Transportation has emerged as one of the highest priority issues for policymakers, employers, and citizens. The certificate program enhances the education of current and future transportation professionals to respond to this challenging environment. It builds upon existing programs in a variety of disciplines offered from four colleges and two campuses in the ASU system. The program approaches the subject from an integrated systems perspective and exposes students to a range of transportation alternatives and the interrelationships between transportation and economics, social equity, land use, technology, policy, energy, and the environment.

The certificate program offers current ASU graduate students and transportation professionals the opportunity to pursue a wide range of transportation-related issues from a multimodal, interdisciplinary perspective.

The certificate is intended to be either a specialization within an existing graduate degree program or a stand-alone 16 credit, non-degree program.

                          Visit Canvas                                Visit ASU Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies website

(Please note that only enrolled students have access to the Canvas link.) 

Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies

Applicants -- either those already enrolled in an ASU degree program, or those who would like to do the certificate alone -- must complete the online application through Graduate Admission. In the application, you will be asked to upload:

• A one-page letter of interest describing your overall objective in the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies certificate program. Be sure to clearly state your interests in transportation in your graduate college and provide evidence that obtaining the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies certificate will benefit your graduate college experience.
• A list of all completed courses you will apply towards the certificate
• A current resume or curriculum vitae
  

Applicants who are not currently enrolled in an ASU degree program, but wish to seek a graduate degree as well as the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies, must complete the full Graduate Admission application process as specified by the school of interest in addition to an online application for the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies Certificate.  Please see each school’s guidelines for admission to a degree program. Please be aware that admission to a degree program and to the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies Certificate are independent of each other. Applicants interested in applying to the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies Certificate in addition to a degree program must also complete an admission essay for the certificate program that is independent from an admission essay for a degree program.

PLEASE NOTE - No more than 6.0 credits taken prior to admission into the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies certificate program may be included on the plan of study. Please apply early.

Questions regarding the application process should be directed to sgsup.gradprograms@asu.edu.

Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies

The certificate is comprised of 16 credit hours, broken down in the following manner:

• PUP 564/591 Transportation Systems Professional Seminar (3 credit hours)
• CEE 591 Interdisciplinary Transportation Seminar (1 credit hour)
• Three elective courses (9 credit hours) from an approved list of transportation-related courses.  These electives must include:

1. 3.0 credits from any school (ex. School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning)
2. 3.0 credits from a different school or college (ex. Fulton Schools of Engineering, School of Sustainability, School of Public Affairs)
3. 3.0 credits from a third subject prefix not fulfilled by #1 or #2 above (ex. AMT, CEE, GCU, GIS, PAF, PUP, SOS)

• PUP 593 Applied Project: Transportation Capstone, which consists of a capstone research paper or project that explores a transportation problem from a multidisciplinary perspective (3 credit hours)
  

PUP 564/591 Transportation Systems Professional Seminar generally meets only in the Fall semester in a once-a-week 2.5-hour evening class. It offers a broad overview of key concepts, transportation modes (road, rail, air, transit, non-motorized), geographic settings (rural, urban, parks, Indian lands, international trade), and issues (economics, equity, planning, safety, finance, regulation, environment, public participation, aging, alternative fuels). It features speakers from all academic disciplines in order to introduce you to the variety of disciplinary perspectives, terminology, and methods.

CEE 591 Interdisciplinary Transportation Seminar is generally held once each Fall and Spring semester. Students outside the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering may need to request an override to enroll.

Students are expected to attend transportation-related seminars and events offered by the different disciplines. Requirements to attend a certain number of these events will be built into PUP 564/591, CEE 591, and PUP 593 class requirements.

In developing a capstone paper, students are encouraged to work with transportation professionals or faculty in their area of interest to identify a topic that is of interest to the broader public and/or academia. Capstone papers can take various forms: 

• An extended literature review
• A substantial term paper
• Survey research
• Data analysis
• Policy analysis
• A draft proposal
• A planning document

 A thesis, dissertation, or applied project that focuses on transportation may substitute for a capstone paper. Students, however, must still register for the 3-credit PUP 593 course in the semester in which the substitute capstone thesis or project is to be completed. Credit for the substitute capstone will not be granted until the thesis, dissertation, or applied project is completed. The substitute capstone activity must be an individual project rather than a group project, must be worth a minimum of 5 credits, and must focus primarily on transportation. The director of the certificate program must approve any substitute cap

Students need to be aware that the 3-credit transportation certificate capstone paper does not replace a final culminating experience for a degree (i.e., thesis, applied project, capstone, and dissertation).

All decisions related to program offerings, admissions, and departmental participation are made in cooperation with the Transdiciplinary Transportation Studies Certificate Advisory Committee, which includes a member from several participating schools.

Be in touch regularly with the certificate director by email to let them know you have applied to earn the certificate and to verify the courses you are taking meet the requirements.

The Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies certificate is now offering courses on three ASU campuses as well as Internet courses. Internet courses do not meet at specific times. Follow guidelines given by instructors.

PUP 564/591, the required transportation proseminar, will be every Fall semester. It will be a discussion-based evening class, most likely on a Wednesday evening.

Please note that the capstone paper—PUP 593—does not meet at a specific time, even though the university course schedule says so. It is an independent project and is offered every semester. 

The courses listed below are approved transportation-related electives. Students wishing to take elective courses other than those listed here should submit the Petition for Interdisciplinary Elective.

* A maximum of 6.0 credits of 400-level elective coursework may be included on the plan of study.

Director

Michael Kuby
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
(PhD, Boston University)

Optimal facility location and network design models, transportation geography, light rail, alternative fuels, carbon capture and storage

Advisory Committee

Laurence Gesell
College of Letters and Sciences
(PhD, Arizona State University)

Airport and airline management, law, and regulation

Yingyan Lou
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
(PhD, University of Florida)

Transportation systems analysis, network modeling and optimization, intelligent transportation systems, transportation safety

Arnold Maltz
Supply Chain Management, WP Carey School of Business
(PhD, The Ohio State University)

Gerald Miller
Public Administration, School of Public Affairs
(PhD, University of Georgia, 1979)

Public budget, financial management, municipal bonds

Pitu Mirchandani
Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering
(PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Evaluating emergency evacuation, enhanced monitoring and planning of network infrastructure

Deborah Salon
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
(PhD, University of California, Davis)

Sustainable urban transportation, understanding transportation choices, climate policy for transportation, urban economics

Affiliated Faculty

Mikhail Chester
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
(PhD, University of California, Berkeley)

Energy and environmental life cycle assessment of transportation and land use systems, human health and ecosystem services impact assessment, environmental mitigation

Stewart Fotheringham
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
(PhD in Geography, McMaster University, Canada)

Mathematical modelling of flows - spatial interaction modelling; big data issues in transportation; spatial analysis of traffic accidents; GIS-T

Gary Grossman
School for the Future of Innovation in Society
(PhD, Purdue University)

International issues in transportation

Kamil Kaloush
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
(PhD, Arizona State University)

Asphalt mixtures, design, and characterizations, pavement management

Jason Kelley
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
(PhD, Arizona State University)

Urban transportation planning, environmental justice, sustainable urban planning and design

David King
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
(PhD, Arizona State University)

Codependence of transportation and land use planning, and transportation finance and economics, including parking policy, taxi services, micro-transit, and urban freight, and how these policies interact with land use planning

Michael Mamlouk
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
(PhD, Purdue University)

Pavement analysis

Nathan Parker
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
(PhD, University of California, Davis)

Transportation and energy, alternative fuels, biofuels, energy transitions, spatial simulation of future of transportation energy supplies, transportation energy policy

Mary Jane Parmentier
School for the Future of Innovation in Society
(PhD, University of Denver)

Transportation technology, international issues in transportation

David Pijawka
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
(PhD, Clark University)

Transportation of hazardous materials, environmental consequences of transportation decision making

Jorge Sefair
School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems
(PhD, University of Florida)

Network optimization, robust optimization, and integer programming, applications of optimization in environment, public policy, and urban planning

Benjamin Underwood
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
(PhD, North Carolina State University)

Asphalt concrete performance testing, design, and analysis; Constitutive modeling of construction materials; sustainable pavement solutions

Eric Welch
School Of Public Affairs
(PhD Public Administration, Syracuse University)

Transit and mobility, large transit technology systems, extreme weather and transit, equity, transit decision making, transit training

Learn more about our research!

 Visit Research Page

Geography

• Jonathan Davis

Social Work

• Annie Eldon

Congratulations to our following alumni who earned their certificates!

If your current position isn’t shown, send us the details in a note to sgsup@asu.edu.

Civil Engineering

• Joel Chong (CEO, Oriental Link Holdings)
• Patrick Montgomery (Graduate Engineer, Furgo)
• Scott Nodes (Traffic Engineering Design Manager, ADOT)
• Lydia Dukelow (Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Engineer, Arizona Department of Transportation)

Civil and Environmental Engineering

• Justin Peterson (Manager of Civil Engineering at DEPCOM Power, Inc.)

