A graduate student working with Professor Anton Nelessen prepared a plan for the Boston Regional Connector and Neuron Station. The Neuron Station has curbless pedestrian, bike, and bus transit at street level with an elevated Regional Connector transit station integrated into five stories of medical offices above. The Neuron Station is linked to Boston’s necklace of city parks, encouraging bike and pedestrian access to not only the medical office but the existing local cluster of hospitals. The top of the neuron station is a large expanse of green space, enclosed in a glass dome. Access to the green space in any weather is designed to provide a link between nature and both physical and mental health. This innovative design encourages a culture of health by linking improved transit and environmental interactions with preventive and health care.
Feature story: Exploring a Culture of Health through Independent Study: The Boston Regional Connector and Neuron Station
The focus of this independent project was Boston, MA because of the many years I had spent studying and working in the city. It was there that I would become dependent upon buses, trolleys, and subways to get around to classes, socialize with friends, and explore the region. While taking these means of transportation, I soon became frustrated with the design of the system, which is “radial” or downtown focused. In these types of systems, riders have to travel long distances downtown just to transfer to other lines, even if their destination is not even near the downtown business center. Nearing my last semester of my Master’s in City and Regional Planning at Rutgers, I felt that this independent study class would be the perfect opportunity to have full creative freedom to build a new solution to this problem.