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In the news: Ferenchak’s expertise with pedestrian safety popular in the media

March 14, 2024 - by Kim Delker

photo: Lights, camera, action: Nick Ferenchak gives an interview to a local TV station recently outside the Centennial Engineering Center.
Lights, camera, action: Nick Ferenchak gives an interview to a local TV station recently outside the Centennial Engineering Center.

From USA Today to The New York Times to the Albuquerque Journal, Nick Ferenchak’s Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety has been sparking media interest since its opening in 2023.

Ferenchak, an assistant professor in the Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering who joined UNM in 2018, provides insights and data on the issues of pedestrian safety and multimodal aspects of emerging transportation technology through their impacts on health and safety. One of the high-profile projects he first became involved with was the Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) project along Central Avenue, which had major impacts on both pedestrians and drivers near campus and downtown.

Then in 2023, UNM was chosen for the site of the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety, a Tier One University Transportation Center funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The center, directed by Ferenchak, is tasked with developing research solutions to tackle a deadly problem in the U.S. — the thousands of people killed every year in pedestrian and bicyclist crashes.

Pedestrian safety is a hot topic in New Mexico, which leads the nation in fatalities, but it is also making headlines around the country as many Americans must commute to work on congested roadways that also include walkers and bikers. As a result, Ferenchak remains busy answering a variety of media requests ranging from local news outlets to ones with a much broader audience.

By Ferenchak’s count, his research has appeared in about 20 media articles in the last 12 months, ranging from the national to the local.

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