Month: January 2026

Learning from the Past to Finance Transit in the Future Martin Wachs, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of California The COVID pandemic made the financial fragility of America’s public transit systems obvious, though most of the financial challenges facing transit existed prior to the recent emergency. Services desperately needed by some communities were difficult to provide […]

ASHA WEINSTEIN AGRAWAL Dr. Asha Weinstein Agrawal works at San José State University, where she directs the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) National Transportation Finance Center and also serves as Professor of Urban and Regional Planning. Her research agenda is guided by a commitment to the principles of sustainability and equity: what planning and policy tools […]

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator, UFTI Two-lane roads were the main source of transportation infrastructure on Lesvos, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, where Dimitra Michalaka was born. At age 12, while traveling through Italy with her family, she remembers sitting at the back of a tour bus, watching how bridges crossed […]

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., UFTI Research/Communications Coordinator Amanda Carpenter, Stacy Hill, and Daniel Soto each came to the Transportation Leadership program from very different careers within the transportation industry, representing areas such as construction, policy, and consulting. In December 2025, the students graduated with master’s degrees in civil engineering, specializing in transportation leadership, demonstrating […]