Discover the legacy and impact of America's transportation systems.
Building America: Eisenhower’s Interstate System is a semester-long seminar designed to give students an in-depth look at how Americans travel and the broad societal consequences of that travel. You will meet with transportation professionals, academics, non-profit leaders, and everyday Americans to hear their stories and what they are doing to improve transportation – and reduce its negative consequences – across the US. You will learn about how deliberate transportation policies and highway construction created the unequal world we live in today. You will be challenged to consider the inadvertent consequences of ordinary decisions – how where you live shapes the lives of others, for instance. You will collectively design a policy solution that remedies a particular transportation harm.
Transportation forms the literal connections between everything we do in our lives. We travel to routine destinations like schools, workplaces, and grocery stores. We also travel to doctor’s offices, arenas or stadiums, and restaurants and bars to visit with friends. Without the myriad transportation choices today, we’d be limited to a pretty small geographic area around our homes. Access to a car, bus, bicycle, or subway expands our set of possible destinations. Importantly, though, access to alternative modes of transportation is not equally distributed throughout American society.
At the same time, how we travel has profound consequences for our communities, environment, and health. Highway construction in the mid-20th century destroyed homes and neighborhoods. Transportation accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions by economic industry, with most transportation powered by fossil fuels. Transportation-related air pollution is a known health hazard and disproportionately harms residents of marginalized communities. This air pollution causes mortality increases for all age groups, higher asthma rates in children, autism spectrum disorder rates in infants and toddlers, and cardio-related hospitalizations among older adults. Transportation also directly causes nearly 45,000 deaths per year, with nearly 43,000 of these because of vehicle crashes.
In this seminar led by Professor Christopher Rick, we will explore the history of transportation, including President Dwight Eisenhower’s lasting role, and focus on the damage transportation has done throughout America, but especially in two upstate New York cities – Syracuse and Rochester. In Syracuse, we will see what the inner city looked like before the highway, walk the area as it is today, and learn about the highway removal work underway. In Rochester, we will walk a section of highway that’s been removed, filled in, and developed – and see a section that looks the same as it did 60 years ago.
The seminar will conclude with a policy presentation to transportation professionals, community leaders, and government professionals to propose a policy solution regarding transportation’s impact on American life today.
Prospective Applicants
The program is open to all Gettysburg College rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Students of all majors with an interest in transportation and health are encouraged to apply. Applicants are expected to be available for all sessions, trips, and activities during the program.
Schedule
Fall 2025 Semester
Fall Session 1: History of Transportation in America
From Water to Transit to Highways – and Eisenhower’s Role
Monday, September 1, 6-8PM
This session provides a foundation for this year-long seminar on the role transportation plays in American life. We examine how Americans have traveled throughout the country’s history, how government policies have influenced travel choices, and a brief touch on the contemporary consequences of how we travel today.
Fall Session 2: The Eisenhower Interstate System and Dismantling American Inner Cities
Monday, September 15, 6-8PM
As cars became the predominant form of transportation in America during the early 20th century, Americans rushed to build roads for them to travel. The Interstate System was born to connect major cities and military facilities, often at the expense of well-established, thriving Black neighborhoods. In this session, we will explore communities before, during, and after highway construction and learn about current efforts to tear down Interstate 81 that runs through Syracuse, NY.
Fall Study Trip: Syracuse, NY and Rochester, NY
September 19-22, 2025 -- 3-night trip
This trip will first take us to Syracuse, NY, where city residents have been advocating for the teardown of the elevated portion of I-81 for decades. We will meet with locals working to keep the story of the old “Ward 15” alive and push the city to rebuild the neighborhood. The highway is beyond its expected life and is currently slated for teardown. It appears the next challenge of highway infrastructure will be to determine how to use land formerly occupied by the highway.
From Syracuse, we will travel to Rochester – a city ahead of its time in highway removal. A section of the Inner Loop in Rochester was removed about ten years ago, filled in (the highway was 20 feet below grade), and is now fully developed with apartment buildings, restaurants, and other urban amenities. All is not perfect – there’s still other sections of the Inner Loop transportation and community advocates would like to tear down.
Fall Session 3: School Transportation and its role for Equity
Monday, October 6, 6-8PM
Over 50 million students travel to school each day, and how they get there shapes whether they arrive at school ready to learn. At the same time, students with low-quality neighborhood schools may depend on school buses or other subsidized transportation to travel to a higher-quality or preferred school. In this session, we will explore the role transportation plays for students, including the origins of pupil transportation in America, the desegregation busing era, and school buses in the current era of school choice.
Fall Session 4: Preparing for Final Policy Day
Monday, October 20, 6-8PM
Students will brainstorm and prepare their final policy topics.
Fall Session 5: Practice for Final Policy Day
Monday, November 3, 6-8PM
Students will practice their final presentations with College faculty and staff.
Fall Session/Celebration: Policy Day in DC
Date TBA
Previous Building America Programs
Fall 2023: Reinventing Education (final report | media coverage)
Spring 2024: Affordable Housing
2024-2025: Transportation & Health