My research and teaching interests focus on the relationship between neighborhood development and transportation planning. My work explores the contradiction and paradox that often exists with large-scale transit projects: while expected to enhance urban accessibility, they may also displace vulnerable residents and those needing the improvements the most. I address this paradox by using mixed-methods to draw connections between the processes and outcomes – using qualitative (interviews and content analysis) and quantitative (spatial analysis) methods, respectively. Specifically, I aim to: 1) improve methods to analyze transit’s neighborhood impacts; and 2) identify policies and practices to balance equity considerations with sustainable and economic development.

My recent work predicts location choices of potentially displaced residents due to Chicago’s Red Line extension (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103212). Previously, I have explored who is included and excluded in Transit-oriented Development (TOD) planning processes through a case study of St. Louis’s Delmar Loop TOD site (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0739456X20929760), how light rail transit (LRT) influences changes in households’ discretionary income (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102709), and how LRT influences gentrification (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0739456X17713619). This, along with other related, work has been published in journals such as Cities, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Transport Geography, and Transportation Research Part A. Currently, I am investigating the impact of bus rapid transit on changes in transit ridership and neighborhood developments across North American cities.

Office: Powdermaker Rm. 250
Email: dwayne.baker@qc.cuny.edu