Making A Difference: Graduate Studies in Transportation at UCLA
When
students come to UCLA to study transportation, they join a worldwide network
of hundreds of UCLA transportation alumni, many of whom hold leadership
positions in government, private consulting, and advocacy organizations.
UCLA-trained transportation planners and policy analysts develop, analyze,
and manage the transportation systems that move society. Here are some
examples of the current work of UCLA transportation alumni:
- Transportation planners at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation
Authority develop new, smart “rapid bus” services to speed
commuters along congested streets.
- Transportation policy analysts with the California Department of
Transportation develop new programs and services to help low-income
people commute to and from steady jobs.
- Transportation policy analysts with a consulting firm in New York
City develop new tools for measuring transportation system performance.
- Transportation analysts with a planning advocacy organization in
Washington, DC organize and lobby for improved alternatives to private
vehicle travel.
- Transportation planners with a consulting firm in Orange County use
computer models to forecast changes in development patterns and travel
behavior.
- Transportation planners with the World Bank develop more cost-effective
and sustainable transportation services in developing countries.
- Transportation planners with the Federal Transit Administration develop programs to encourage pedestrian - and bicycle-friendly developments around major transit stops and stations.
The Institute of Transportation Studies has been fortunate to attract many
of the best and the brightest students to the three graduate transportation
policy and planning programs at UCLA. Since 2000, UCLA ITS-affiliated students have:
- Won eleven awards from the Council of University Transportation Centers for the
best transportation policy/planning dissertation, thesis, or capstone project in the
U.S. -- far more than any other university;
- Won "Best Paper" awards from the Transportation Research Board, the
American Planning Association, and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning;
- Been awarded more than a dozen Eisenhower Transportation Fellowships
from the U.S. Department of Transportation;
- Been awarded eleven Eno Transportation Foundation Fellowships;
- Taken transportation faculty positions at the California Polytechnic
University, Florida State University, San Luis Obispo, University of
Buffalo - State University of New York, University of California at Berkeley,
University of New Orleans, University of Southern California, Columbia University,
St. Louis University, MIT, and the University of Texas - Arlington;
- Been appointed to the governing board of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority; and
- Graduated first in the Urban Planning MA class four times.