Transportation systems are critical to the function of cities. Effective transportation infrastructure and operations promote the three pillars of sustainability: strong economies, vibrant social and cultural opportunities, with minimal negative impacts.
The Waterloo Public Transportation Initiative (WPTI) is a research group formed between the School of Planning and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo. The group seeks to advance sustainable transportation by engaging in meaningful and impactful research in Canada, North America and internationally.
The primary focus of research conducted in WPTI is to promote and achieve “balanced transportation” – conditions where travel is possible as pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders and auto users. These kinds of systems are achieved through planning and policy, design and operations, and finally economic instruments. The research team in WPTI engages in scholarship in these core areas.
To date, more than 30 graduate students have completed research degrees in WPTI and are now positively impacting cities and their transportation systems around the world.
News
You-Jin Jung successfully defends PhD thesis
On November 18, You-Jin Jung successfully defended her PhD thesis in civil engineering, entitled "Enhanced Transit Ridership Forecasting Using Automatic Passenger Counting Data."
Waterloo hosts German graduate students
The Waterloo Public Transportation Initiative (WPTI) hosted 10 civil engineering and transportation management students from the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in Germany for a week-long exchange in early November. The Karlsruhe students worked with civil engineering and planning students from Waterloo to suggest design solutions for five of Grand River Transit's future light rail and bus routes.
Jeff Casello presents at Kingston Transit services and fare review
On April 14, Jeff Casello was invited to share his urban transportation best practices as a guest speaker for a transit review information session. The WPTI team helped Kingston Transit develop its express service that was introduced in 2011.