A little about me…
I have decided my path, but life has led me to it in unexpected ways. When I was a child, I liked to watch how things were built, and I felt I wanted to be a civil engineer to be part of the construction of our surroundings. Thus, I studied civil engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá and moved from Bucaramanga to Bogota. This city has more than 11 million people in the metro area. My lifestyle changed dramatically, from 15 minutes walking from my school to having a 1 hour and a half commute to my university. Living such an experience was one of the main reasons I became a transportation planner: to seek to improve people’s accessibility. Now, I am building things, not buildings as I expected as a girl, but communities’ invaluable connections through transportation.
Nowadays, I am doing research on microtransit as a potential solution for rural communities’ transit access while pursuing my doctorate degree, which has been gratifying. I am a transportation planner who is constantly constructing my planner mindset and looking for new perspectives. My current main interests are public transportation planning and rural transportation accessibility. However, I have also been interested in and worked on micro-mobility, travel behavior, transport electrification, and safety. With the RUTA-HC Lab, I have been able to work on my research interests while providing practical and implantable results to the local communities. During my journey at the research group, I hope to help implement technology in transit systems to improve efficiencies and accessibility of the community to address their work, health, food, and social needs.
Besides my professional side, I like to bike with my husband and friends, play ukulele, play tennis, and walk or bike to new places. What I like the most about New Mexico is the cultural and artistic diversity you can find. The architecture is very different due to the pueblo’s heritage, making it the land of enchantment. There is not much snow during winter (Which I like), but people can still find good spots to ski and snowboard. Also, we have the white sands national park, where I could find white sand dunes and lovely sunsets. Plus, we have the largest international balloon festival in ABQ! And you can see balloons flying around every day!
Thank you for passing by to learn a little bit about me, my research, and the things I love.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afragozo