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Martin Wachs

Santa Monica Office

Director, Transportation, Space, and Technology Program, RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment

Media Availability

This researcher is available for interviews. Show Details »

Education

Ph.D. and M.S. in urban and regional planning, Northwestern University; B.S. in civil engineering, City University of New York

Biography

Martin Wachs is Director of the Transportation, Space and Technology Program. Until the end of 2005 he was Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Professor of City & Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, where was also Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies. He earlier spent 25 years at UCLA, where he was Chairman of the Department of Urban Planning.

Wachs has written 160 articles and four books on subjects related to relationships between transportation, land use, and air quality, techniques for the evaluation of transportation systems, and the use of performance measurement in transportation planning. His research also addresses issues of equity in transportation policy, problems of crime in public transit systems, the response of transportation systems to natural disasters including earthquakes, and most recently transportation finance in relation to planning and policy.

Dr. Wachs served on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board for nine years and was the TRB Chairman in 2000. He recieved a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowships, a UCLA Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award, the Pyke Johnson Award for the best paper presented at an annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, and the Carey Award for service to the TRB. In 2006 he was named “Member of the Year” by the San Francisco Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar.

Research Focus

Professional ethics; transportation and aging; transportation finance; transportation and land use; transportation and the environment; urban transportation planning

RAND Research Areas

Transportation and Infrastructure

Selected Publications

Ann M. Brach et al., Earmarking in the U.S. Department of Transportation Research Programs, Institute of Transportation Studies, 2005

Bruce Katz and Robert Puentes, eds., "Improving Efficiency and Equity in Transportation Finance", The Brookings Institution Series on Transportation Reform, 2003

Amber Crabbe et al., Local Transportation Sales Taxes: California's Experiment in Transportation Finance, University of California, 2002

Susan Hanson and Genevieve Giuliano, eds., "Reflections on the Planning Process", The Geography of Urban Transportation

International Perspectives on Road Pricing: Report of the Committee for the International Symposium on Road Pricing, "Then and Now: The Evolution of Transport Pricing and Where We Are Today", Key Biscayne

Biography

Prior to joining RAND in 2005, Wachs was Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also served as director of the Institute of Transportation Studies. Prior to this, he spent 25 years at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he served three terms as chairman of the Department of Urban Planning. Wachs is the author of 160 articles and four books on subjects related to relationships between transportation, land use, and air quality; transportation needs of the elderly; techniques for the evaluation of transportation systems; and the use of performance measurement in transportation planning. His research also addresses issues of equity in transportation policy, problems of crime in public transit systems, and the response of transportation systems to natural disasters, including earthquakes. His most recent work focuses on transportation finance in relation to planning and policy.

Research Focus

Professional ethics, transportation and aging, transportation finance, transportation and land use, transportation and the environment, urban transportation planning

Selected Publications

Integrating U.S. Climate, Energy, and Transportation Policies: Proceedings of Three Workshops, Liisa Ecola et al., RAND Corporation, 2009

Moving Los Angeles: Short-Term Policy Options for Improving Transportation, Paul Sorensen et al., RAND Corporation, 2008

Earmarking in the U.S. Department of Transportation Research Programs, Ann M. Brach and Martin Wachs, Transportation Research Part A, Vol. 39, No. 6, July 2005

"Improving Efficiency and Equity in Transportation Finance," in Bruce Katz and Robert Puentes, eds., Taking the High Road: A Metropolitan Agenda for Transportation Reform, The Brookings Institution Press, 2005

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: CNN; KCRW; KFI; KQED; Las Vegas Sun; Los Angeles Times; San Diego Union-Tribune; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Examiner, Southern Political Report

Commentary: CNN.com, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune

To arrange an interview:

Contact the RAND Office of Media Relations, (703) 413-1100, x5117 or (310) 451-6913, or send an email to media@rand.org.

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