UB Urban, Regional Planner Daniel Hess Is 2010-11 Fulbright Scholar

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Daniel Hess, PhD, of Buffalo, associate professor of urban and regional planning in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, has received a Fulbright Scholar Award for the 2010-11 academic year.

It will take him to Estonia, where he will teach and conduct research at Tallinn University of Technology, the only university of technology in that country and one of the three most important institutions of higher learning in Estonia. Founded in 1918, the university has 13,000 students, and campuses in Tartu, Kuressaare and Kohtla-Järve, as well as in the capital of Tallinn.

Central to Hess' research, writing and teaching agenda is the question of how urban policies affect travel choices and how urban spatial dynamics can best be analyzed methodologically. Another concern is access to employment for welfare recipients and low-income persons, and he has conducted evaluations of transportation policy and practice in California and New York.

Hess also is interested in transit system performance and alternative transit funding arrangements and has conducted evaluations of transit pass programs. He serves as a consultant to federal, state and local agencies, and recently was part of a team that explored design concepts and programs for adding transit-oriented development along Buffalo's Metro Rail corridor.

A grant from the Mineta Transportation Institute funded his investigation of barriers to older adults riding traditional fixed-route transit systems. Another, from the Federal Transit Administration, funded his investigation of how public involvement can be used to expand alternative transportation financing schemes.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.