Course Objectives

This course explores the ways in which cities plan for growth and asks how cities can shape their future in a way that minimizes the harm to the environment while also meeting the needs of their residents. The course will introduce students to standard city planning tools (the general plan, zoning ordinances), as well as innovative tools that cities are using to manage their growth in an environmentally sensitive way. The course focuses on local planning practices in California but considers examples from elsewhere in the U.S. and the relationships between local, state, and federal policy. The objective of the course is for students to acquire a basic understanding of local and regional planning with respect to law, policy, and practice.

Course Objectives

The objective of the course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of transportation policy from the federal to the local level. The course is divided into three sections: background, policies and processes, and strategies. In the first section, we will examine the history of urban transportation, the institutions involved in transportation planning, and theories about policy. In the second section, we will examine current policies and processes, starting with federal and state policy on vehicles and fuels, then moving to infrastructure policy at the federal, state, regional, and local levels. In the final section, we will examine the evidence on a variety of demand-side strategies for addressing transportation problems, including strategies such as subsidies, pricing, transit services, bicycle and pedestrian programs, and land use policies.

Course Objectives

The purpose of this course is to train students in the fundamentals of research design in the social sciences. The first half of the course will provide an introduction to the concepts and structure of scientific inquiry.  You will develop an understanding of the fundamental distinction between inductive and deductive reasoning, the processes of conceptualization and measurement, the concepts of validity and reliability, and the basic elements of research design.  In other words, this part of the course will teach you how to turn a general research question into valid measures of the real world.  The remainder of the course will provide an introduction to ways of collecting, analyzing, and presenting data.  You will learn the basics of sampling, survey design, qualitative methods, field research, and using census data and other secondary sources, and we will discuss key issues in analyzing quantitative and qualitative data.  By the end of the course, you will be conversant in the language of social science research and know what questions to ask of yourself and others in the design of research projects and the use of research results.

Course Objectives

This seminar is required for first year Transportation Technology and Policy (TTP) students and is recommended for first year transportation students in Civil and Environmental Engineering. The goal of this seminar is to provide a broad overview of the transportation field and to give students a general framework that will help them understand how different topics within transportation fit together. In addition, the seminar will ensure students gain at least nominal exposure to basic concepts, standard practices, and new innovations across the transportation field. The seminar offers students the opportunity to get to know other transportation students, learn about the interests of different transportation faculty, and reflect on their own interests in the transportation field.