Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center Archives Collection

Starting in the mid-1950s the planning and construction of our current system of transportation was begun. This era of development lasted until about the mid-1980s and within the New Jersey and New York regions resulted in large scale construction of new roads and the development of integrated public transportation networks. This feat was accomplished through the skills and knowledge of a generation of transportation professionals, many of whom are now in retirement or near retirement. The Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center Archives project seeks to preserve the knowledge gained from this experience and ultimately provide a resource for future scholars, practitioners,and decision makers to understand the lessons, both good and bad, that were learned by this first generation of transportation professionals. This has been accomplished in two ways. First, the project staff gathered archival grey literature that many practitioners have saved, but are not readily accessible. One of the project's goals is to make this available as a reference source in the Rutgers Library (and eventually as a digital resource by scanning documents). The second task has been to conduct oral histories of those individuals who have been instrumental in the development of transportation since the 1950s

This project focuses on identifying and collecting a broad range of topical information and documents from transportation professionals who are and were influential in the development of transportation infrastructure, primarily in New Jersey and New York, but also in other regions of the country. The data gathered has been organized into the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center Archives, which is housed and available in Special Collections and University Archives of the Rutgers University Libraries. Many of these professionals maintain significant collections of reports, notes, memoranda, minutes, and other potentially valuable sources of historical data that can offer invaluable insights on transportation infrastructure planning. Unfortunately the records and achievements of many of those who built our nation's roads and maintained the railroads have been lost with their passing,but the information and experiences of those who have contributed to the post-World War II infrastructure projects, such as the federal highway system, are still accessible if collected in the immediate future. Without initiatives such as the Voorhees Transportation Center Archives Collection, much of this information will be lost to current and future generations of scholars, students, policy makers and others who are studying planning and transportation issues. This project provides an opportunity for those who worked on the transportation system to make a lasting contribution of their knowledge and expertise for posterity.

The following individuals have contributed material to the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Archives Collection:

I. Richard Brail

Richard Brail is a Professor Emeritus in the Urban Planning and Policy Development Program. He has been head of the Urban Planning three times in his thirty-year career at Rutgers. He was the founding director of the National Transit Institute at Rutgers, and brought the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program to the school. Professor Brail has had a leadership role in the development of computer technology, and wrote one of the major early texts focusing on applied computing in planning (Microcomputers in Urban Planning and Management). He was also co-editor of Spreadsheet Models for Urban and Regional Analysis, a collection of planning application spreadsheets designed with a common user interface. His recent edited work, Planning Support Systems, is the first major publication to contain the work of leading scholars focusing on this emerging area of research and application. He has held visiting appointments at the University of California, University of Hong Kong, and Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia. Former chair of the Middlesex County Transportation Committee, Professor Brail has served on numerous national, state and local committees and has been the recipient of the Presidential Award for Distinguished Public Service by Rutgers University.

II. Martin Robins

Martin Robins has nearly 40 years experience in the field of transportation planning and policy. He was director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University and in 1998 founded its predecessor organization, the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute. Today he manages his own transportation consulting firm. Previously, he was project director of Access to the Region's Core, director of NJ TRANSIT's Waterfront Transportation Office, director of planning and development for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, deputy executive director for NJ TRANSIT, and director of policy analysis for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, where he assisted then-Commissioner Louis Gambaccini in the effort to create NJ TRANSIT.

III. Alan Pisarski

Alan Pisarski is a writer, analyst, and consultant in the fields of transportation research, policy and investment. At the national level he has been invited frequently to testify in both Houses of the United States Congress on many occasions regarding economic and demographic factors that define travel demand, infrastructure investment requirements and public policy. At the state level he has been invited to advise state Gubernatorial and Legislative Commissions regarding their economic, social, demographic and infrastructure circumstances. (Arizona, Washington, Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas, Virginia, and Maryland) Internationally he has served the US AID, the World Bank, the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union, the World Tourism Organization and the European Tourism Commission.

As a writer and consultant in transportation public policy, travel behavior analysis and statistics, his work related to transportation, particularly commuting and travel behavior, has been reviewed, discussed and quoted in all of the major national news magazines, and newspapers, appearing often on major national radio and television network programs, including the "Today Show", "Good Morning America," NBC, CBS and ABC Nightly News, "Nightline," and "20/20," discussing national transportation topics. Last year he completed the third in the Commuting in America series; and his latest "Bottom Line Report" for AASHTO addressing national reauthorization investment needs was released in the Spring of 2009.

IV. George Jacquemart

Georges Jacquemart is a founding principal of BFJ Planning and directs the firm's transportation practice. Mr. Jacquemart has over 40 years of experience in the fields of urban and transportation planning and traffic engineering. His areas of expertise include multi-modal transportation planning, transit planning, parking, integrating transportation and land-use strategies, pedestrian circulation and safety and traffic calming. Mr. Jacquemart authored "Modern Roundabout Practice in the United States," published by the National Research Council Transportation Research Board and co-authored The Roundabout Guide, published in 2000 by the Federal Highway Administration. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Pratt Institute and has taught and lectured at NYU, Columbia University, Princeton University and the University of São Paulo.

Mr. Jacquemart has a civil engineering diploma from the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland and Master of Urban Planning from Stanford University. Mr. Jacquemart is a registered Professional Engineer in New York, New Jersey and Luxembourg, and is a registered Civil and Traffic Professional Engineer in California. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.