ITS scholars approach much of their research through the lens of transportation equity, studying how travel behavior, infrastructure development, and the environmental impacts of transportation impact low-income residents and communities of color. The Access to Opportunities program, a partnership with the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, examines how transportation connects — or disconnects — people from high-quality housing, stable jobs, and other paths out of poverty.
Lead Scholars
Other Scholars
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
Professor of Urban Planning
Paul Ong
Professor of Urban Planning
Gregory Pierce
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Urban Planning
Brian Taylor
Professor of Urban Planning & ITS Director
Martin Wachs
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Briefs, News, and Opinion
Op-Ed: You shouldn’t need a car to get tested for COVID-19
Los Angeles Times — July 2020
Poor, essential and on the bus: Coronavirus is putting public transportation riders at risk
USA Today — April 2020
How Single-Family Garages Can Ease California’s Housing Crisis
CityLab — 2019
The Green New Deal’s Trains and EVs Won’t Work for Everyone
Wired — 2019
The Hidden Costs of Commuting While Female
CNN — 2018
Trump’s Welfare Reform Plan Misses a Key Piece: Transportation
Washington Post — 2018
More Poorer Residents Are Driving Cars, Presenting New Issues for Transit Agencies
Governing — 2018
Millennial Travel: Who Knows About Kids These Days?
Evelyn Blumenberg, Brian D. Taylor — 2017
Improving Los Angeles Transportation is a Civil Rights Issue
Pacific Standard — 2017
The Newest Americans, Getting Off the Bus
CityLab — 2017
Owning a Car Is Integral to Climbing the Economic Ladder
NBC News — 2015
Why Many Orange County Riders Got Off the Bus
Orange County Register — 2015
Selected Research Publications
Sexual Harassment and Assault in Transit Environments: A Review of the English-language Literature
Hao Ding, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Asha Weinstein Agrawal— 2020
Automatic Generation of School Bus Routes in Los Angeles
Mason A. Porter, David J. Spencer, Cu Hauw Hung— 2020
Low-Income Workers, Residential Location, and the Changing Commute in the United States
Evelyn Blumenberg, Hannah King— 2019
Physical Accessibility and Employment among Older Adults in California
Evelyn Blumenberg, Andrew Schouten, Miriam Pinski, and Martin Wachs — 2019
A Resurgence in Urban Living? Trends in Residential Location Patterns of Young and Older Adults Since 2000
Evelyn Blumenberg, Anne Brown, Kelcie Ralph, Brian D. Taylor, and Carole Turley Vougaris— 2019
The Poverty of the Carless: Toward Universal Auto Access
Michael Manville, David A. King, Michael J. Smart — 2019
Toward a richer picture of the mobility needs of older Americans
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Martin Wachs, Miriam Pinski— 2019
Car-deficit households: Determinants and implications for household travel in the U.S.
Evelyn Blumenberg, Anne Brown, Andrew Schouten — 2018
Automobile Ownership and Travel by the Poor: Evidence from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey
Evelyn Blumenberg, Gregory Pierce — 2018
Travel Behavior of the Poor After Welfare Reform
Evelyn Blumenberg, Trevor Thomas — 2018
A Taste for Transit? Analyzing Public Transit Use Trends Among Youth
Anne E. Brown, Evelyn Blumenberg, Brian D. Taylor, Kelcie Ralph, Carole Turley Voulgaris— 2016
Welfare to Work Voucher Program
Evelyn Blumenberg, Gregory Pierce— 2016
The Drive to Work: The Relationship between Transportation Access, Housing Assistance, and Employment Among Participants in the Welfare to Work Voucher Program
Evelyn Blumenberg, Gregory Pierce— 2016
Getting Around When You’re Just Getting By: Transportation Survival Strategies of the Poor
Evelyn Blumenberg, Asha Weinstein Agrawal — 2014
What’s Youth Got to Do with It? Exploring the Travel Behavior of Teens and Young Adults
Evelyn Blumenberg, Brian D. Taylor, Michael Smart, Kelcie Ralph, Madeline Wander, Stephen Brumbagh — 2012
Recent Projects
The Role of Transportation in School Access: A Case Study of the Geffen Academy
PI: Esteban Doyle Team:
Class Act: An Assessment of Los Angeles Metro’s U-Pass Program
PI: Ryan Yowell Team:
Mode Choice and Perceptions of the Built Environment in Watts and Jordan Downs
PI: Dustin Khuu Team:
TOD and Changes in Jobs, Housing, and the Commute
PI: Evelyn Blumenberg Team:
Transportation, Quality of Life, and Older Adults
PI: Martin Wachs Team:
Pluralizing transportation epistemologies: Culture, environment and mobile materialities in French Polynesia
PI: Teo (Timothy) Wickland Team:
Low-Income Households and Neighborhood Choice: Causes and Consequences
PI: Andrew Schouten Team:
Socially-Isolated Older Women: Intersections of Mobility & Social Health
PI: Lia Marshall Team: Catherine Sarkisian, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
Wheels for All: Ensuring Equitable Access to Dockless Mobility in Los Angeles
PI: Karina Schneider Team:
The Changing Spatial Location of Low-Wage Work and Workers in California: Implications for Transit Ridership
PI: Evelyn Blumenberg Team: Hannah King