Transportation Systems Engineering

1. Introduction

 

Among leading centers for transportation research, the UCI Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers a graduate program which is distinguished by its interdisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary urban transportation issues, and by its unique relationship with the UC Irvine Institute of Transportation Studies.Our program focuses on the planning, design, operation, and management of modern transportation and logistics systems.Emphasis is on the development of fundamental skills and knowledge in engineering, systems analysis, modeling, and planning, combined with advanced computational techniques, to address transportation problems affecting urban travel and goods movement.

 

The program affords a variety of outstanding opportunities for well-qualified and motivated students to contribute to important research as well as gain valuable experience as professional transportation engineers and planners.Financial support through research or teaching assistantships and a variety of fellowships and scholarships is available to qualified students.

 

2. Transportation Engineering Faculty

 

The following constitute the faculty in the graduate program in Transportation Systems Engineering:

 

R. (Jay) Jayakrishnan	Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD, University of Texas, Austin Transportation Systems Analysis, Operational Research, Traffic Theory and Simulation, Transit Modeling
Wenlong Jin	Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD, University of California, Davis Traffic flow theory, transportation network analysis, intelligent transportation systems
Michael McNally	Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD, University of California , Irvine Transportation Systems Analysis, Travel Behavior, Advanced Transportation Management System
Will Recker	Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD, Carnegie-Mellon University Transportation Modeling, Travel Behavior, Traffic Engineering, Advanced Transportation Management Systems
Michael Hyland	Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD, Northwestern University Modeling, Design, Control, and Analysis of Smart City Transportation Systems with Emphases on Shared-use Autonomous Mobility Services and Urban Transit Networks
Stephen Ritchie	Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director, Institute of Transportation Studies PhD, Cornell University Transportation Engineering, Advanced Traffic Management and Control Systems, Emerging Technology Applications
Jean-Daniel Saphores	Associate Professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Planning, Policy, and Design, and Department of Economics and Director, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Transportation Science PhD, Cornell University Transportation and Environmental Economics

 

The following UCI Faculty from other departments are active in transportation research and teaching:

 

 

Amelia Regan	Professor of Computer Science and Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD, University of Texas at Austin Freight Network Analysis, Logistics, Information Technologies, Operations Research
David Brownstone	Professor of Economic PhD, University of California , Berkeley Econometrics
Jan Brueckner	Professor and Chair, Department of Economics PhD, Stanford University Urban economics, public economics, industrial organization, and housing finance
Rina Dechter	Professor of Information and Computer Science PhD, University of California, Los Angeles Automated Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence
Joseph F. Dimento	Professor of Information and Computer Science PhD, J.D. University of Michigan Planning, land use and environmental law, use of social science in policy making, legal control of corporate behavior
G.J. (Pete) Fielding	Professor Emeritus of Social Sciences PhD, University of California , Los Angeles Urban Theory, Transportation Policy
Amihai Glazer	Professor of Economics PhD, Yale University Consumer Behavior, Transportation
Douglas Houston	Assistant Professor of Planning, Policy, and Design PhD, University of California, Los Angeles Transportation, air pollution, urban inequality, environmental equity, spatial analysis.
Sandra Irani	Associate Professor of Information and Computer Science PhD, University of California , Berkeley Analysis of algorithms, on-line algorithms, graph theory and combinatorics
L. Robin Keller	Professor of Operations and Decision Technologies PhD, University of California, Los Angeles Decision analysis, risk analysis, creative problem structuring and behavioral decision theory
Raymond W. Novaco	Professor of Planning, Policy, and Design PhD, Indiana University Human stress, aggression, community psychology
Scott Samuelsen	Professor of Mechanical Aerospace and Environment Engineering PhD, University of California, Berkeley Energy generation, distribution and utilization including the production of electricity, motive power, and propulsive psychology
Kenneth Small	Professor of Economics PhD, University of California , Berkeley Transportation Economics, Urban Economics
Rodolfo Torres	Professor of Planning, Policy, and Design, Chicano/Latino Studies, and Political Science PhD, Claremont Graduate School Specializations: critical urbanism, the state, class structures, studies in racism and inequalities, poverty and social policy

