Month: November 2016

Our group did a lot of the planning for what we want to end up doing for our final project and presentation. We also shared what we found during our interviews. We completed the worksheet, as well. We talked about possible solutions to the transportation problems Austin faces. Our plan is to make a trifold display board that shows different parts of our wicked problem. We might also make a brochure or large note-card to pass out to people. I gained some new insights from our meeting, as well. This includes the fact that many of the residents of Austin have cars, but choose to walk or bike to work because it’s actually faster than driving due to the insane traffic. Also, traffic varies throughout the day, but it can even get bad between midnight and three in the morning. These problems made me wonder how the city could hurry up and expand roads without taking years doing construction and clogging up the roads in the meantime. I also wonder if the city can make new roads to help ease congestion. It’s possible the city is already too full to make a lot of new roads, though. I think the WiP has been going great and that my group has gained a lot of new insights into some of the problems that face Austin residents every day.

My interview went great. I learned a lot about the struggles of many UT students and Austin residents who don’t have a reliable mode of transportation. This makes it harder to get to class, work, the grocery store, or a friend’s place to hang out. I realized how much I take having a car as a college student for granted. I have my car here at St. Eds, so it’s easy to get everywhere. The only problem for me is parking. My interview brought up some more questions. These include my thoughts about how people get around if they don’t have enough money for a car, but they also don’t have enough money to pay for a Fasten all the time. This includes homeless people and the struggles they might have getting to a homeless shelter or food bank. I also wonder what struggles people who are extremely overweight or in poor health might face in Austin. They would have to have a car to get around, but some homeless people are also overweight. My thoughts about my wicked problem are that it’s a multi-faceted issue that doesn’t have any easy solutions. Austin has so many residents that need to get places every day, and they can’t all afford transportation.