (see Assignments).
H. Presentations on “Home” (not graded)
1-3 slides about home that could illustrate; where it is, what the local transportation systems are,
how you get around, some data about this. (See Assignments).
2
Guidelines for Written Work
All written work should be submitted to BB.
Use your own words. Please don’t take lengthy quotes from the literature, instead present your
thoughts in your own words. But always give credit when you use ideas from other sources. Any
consistent referencing style is acceptable.
Late Work
You are expected to turn in all work on-time i.e. the day it is due in class. If you need an
extension due to illness or family emergency, please speak with me personally and well in
advance of the due date or class time. I do not accept late work when there has been no prior
acceptance (an email announcing the work will be late is not enough. Acceptance requires
acknowledgement by the instructor). And because there are 5 papers and 4 actually due, late
work is generally not allowed.
Attendance Policy
You are expected to attend every class session. If unable to attend please contact Richard either
by phone or email in advance of the class and ask permission. I expect everyone to attend every
class, both for your own personal learning, and to contribute to the community of learners in the
group. In addition, class participation is a portion of your grade. Because the class meets only 15
times, unexcused absences can result in grade reductions of one point (i.e. from an A to an A-).
Class Protocol
Use of cell phones and text messaging is not allowed. Laptops should be used sparingly and only
for class-related work during class. Students are welcome to get up and move around during
class. Using cell phones during class will result in grade point reductions.
Plagiarism
Academic standards at UVM about plagiarism are clear: “All ideas, arguments, and phrases,
submitted without attribution to other sources, must be the creative product of the student. Thus,
all text passages taken from the works of other authors must be properly cited. The same applies
to paraphrased text, opinions, data, examples, illustrations, and all other creative work.
Violations of this standard constitute plagiarism”
(www.uvm.edu/~uvmppg/ppg/student/acadintegrity.html).
Please be careful with attributions and copying, especially when using web pages. Plagiarism at
UVM is grounds for academic suspension.
3