Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

FAST: Syracuse Will Study Sustainable Transportation Alternatives for CNY

Tuesday, September 6, 2016, By Elaine Wackerow
Share
Research and CreativeSchool of Architecture
asdfasdfasdf

FAST: Syracuse’s Convention District includes downtown Syracuse. (Photo by Derek Shin)

Would visitors attending a convention at the Oncenter use ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft? Has the rise in residential living in downtown Syracuse grown to a level that would support car or bike sharing? These questions and more will be answered by a new study that will evaluate the potential of sustainable transportation alternatives to reduce greenhouse gases and improve the vitality of Syracuse and Central New York.

“Feasibility Assessment of Sustainable Transportation (FAST): Syracuse” is a yearlong study of alternatives to single-occupancy automobiles for mobility within the City of Syracuse. FAST: Syracuse will assess the feasibility of developing, implementing, growing and promoting three urban mobility systems: 1) human-powered mobility by enhancing “walkability” and “bikeability” infrastructure in targeted areas; 2) sharing economy in the form of shared bikes and electric vehicles (EVs); and 3) improved integration with existing regional public transportation services.

The first phase of the study is a survey of individuals who live and/or work in, and/or visit the city of Syracuse. Residents, workers, employers and visitors are encouraged to provide responses to a short online survey at soa.syr.edu/fast.

FAST: Syracuse is being conducted by a team led by faculty members and students from the School of Architecture. The study is being done with funding provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the New York State Department of Transportation and project partners under the Integrated Mobility Solutions for Smarter Cities and Communities program. This program seeks to promote an integrated, multifaceted, energy-efficient and sustainable transportation system through the identification of innovative strategies, policies, emerging technologies and partnerships, and through useful demonstrations and system designs that validate underutilized commercial products in New York State.

The timing of this study is viewed as both strategic and historic. “Our city really is at a tipping point to become a smart, sustainable metropolitan center that will exemplify a new generation of cities, making this exciting study a bellwether for future generations,” says Tarek Rakha, assistant professor of architecture and principal investigator of the study.

The study will consider mobility at three different scales: the “Convention District” in downtown Syracuse, the City of Syracuse and the five-county Central New York region. The Convention District includes the Oncenter, the new Syracuse Marriott Downtown, the Centro Transit Hub and surrounding blocks; it is bounded by East Adams Street, South Salina Street, East Water Street and South State Street. The area has been identified by the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council as a potential “innovation district” that includes a cluster of emerging technology innovators and entrepreneurs.

In other cities, innovation districts have attracted investment in transportation and infrastructure that foster collaboration to create economic development and job growth via partnerships with higher education institutions, businesses and governments.

Rakha and his research team intend to explore opportunities to leverage multiple recent developments, including:

  • more than $80 million in recent investments in multimodal transportation infrastructure: the Connective Corridor, the Onondaga Creekwalk, the Centro Transit Hub and a multimodal transportation hub at SyracuseCoE headquarters;
  • a recently developed (2015) energy master plan developed by the City of Syracuse;
  • a rapidly growing residential community in downtown Syracuse;
  • successful car-sharing programs serving three higher-education institutions;
  • a $70 million renovation of the former Hotel Syracuse to create the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, which will serve as the primary hotel for Onondaga County’s Convention Center; and
  • the emergence of a nascent innovation district in the city, anchored by the Syracuse Technology Garden.
Tarek Rakha, left, and co-principal investigator Ed Bogucz at the kickoff meeting for FAST: Syracuse

Tarek Rakha, left, and co-principal investigator Ed Bogucz at the kickoff meeting for FAST: Syracuse (Photo by Derek Shin)

The FAST: Syracuse study will engage emerging technological approaches and commercially available technologies that are not yet widely adopted in New York. In particular, the project will use UMI—an environmental modeling tool developed by the Sustainable Design Lab at MIT—including Rakha—for use by architects and urban planners. UMI will be used to evaluate outdoor thermal comfort and its influence on neighborhood walkability within the Convention District; this will be a first-time use of this emerging urban modeling technology for a community in New York State.

The project will advance new mobility designs and evaluate the feasibility of solutions that will achieve benefits including: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; improvement in public health and well-being (achieved via increases in walking and biking) and increased innovation and entrepreneurship within the Syracuse and CNY communities via increased interactions between collaborators at innovation nodes, achieved through implementation of improved sustainable transportation alternatives.

The study team includes faculty and students from the School of Architecture, faculty and staff from the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (Syracuse CoE), in partnership with Syracuse engineering and environmental planning firm Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C. Team experts from Clean Communities of Central New York, CenterState CEO, Downtown Committee of Syracuse and Hitachi Consulting help to round out this comprehensive effort.

  • Author

Elaine Wackerow

  • Recent
  • Student’s Mobile Upcycled Clothing Business Turns Trash Into Treasures
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • Q&A for “Will Work for Food,” a new book exploring labor and the food chain
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Ellen Mbuqe
  • Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency
    Thursday, August 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Welcome Week 2025: What You Need to Know
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By Kathleen Haley
  • How Otto the Orange Spent Their Summer Vacation (Video)
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By News Staff

More In Arts & Culture

Syracuse Stage Announces Auditions for 2025-26 Theatre for the Very Young Production ‘Tiny Martians, Big Emotions’

Syracuse Stage is seeking non-equity actors to audition for the Theatre for the Very Young production of “Tiny Martians, Big Emotions,” conceived and directed by Kate Laissle. The show is a touring educational program as part of the company’s 2025-26…

Art Museum Launches Fall 2025 Season With Dynamic, Interdisciplinary Exhibitions

The Syracuse University Art Museum kicks off its fall season on Aug. 26 with four new exhibitions that reflect the museum’s mission to foster diverse and inclusive perspectives and unite students across disciplines with the local and global community. From…

How Artists Are Embracing Artificial Intelligence to Create Works of Art

Artists have always embraced new technologies to push the boundaries of their creations—balancing imagination and authenticity with innovation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no different, says Rebecca Xu, professor of computer art and animation in the Department of Film and Media…

Art Museum Faculty Fellows Leverage Collections to Enhance Teaching

Four faculty members have been named Syracuse University Art Museum Faculty Fellows for the 2025-26 academic year. The fellows program, now in its fourth year, supports innovative curriculum development and the fuller integration of the museum’s collection in University instruction….

Syracuse Stage Announces Cast and Production Team of Musical ‘The Hello Girls’

Syracuse Stage announced an exciting new cast and creative team for “The Hello Girls,” with music and lyrics by Peter Mills and book by Peter Mills and Cara Reichel. Featuring fresh orchestrations, new staging and reworked material, this new production…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.