Meet our Featured Author: Sylvie Guezeon

Sylvie Guezeon, PhD Candidate, is the creator of a new, research-to-comic book, Where Does This Route Go?, which translates findings from her Spring 2024 University of Minnesota research into an accessible, engaging format that elevates student voices in public transportation. The book explores real trade-offs and lived experiences that many riders—especially students and women—navigate every day, including safety vs. speed/frequency, the human dimension of learning transit (and the role of ambassadors), the connection between housing/land use and transit access, 15-minute city challenges, and how riders talk about (and often avoid talking about) homelessness and public space.

Ride along with real student experiences in this research-to-comic from the Twin Cities. Based on a Spring 2024 study at the University of Minnesota, this lively, accessible book translates campus transit findings into short, memorable scenes—perfect for sparking conversation in classrooms, studios, and community meetings.

Through student-voiced snapshots, readers explore everyday trade-offs and big ideas: choosing safety vs. speed, learning transit through people first and apps second, how housing and land use shape access, the promise (and limits) of the 15-minute city, ways students want to give feedback (“we’re on our phones all the time”), and the sensitive, human dimensions around homelessness and public space.

Ideal for: college and high-school readers, campus planners, student affairs professionals, transit agencies, and anyone working to make university transportation safer, fairer, and easier to use.

What you’ll find inside:

• Engaging comic strips grounded in student voices

• Clear explanations of key concepts and campus trade-offs

• Discussion prompts and “go-further” resources for each theme

• A practical lens for Transit Ambassador programs and digital engagement

This is a love letter to public transit—and an invitation to listen, learn, and improve the ride together!

As a special token of gratitude to the YEP! organization, Sylvie has allocated all earnings for the book to YEP! to help with our mission and vision of uplifting and supporting youth in planning! An enormous thank you to her!