Position Title
Director, National Center for Sustainable Transportation
Co-Director, BicyclingPlus Research Collaborative
Associate Director for Education, ITS-Davis
Chair, TTP Graduate Group
Professor, Environmental Science and Policy
Professor Susan Handy teaches in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California at Davis. She has courses in the Environmental Policy and Planning major and in the Transportation Technology and Policy Program.
Her research focuses on the relationships between transportation and land use, particularly the impact of land use on travel behavior, and on strategies for reducing automobile dependence. Her recent work includes a series of studies on bicycling in Davis, a study of the effects of the opening of the first “big box” store in Davis, the development of a method for estimating vehicle trip generation for “smart growth” development projects in California, and an assessment of the available evidence on the effects of land use and transportation strategies on reducing vehicle travel and greenhouse gas emissions
She serves on the Committee on Women’s Transportation Issues and the Committee on Transportation Education of the Transportation Research Board.
- 2011-Present Member of Executive Board for World Society on Transportation & Land Use Research
- 2010 Member of Organizing Committee for the UTC Spotlight Conference on Livability
- 2008-Present Associate Editor for Transportation, Journal of the American Planning Association
- 2008-2009 Member of Institute of Medicine Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention Actions for Local Governments
- 2007-2010 Member of Research and Technical Advisory Panel (RTAP) for the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency of the State of California
- 2006-2007 Member of Jury of the Transbay Transit Center Design Competition
- 2006 Transportation Foundation's Organization of the Year "TRANNY Award" for excellence in California
- 2005-Present Member of Committee on Women's Issues in Transportation of the Transportation Research Board
- 2005-2006, 2007-2008 Member of Transportation Research Board Committee on Innovations in Travel Demand Modeling: A Conference
- 2004-2005 Member of National Research Council Committee on Research on Women's Travel Issues Conference
- 2003-2007 Member of National Advisory Committee of the Active Living by Design Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- 2003-2004 Member of Institute of Medicine Committee on the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth
- 2000-2006 Chair of Committee on Telecommunications and Travel Behavior of the Transportation Research Board
- 1995-2009 Member of Committee on Transportation and Land Development of the Transportation Research Board
- 1996-1998 Chair of Project H-12 for the Transit Cooperative Research Program of the Transportation Research Board
- 1994-2002 Member of Executive Committee of the Southwest Region University Transportation Center
- 1990-1992 Member of Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Commission on the Doctorate in Planning
- Relationships between transportation and land use
- The impact of land use on travel behavior
- Factors influencing bicycling as a mode of travel
- Strategies for reducing automobile dependence