Browsing by Author "Burga, Fernando"
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Item Collaboration in mitigating spatial and skills mismatch: Exploring shared understandings between transit planners and workforce professionals(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2018) Guthrie, Andrew; Burga, Fernando; Fan, YinglingTransit-dependent workers frequently find themselves caught between spatial mismatch (a lack of transportation options to reach jobs one is qualified for) and skills mismatch (a lack of needed qualifications for jobs one can reach). Historically, policy responses to these twin problems have essentially been siloed, with some responses focused on improving disadvantaged workers' mobility and others on skills training. Using the Twin Cities as an example of a healthy regional economy with areas of persistent disadvantage, this paper addresses the following research question: How do transit planners and workforce development professionals perceive the issues of spatial and skills mismatch and collaboration? This analysis explores this question through in-depth interviews with 16 transit planners and workforce development providers involved with one or more of seven study areas. The authors create an explanatory typology of areas to address with integrated transit planning and workforce development, interpret informants’ intersubjective understandings of the state of efforts, and apply Innes and Booher’s Diversity-Interdependence-Authentic Dialogue (DIAD) model of collaborative rationality to explore opportunities for deepening collaboration. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to connect marginalized workers with broader opportunities through transit planning and workforce development collaboration.Item Episode 24: Hungry to Get There: Food Access and Transportation in Immigrant Communities(2019-12-09) Burga, Fernando; Conners, KateFernando Burga's recent work seeks to "imagine food as a central aspect of our lives and cities," investigating the intersection of urban planning with immigration, equity, and food systems. Despite the immense disparities faced by immigrant groups and communities of color when it comes to accessing healthy and culturally relevant food, Burga found a relative dearth of qualitative data in how these communities actually experience getting to food access points. Burga, an assistant professor in the urban and regional planning area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, carried out research workshops with Latino immigrants in both rural Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro region, using a focus group, a graphic survey, and participatory mapping exercises to identify patterns of accessibility and actualize the "foodscapes" within participants' daily lives. Burga urges planners to consider a multidimensional approach to food systems and transportation policy work: "Qualitative research can lead planners to consider agency, empathy, and advocacy as mechanisms to reconsider how cities are made."Item Planning for Disruption: Connected and Autonomous Vehicles(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2019-09) Burga, Fernando; Fisher, TomThe future of transportation is inseparable from the future of work. Over the last century, transportation has focused on moving people and goods, but work in the 21st century has started to change dramatically due to vehicle automation, changing consumer patterns, and the rise of virtual retail. These factors will bring profound changes in transportation, infrastructure, and access to resources in the city, including housing, food, public spaces, and labor opportunities. This research project investigated the implications of the forthcoming changes in transportation, mobility, and the nature of work. It focused on the impact of vehicle automation on jobs access and explored the tensions that arise as new vehicle automation technologies are introduced into the streets of neighborhoods with historically disadvantaged residents.Item Rural Community Transit Strategies: Building on, Expanding, and Enhancing Existing Assets and Programs(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2023-02) Fisher, Thomas; Vogel, Mary; Khani, Alireza; Burga, FernandoThis project involved the development of innovative sharing-economy strategies to address rural transit challenges in Greater Minnesota. Many transit services and transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft do not provide services to commuters outside metro areas, forcing most residents in Greater Minnesota to own automobiles. Meanwhile, many communities have school bus systems and substantial vehicle capacity that remain parked and unused much of the day. This project uses a human-centered design approach to engage a community in Greater Minnesota with a population of less than 10,000 people to develop a pilot for rural community transit that could be a model for similar communities across the state. The research seeks to answer the question of whether a shared, mobility services approach to rural transit transportation in Greater Minnesota could meet people's needs at a lower cost, with more convenience, and with greater positive impacts on the local economy than current transit practices and services. Our research developed a menu of strategies that uses existing community assets to promote walking, biking, car sharing, bus sharing, and car and van pooling.Item Those Who Need It Most: Maximizing Transit Accessibility and Removing Barriers to Employment in Areas of Concentrated Poverty(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2019-03) Guthrie, Andrew; Fan, Yingling; Crabtree, Shannon; Burga, FernandoThis research assesses the transportation assets and challenges faced by residents of Areas of Concentrated Poverty (ACPs), paying special attention to ACP50s—ACPs in which people of color comprise more than 50% of the population. The authors develop a graphically-facilitated survey blending multiple choice, free response, cognitive mapping and discussion questions to capture unmet transportation needs and user experience information difficult to gather in traditional travel behavior surveys. They find that participants’ activity spaces vary significantly based on car availability and local built form and that pedestrian environments around stops affect the experience of using transit in ACPs more strongly than transit service itself, leading to the conclusion that transit- and pedestrian-oriented community design is a significant equity issue.Item Why don't Latinos go to State Parks in Minnesota?(University of Minnesota Tourism Center, 2017) Burga, Fernando; Gutierrez, Rodolfo; Villalobos, Jennifer; Parcero-Leites, SaraPark space research has documented health disparities and differences in park visits between White and Latino populations.1 Based on qualitative data gathered from 6 focus groups from multiple locations in Southeastern Minnesota, this research identifies constraints and experiences Latinos face when considering a visit to state parks.