Transit Research Center's Annual Research Symposium

Please Support the Transit Research Center!

The Transit Research Symposium convenes students, researchers, transit agencies, local governments, state agencies and policy makers. We present cutting edge research on transit ridership and recovery, innovations, transit users and equity! Sessions include in-depth and engaging workshop discussions of critical policy and practice issues facing transit.

Highlights of last year’s symposium included the keynote from Julie Kirschbaum, Director of Transit San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and Kari Watkins’s report on her visit to Kenya to observe their microtransit.

The Transit Research Center, established in 2021, explores how policymakers, communities, and transit agencies can make transit more accessible and equitable, improve perceptions of public transit, and allow it to thrive in the US. The Center seeks to improve transit provision and use through research on travel behavior and ridership; transit operations, including integration with other modes; and innovations such as open-loop payments.

We are raising money to foster engaged research to support transit agencies in their critical role to improve equitable transportation access and mobility and reduce the climate impacts of transportation through alternative modes. Our work impacts transit agencies throughout California and the US including local agencies Sacramento Regional Transit, Yolobus, and the Capitol Corridor. We collaborate on state wide efforts including a recent Report on Transit Technology Ecosystem published in May 2024, and the California Transit Transformation Task Force to develop policy recommendations for transit recovery.

Your donation will provide general support for the Center, including our current priority of supporting the fourth annual Transit Research Symposium!