Transportation infrastructure in the United States

Analysing the transportation infrastructure in the United States to debate on environmentally, communally, and economically sustainable solutions.

Abstract or Executive summary

1. Introduction – A summary of the topic and a brief introduction to the project
2. Background and literature review – explains the context of the project (e.g., why is the policy you are advocating a good idea? Are certain contexts necessary for its success?)
3. Methodology – explain the methodology used to gather your data for your project
4. Results/finding – explains what you learned in your research
5. Discussion – interprets the results in light of previous research on this topic
6. Recommendations – what actions would you recommend to be taken based upon what you learned in this research? (This is optional.)
7. Conclusions – summarizes the research and explains what the reader should do to respond to what you learned in the research.

     The literature review/background should categorize the previous research according to the results or arguments made by the authors. The literature review does not need to summarize every applicable article in detail. It should, however, define the terms of the debate on this topic and hint at the direction the paper will take. If you are using a different methodology than is usually used to understand a well-documented relationship, be sure to include a discussion of methodologies in your literature review. If the paper is on a topic on which there is little literature but there are several policy studies, these prior studies should be summarized.

     The data used in this paper can come from a variety of sources, including interviews with policy makers, analysis of primary or secondary data, observations of the situation being explored, or other forms of data that support the argument that you are arguing. If you would like some assistance in the development of the data collection, please set up an appointment to discuss this with me. The topic of this paper can range from a practical planning problem in your community (ex., a study of traffic circulation along a specific roadway), study of a safety issue (ex., distracted pedestrians, lack of connectivity or facilities), study on the sources of funding for transportation in counties throughout your region or state, or an analysis of how to model bicycle activity to more theoretical explorations of transportation topics (ex., providing transit services for the elderly or in rural areas, transportation equity of the transportation investments in your region). If you have a general idea of a topic but could use some assistance in developing and focusing the topic, please contact the instructor.

     The statement of the proposed research topic should include a clear statement of the research to be conducted, why the research is important, and the methods you expect to use to gather the information (and/or the data sources you expect to use). You may want to interview policy makers regarding the topic of your paper, you may manipulate data that is available through public sources, you may observe and count transportation activity, or you may choose to use a combination of these and other methods. Unless you choose to do a critical literature review, similar to articles found in the Journal of Planning Literature, you will be required to do some original research. Summarizing someone else’s books or journal article does not constitute graduate work.

Reference style : APA referencing style