This summer, I had the opportunity to work as an Upstate Institute Fellow with The Center in Utica, NY. The Center has resettled over 16,000 individuals and provides a variety of services, including refugee resettlement, adult learning, community education, cultural competency, employment and workforce development, health access programs, citizenship services, traffic safety initiatives, and more. Making up 22% of Utica's population, resettled individuals have helped to revitalize the once-dying city and boost the local economy.
Despite this now flourishing economy, transportation remains a key barrier to mobility, making daily tasks like grocery shopping and going to school and work very difficult and time-intensive. Inconsistent and unreliable transit access with delays, long ride times, and limited routes has been a consistent issue. Language barriers further complicate navigation. These challenges can result in missed job opportunities, medical appointments, and educational programs, and a slower integration into the community. Improving transit services supports refugee independence and strengthens Utica’s economy and community ties.
My role this summer was to evaluate these transit barriers and provide recommendations for the Center’s grant writer. I combined a total of 11 internal and external interviews, surveys (with 62 respondents), data visualization, and mapping to understand refugee transportation needs. The goal was to understand how transportation barriers affect refugees' daily lives and develop targeted recommendations. The final deliverable was a recommendation report highlighting my methods, interview and survey results, and recommendations, which included suggestions for bus stop signage translations, increased bus frequency, more hands-on training classes teaching people to ride the bus, recruiting and training refugees to be a part of Centro’s workforce, and more.
While I will no longer be working on this project personally, the results of the project will be used by the grant writer at The Center to apply for more funding and hopefully inform policy changes at the local level. The report was shared with Herkimer-Oneida Counties Transportation Council (HOCTC) and Centro, which is Utica's bus system. Before working with The Center, I had a pretty vague understanding of the refugee population in Utica. I had read about how the refugee populations have revitalized the city, but I hadn't realized the degree of their impact until I was actually immersed in the city and working directly with the population. Diversity is ingrained in all aspects of life in Utica: there are grocery stores and restaurants owned by a variety of different ethnic groups, pamphlets are created in dozens of different languages, and refugees have jobs in all spheres. The Center really emphasizes that Utica is a city of many cultures, all united under one community, which reflects a powerful and inclusive vision for the city.
This project was a perfect fit for my interests and goals. As an aspiring urban and transportation planner, it allowed me to solidify my passion for this area and get hands-on experience. I applied my Environmental Studies and Geography degree to real-world challenges, using my knowledge of mobility, sustainability, and GIS to propose scalable solutions. Though at times challenging, the project was deeply rewarding. I was driven by the idea of being able to help drive tangible change for the community.
I originally applied to be a field school fellow because I wanted an opportunity to engage with the surrounding community in an impactful way. I believe that working with the community and actively engaging with them is so powerful and important. I think that oftentimes the lines are blurred between doing research “on” a community versus doing research “with” a community. It is such an important distinction that produces entirely different results. This experience showed me that firsthand. Because I was able to really engage with the community I was doing research with, I was better able to create a survey that reflected their actual experiences. Listening to their stories helped me to understand their experiences so that I can better help them. I will be forever grateful to the Upstate Institute for providing me with this fantastic and enriching experience. I hope this project helps inspire continued investment in equitable transit access for all Uticans. — Sara Tabibian ’26