Environmental Design and Planning

• Aaron Gannon

Geography

• Lindsey Conrow, PhD (post-doc Universität Zürich)
• Shuyao Hong (Maricopa Association of Governments, Traffic Data Forecasting and Modeling, Systems Analysis)
• Jason Kelley, (Lecturer, ASU School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning)
• Eric Matranga (Owner, Western GIS Services)
• Yang Song (PhD student and Vulcan Project Research Asst, ASU Life Sciences)
• Sean Tierney (Adjunct Professor, Department of Geography, University of Denver)

Industrial Engineering

• Ozgur Araz (Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota)

Management (Carey School)

• Theodore Beck

Physical Activity, Nutrition and Wellness

• Tracy Washington (Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology, Faculty of Health, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Brisbane, Australia)

Planning

• Erik Aldrete (Technical Project Manager, AT&T Mobility)
• Mawdhah Al Hashemi (MUEP)
• Shaine Alleman (Real Estate, Zoning, and Land Use Attorney, Jones Law)
• Ben Andersen (Employment & Training Program, Department of Economic Security, State of Arizona)
• Ramon Aranki (Urban Planner at Sun Garden, LLC/ Property Management / Advertising)
• Harold Archer (Transportation Planner, Wilson & Co. and Strategic Humanitarian Operations and Policy Planner, US Army)
• Raymond Banker (Planner, Maricopa County Planning and Development Department)
• Anton Fischer (AutoCAD Engineer, Alliance Service and Controls Specialist, Inc.)
• Catherine Musili (PhD student in Sustainability, ASU)
• Yichuan Shi (Consultant, JLL, Nanjing, China)
• Allison Shinn (Transportation Planner, WSP)
• Lyle Begiebing (Planner at Bergin, Frakes, Smalley & Oberholtzer, PLLC)
• Richard Brockmyer (Strategic Planner I, Utah Transit Administration)
• Daniel Christen (Manager of Market Intelligence, Siemens, Mobility/ITS Division, Infrastructure and Cities Sector)
• Mengyao Cheng (Community Development Intern, City of Tempe)
• Matthew Detamore (Project Manager, SMS Assist, LLC)
• James Gardner (Planner, Yavapai County/Gardner Planning Associates)
• Yuhan Huang
• Lee Jimenez (Federal-Aid Program Coordinator, Maricopa County Department of Transportation)
• Thara Johnson (Urban Planner, City of Redmond, WA)
• Alexander Jacinto (Planners, Ayers Saint Gross)
• Robin Kniss
• Kirsten Lawton
• Jianyi Li (PhD student, ASU)
• Liyuan Liu (Masters Student, ASU Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization Program)
• Jennifer Love (Senior Planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Adjunct Faculty, ASU SGSUP)
• Daksha Masurkar (Transportation Planner, AECOM)
• Cavan Noone (Transportation Planner 1, HDR, Phoenix, AZ, working with Valley Metro)
• Mary O'Brien (Bicycle Education Coordinator, ASU Wellness)
• Wesley Pittman (Regional Transportation Commission, Washoe County, NV)
• Mihir Prakash (Consultant, World Bank)
• Natalia Ramirez (Planner, McMahon Transportation Engineers and Planners)
• Kevin Rayes (Transportation Planner II, Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments)
• Ann-Jillian Reyes (Transportation Planning Specialist, City of Raleigh, NC)
• Hannah Ritchie (Service Planner, TriMet, Portland, OR)
• Bharath Sollapuram (Application Developer, NCDOT)
• Michael Samples (Senior Estimator and GIS Systems Manager at SiteWorks)
• Joshua Schmidt
• Jinwen Xu (PhD student, University of Hawaii)
• Carl Whaley

Planning and Landscape Architecture

• Frederick Bowers (Community Planner, Federal Highway Administration Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty)
• Shahin Dahnad (Community Service, ShD Enterprises)
• Marc Pearsall
• Taruna Tayal (Sr. Project Manager at VHB Engineering Inc.)

Public Affairs

• Maria Deeb
• Michael Haller
• Antonio Mlynek (Chief Operations Officer at Pape School Bus, Inc.)

Public Policy

• William Terrance (Database Technician, PaleoWest Archaeology)

Sustainability

• Rebecca Santiago - dual Masters in Sustainability and MUEP (Transit Planner, HDR/Valley Metro)

Non-degree

• Matthew Dudley (Transportation Program Manager, City of Glendale AZ)
• Emmanuel Ike (Transportation Planner/Faculty Associate, ASU)
• Robert Hollings (Chief Analyst, Synergistic Public Policy Research)

Access the Transdisciplinary Transportation Studies Certificate in Canvas:

(Please note that only enrolled students have access to the link.)

Visit Canvas

Email Address

sgsup.gradprograms@asu.edu

Email addresses for faculty, staff and graduate students

See listings under People

Physical Location

Main office: Coor Hall, 5th floor (open 8:00 am - 5:00 pm)
Phone: (480) 965-7533
Fax: (480) 965-8313

Mailing Address

School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
Arizona State University
P.O. Box 875302
Tempe, AZ 85287-5302

Express Mail Address

School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
Arizona State University
Coor Hall, 5th floor
975 S. Myrtle Ave.
Tempe, AZ 85287

Location Details(Maps)

• Coor Hall and nearby parking: Larger version
• Interactive map with printable versions
• Driving Directions via Google