Dr. Polzin is a research professor at TOMNET University Transportation Center School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Dr. Polzin carries out research in mobility analysis, public transportation, travel behavior, planning process development, and transportation decision-making. Dr. Polzin is on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Transportation and serves on several Transportation Research Board and APTA Committees. He recently completed several years of service on the board of directors of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (Tampa, Florida) and on the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization board of directors. Dr. Polzin worked for transit agencies in Chicago (RTA), Cleveland (GCRTA), and Dallas (DART) before joining the University of South Florida in 1988. Dr. Polzin is a Civil Engineering with a BSCE from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and master's and Ph.D. degrees from Northwestern University.
A Few Thoughts on Transportation Funding
Here are a few transportation-related facts that might have slipped through the cracks in the current political debate regarding infrastructure spending.
All I Want for Christmas Is a New Transportation Planning Process
I put my Christmas wish in a little early this year—wanted to give Santa time to deliver, and it's not an easy wish to grant. No data, no graphs, no citations, just some thoughts to share.
Travel Trends: Are They Changing?
Recently released travel data show Americans returning to their cars as the economic recovery deepens. Alternative forms of transportation are not attracting new users.
First Mile-Last Mile, Intermodalism, and Making Public Transit More Attractive
As planners seek to leverage public transit investments with enhanced first mile-last mile connections, it is critical that market analysis guide those initiatives and that impacts and cost effectiveness are part of the performance assessment.
Déjà Vu and the Dilemma for Planners
The future, once again, isn't living up to the expectations of planners. How should long-range planning work in a world that is more suburban and more auto-oriented than a generation of planners and urbanists expected?