3. The Institute of Transportation Studies

 

The Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), a University of California Organized Research Unit , was established to foster research, education, and training in the field of transportation.A fundamental goal of the Institute is the stimulation of interdisciplinary research on contemporary transportation issues.ITS research at UCI involves faculty and students from the School of Engineering , the School of Social Sciences , the Graduate School of Management, the School of Social Ecology , and the Department of Information and Computer Science.The Institute also hosts visiting scholars from the U.S. and abroad to facilitate collaborative research and information exchange, and sponsors conferences and colloquia to disseminate research results.

 

Research at ITS covers a broad spectrum of transportation issues.ááRecent funded research projects at ITS Irvine focus upon:

 

• Intelligent transportation systems (ITS)
• Planning and analysis of transportation systems
• Transportation systems operation and control
• Traffic flow modeling and network simulation
• Network operations research
• Public and private transit systems analysis
• Artificial intelligence applications
• Travel behavior analysis
• Transportation engineering and safety
• Transport economics, particularly congestion pricing and toll roads
• Applications of information technologies in public, private, personal and freight transportation
• Dynamic and stochastic freight and fleet management
• Design and operation of logistics systems
• Intermodal freight transportation
• Third party logistics

The Institute is part of the University of California Transportation Center, one of ten federally designated centers for transportation research, the ITS Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) Laboratories provide facilities for the teaching, research, and development of ATMS strategies, and includes dedicated workstations tied directly to the City of AnaheimÆs Traffic Management Center (TMC), the Irvine Traffic Research and Analysis Center (ITRAC) and the CALTRANS District 12 Traffic Operations Center (TOC).The labs feature state of the art computer systems, a video teleconferencing center, and large screen displays of real-time traffic conditions throughout Southern California .áThe ATMS Lab also contains hardware and software dedicated to research projects in the area of Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems in Transportation Engineering and Control.áThe ATMS Lab also provides video cameras, recorders, monitors, and accessories for research in traffic detection, monitoring, and analysis, in addition to traffic signal controllers and a variety of traffic data collection devices.

 

These laboratories form the backbone of the State of CaliforniaÆs research initiative in ATMS The Caltrans UCI Advanced ATMS Testbed, together with the associated detector and surveillance subsystem and the large network traffic simulation software suite, provide unparalleled opportunities for research and development of applications of advanced technology in the management of transportation systems.

 

The transportation research program at Irvine is supported by the UCI campus libraries and by the ITS Transportation Library at UC Berkeley.In addition to the resources available from the ITS Berkeley Library, ITS Irvine subscribes to all transpiration research journals, and offers a variety of computer-based information retrieval services.ITS maintains a regular publication series which documents research conducted within its programs.The Institute is also the editorial headquarter of four international journals:

 

Transportation Research, Part A: Policy and Practice
Transportation Research, Part B: Methodological
Transportation Research, Part C: Emerging Technologies
Accident Analysis and Prevention

 

These journals are among the premier research journals in the field of transportation and are received by over 2,000 subscribes throughout the world.

 

4. Graduate Degree Programs

 

The Department of civil Engineering offers both the Master of Science (M.S) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degrees with a concentration in Transportation Systems Engineering.

 

M.S. Program

 

The Master of Science in Civil Engineering degree reflects in advanced levels of competence for professional practice as demonstrated by the achievements of greater breadth than the bachelorÆs degree and by the development of some depth in a specific area of transportation and urban systems engineering.Students may select between two alternative courses of study:ááa Thesis or an All-course Option.

