Peter Flachsbart

Areas of Interest

Transit-oriented Development, Neighborhood Planning, Environmental Psychology, Human Exposure to Air Pollution

Education

• PhD., Urban Systems Planning, Northwestern University
• M.S., Urban and Regional Planning, Northwestern University
• B.S., Civil Engineering, Washington University

Awards

• 2021-2022 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award
• Best Reviewer Award, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 2014
• American Planning Association Chapter President’s Council Leadership Award, 2013

Bio

My interest in city planning grew after visiting Chicago and reading a book titled, The Exploding Metropolis, edited by William H. Whyte, Jr. in 1966.  I read the book while commuting by bus to my job at a civil engineering firm in downtown St. Louis that summer.  I have spent most of my life as a university professor of city planning. I have held faculty appointments on three campuses: California State University, Dominguez Hills (1972 – 1976); Stanford University (1976 – 1980); and the University of Hawai`i at Manoa (1980 – present).  At UH Manoa, I currently teach graduate courses in land use and transportation planning and in the use of methods and models in city planning practice and research. In April 2013, the American Planning Association honored me with a Leadership Award at its national conference in Chicago.  This award recognized my 35 years of continuous service as the Professional Development Officer of the APA Hawai`i Chapter.  

During my academic career, much of my research has focused on the subject of human exposure to carbon monoxide concentrations in the exhaust emissions of motor vehicles in traffic.  Several years ago, I wrote chapters on this subject for two books published by CRC Taylor & Francis. The books are: Exposure Analysis edited by Wayne Ott, Anne Steinemann, and Lance Wallace (2007); and Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, edited by David G. Penney (2008).  Both chapters are based on research and consulting work that I did for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization since 1980.  I have given talks based on my research at professional meetings in the U.S. and in several cities abroad including: Geneva, Switzerland; Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Bangkok, Thailand.  Because of my interest in the health effects of air pollution, I served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Lung Association of Hawai`i from 1990 to 1998. For ALAH, I also served as Board Vice President in 1998 and as Board President from 2000 to 2001.

Courses Instructed

• PLAN 605 Planning Models
• PLAN 640 Land Use Policies and Programs
• PLAN 645 Land Use Planning
• PLAN 648 Urban Transportation Policy and Planning
• PLAN 650 Research Design Seminar
• PLAN 655 Planning Research Methods

Selected Books and Publications

Peter Flachsbart. 2019. Let taller buildings rise at Ala Moana, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, October 23, p. A14.

Peter Flachsbart and Wayne Ott. 2019. Trends in passenger exposure to carbon monoxide inside a vehicle on an arterial highway of the San Francisco Peninsula over 30 years: A longitudinal study, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association 69 (4): 459-477. https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2018.1548387

Julia Crowley and Peter Flachsbart. 2018. Local debris management planning and FEMA policies on disaster recovery in the United States. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 27: 373-379.

Abbey Seitz and Peter Flachsbart. 2017. Identifying the mobility challenges of women of low socio-economic status in Bengaluru, India.  SAGAR: A South Asia Research Journal. 25: 26-65.

Ashwin Sabapathy, Sumeet Saksena, and Peter Flachsbart. 2015. Environmental justice in the context of commuters’ exposure to CO and PM10 in Bangalore, India. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology25: 200-207.

Peter Flachsbart. 2015. The APA Hawaii Planning Oral Histories/Recording Project: The Wisdom of Our Elders: Final Report.  Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ashwin Sabapathy, Peter Flachsbart, and Sumeet Saksena. 2012. Commuting patterns of employees in the information technology and traditional manufacturing sectors of Bangalore, India. Transport Policy 19: 155-166.

Sharon Miyashiro, Peter Flachsbart, and Makena Coffman. 2010. Final Report Strategies for Energy Efficiencies in Transportation (‘SEET’). Task Agreement No. HWY-P 2009-001. State of Hawai’i Department of Transportation, Highway Division and the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. Public Policy Center, College of Social Sciences, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai’i. 174 pages.

Peter Flachsbart and Makena Coffman. 2010. Attitudes toward transit oriented development: Results of a joint telephone and Web-based survey in Honolulu during summer 2009. A paper presented at the Urban Affairs Association 40th Conference, Honolulu, Hawai’i.

Peter Flachsbart and Makena Coffman. 2009. Hawai’i stands at energy crossroads: Isle survey to take reading on what public wants for state’s preferred future. The Honolulu Advertiser, July 3, p. A18.

Peter Flachsbart. 2008. Exposure to carbon monoxide from mobile sources: Implications of U.S. studies for Asian cities. Workshop on Near-Roadway and On-Road Exposures to Air Pollution: Risk Communication and Decision-Making, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.

Sumeet Saksena, Peter Flachsbart, T. N. Quang, T. Nguyen, P. N. Dang. 2008. Commuters’ exposure to particulate matter and carbon monoxide in Hanoi, Vietnam. Transportation Research Part D. 13: 206-211.

Peter G. Flachsbart. 2008. Chapter 2: Exposure to Ambient and Microenvironmental Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide. In: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, David G. Penney, editor. CRC Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 5-42.

Wendy Okazaki, Scott Q. Turn, and Peter Flachsbart. 2008. Characterization of food waste generators: A Hawaii case study. Waste Management. 28: 2483-2494.

Peter G. Flachsbart. 2007. Chapter 6: Exposure to Carbon Monoxide. In: Human Exposure Analysis, W. Ott. A. Steinemann, and L. Wallace, editors. CRC Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 113-146.

Peter Flachsbart, Sumeet Saksena, P. N. Dang, Ashwin Sabapathy, and Hernani Yulinawati. 2007. Road-user exposure to CO and PM10 in three Asian cities: Capacity building efforts and pilot studies. Presentation at the 17th Annual Conference of the International Society of Exposure Analysis, Durham, North Carolina.

Peter G. Flachsbart. 1999. Chapter 4: Exposure to exhaust and evaporative emissions from motor vehicles. In: Urban Traffic Pollution, Dietrich Schwela and Olivier Zali, editors. E & FN Spon, London, England. pp. 89-132.

Peter G. Flachsbart. 1999. Human exposure to carbon monoxide from mobile sources. Chemosphere: Global Change Science 1: 301-329.

Peter G. Flachsbart. 1999. Models of exposure to carbon monoxide inside a vehicle on a Honolulu highway. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 9: 245-260.

Peter G. Flachsbart. 1995. Long-term trends in United States highway emissions, ambient concentrations, and in-vehicle exposure to carbon monoxide in traffic. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 5 (4): 473-495.

Peter G. Flachsbart. 1992. Human exposure to motor vehicle air pollutants. In: Motor Vehicle Air Pollution: Public Health Impact and Control Measures. David T. Mage and Olivier Zali, editors. World Health Organization and Republic and Canton of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. pp. 85-113.”