 

The Thesis Option requires completion of a Master research thesis, the purpose of which is to demonstrate critical judgment, intellectual synthesis, and skill in written communication.The program requires successful completion of minimum of 36 units (quarter system), comprising required and elective formal courses and thesis research.This total includes successful completion of 21 units of core graduate transportation courses (listed in Section 5), other graduate academic unites (selected from courses numbered 200 through 289 in the UCI general catalog), and a maximum of 8 units for the thesis.All graduate students must enroll in the Transportation Engineering Research Seminar each quarter.The MS candidate must meet with an assigned faculty advisor to prepare a plan of study and to select a thesis topic (a sample MS Plan of Study form is attached).Students can normally expect to complete the degree in from one to two academic years.

 

The All-course Option also requires 36 units, of which at least 30 units must be from graduate-level courses, including the MS Core.No research thesis or comprehensive examination is required.This option allows for the degree to be achieved on a part-time basis.All other requirements are the same as for the Thesis Option.

 

Ph.D Program

 

The Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering indicates attainment of a breadth of scholarship, the ability to communicate advanced concepts, and the capacity for independent, innovative research.The doctoral program is tailored to the individual needs of each student, with a detailed program of study (a sample Program of Study form is attached) being formulated in consultation with an advisory committee in consideration of the objectives and preparation of the candidate.The program of study must be approved by the faculty of the School of Engineering.There are several PhD program milestones to be passed:

 

Admission to the program by the faculty of the School;

 

Satisfactory completion within one year of entrance of a preliminary examination to assess the studentÆs background and potential for success in the program;

 

Advancement to candidacy through a formal qualifying examination;

 

Completion of a significant, independent research investigation and dissertation;

 

An oral defense of the dissertation.

 

It is expected that all PhD students satisfy the core course program of the MS Degree Program or its equivalent.Each student must also complete a sequence of three approved courses in mathematics and a minimum of three advanced Transportation courses.PhD degrees are typically earned within two to four year after the MS degree, and within a maximum of seven years. A detailed description of the formal requirements of the Civil Engineering PhD in Transportation systems Engineering is available.

 

UC Irvine also offers interdisciplinary graduate degrees in Transportation Science.This program is directed toward those individuals who do not have a formal background in either Civil Engineering or Economics but who desire to pursue advanced studies in transportation.

 

As part of their program of study, students enrolled in the Ph.D program must complete at least three advanced transportation courses (selected from CE 220b, CE221b, CE223b, CE224b, CE225b, CE226b, and CE229b) and three advanced mathematics and statistics courses selected from the following:

 

Math 112 A, B, C	Mathematical Methods for Engineering and Science
Math 114 A, B	Applied Complex Analysis
Math 171 A, B, C	Mathematical Methods of Operations Research (ECE 181 a ,b,c )
Math 201 A, B, C	Mathematical Statistics/Regression/Experimental Design
Math 292 A, B, C	Applied Mathematics
ME 201 A, B	Engineering Analysis I,II
SS 220 A, B, C, D	Statistics and Econometrics I,II,III,IV

5. Transportation Systems Engineering Courses

 

The following courses are taught by transportation and other Civil Engineering faculty.All undergraduate transportation courses are offer each academic year.All MS Core transportation courses are taught annually; other courses typically are taught in alternating years.Courses are identified with the associate faculty and quarter offered.

 

Undergraduate Transportation Courses

 

Graduate Transportation Courses

 

MS Core courses (shown in bold) are typically taught annually; other courses typically are taught in alternating years.

 

Other Selected Graduate Courses

 

6. Further Information

 

For further information on the Transportation Systems Engineering program, contact:

 

Dr. Stephen G. Ritchie
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-2175
sritchie@uci.edu

 

For further information on the program in Transportation Science, please contact:

 

Dr Jean-Daniel Saphores
Institute of Transportation Studies
University of California , Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-3600
saphores@uci.edu

 

ITS Homepage:
http://www.its.uci.edu

 

CEE Homepage:
http://www.eng.uci.edu/dept/cee/

 

For a graduate application and financial aid information, please contact:

 

April Heath
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California , Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-2175
heatha@uci.edu
949-824-0584