Skip to main content

About Asha Weinstein Agrawal

Asha Weinstein Agrawal is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University and Director of MTI’s National Transportation Finance Center at San José State University. Her research agenda is guided by a commitment to the principles of sustainability and equity: what planning and policy tools can communities adopt to encourage environmentally-friendly travel and improve accessibility for people struggling with poverty or other disadvantages? She has explored this question most deeply through two substantive areas, transportation finance policy and the travel behavior of pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. Dr. Agrawal also works in the area of urban history and is currently Chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Transportation History.

Dr. Agrawal’s research on contemporary policy issues has been cited in the popular media. Stories quoting her or citing her work have appeared in such outlets as The Washington Post (on gas taxes and mileage fees), CBS Evening News (on mileage fees), ABC News/KGO-TV (on mileage fees), the San Diego Union-Tribune (on transit fare policy), WBUR (on the history of traffic congestion), and the San Francisco Chronicle (on transportation taxes).

Positions

August 2017 - Present Education Director, San Jose State University ‐ Mineta Transportation Institute
to
August 2015 - Present Professor, San Jose State University ‐ Department of Urban and Regional Planning
to
January 2009 - Present Director MTI's National Transportation Finance Center, San Jose State University
to

Curriculum Vitae

Disciplines

Grants

2017 - Present "What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results from Year 8 of a National Survey"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$72,847
2017 - Present Is That Hoverboard Whizzing by Me Supposed to Be on the Sidewalk? Regulating All Types of Personal Transportation Devices to Balance Transportation and Safety Concerns
San Jose State
Role: Co-PI
Colleague(s): Dr. Kevin Fang (PI)
$69,313
2016 - Present "Slimming the Streets: An Analysis of Before-and-After Effects from San Jose’s Lincoln Avenue Road Diet"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon (PI)
$7,500
2014 - Present National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project #08-100: Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes
Transportation Research Board
Role: Member of 17-person research team led by The Louis Berger Group
$499,915
2018 What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Transportation? Results from Year 9 of a National Survey
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$70,000
2016 "A Survey of Viva CalleSJ Participants: San Jose, California 2016"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$7,500
2016 "What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results from Year 7 of a National Survey"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$84,340
2015 - 2016 "A Survey of Viva CalleSJ Participants: San Jose, California 2015"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$5,000
2014 - 2016 National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project #20-05, Synthesis Topic 46-01: Public Perception of Mileage Based User Fees
Transportation Research Board
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$40,000
2013 - 2016 "Bicycling and Access to Transit by Low-Income Immigrants"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Colleague(s): Daniel G. Chatman (PI)
$60,808
2015 "What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results from Year 6 of a National Survey"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$72,589
2014 "What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results from Year 5 of a National Survey"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$72,609
2013 - 2014 "Comparing Modes of On-Board Transit Passenger Surveys: Assessing Trade-Offs between Data Quality and Cost"
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon (PI), Gregory L. Newmark
$60,808
2013 “What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results from Year 4 of a National Survey”
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$73,784
2012 “2012 Census of California Water Transit Services”
Mineta Transportation Institute
Colleague(s): Richard Kos (PI)
$11,410
2012 “What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax and Fee Options? Results from Year 3 of a National Survey”
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$73,784
2011 “What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax and Fee Options? Results from Year 2 of a National Survey”
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Hilary Nixon
$65,000
2009 - 2011 “An Investigation into Constraints to Sustainable Vehicle Ownership and Use and Travel Behavior”
Mineta Transportation Institute
Colleague(s): Dr. Bradley Flamm (PI)
$62,625
2009 - 2011 “Getting Around When You’re Just Getting By: The Travel Behavior and Transportation Expenditures of Low-Income Adults”
Mineta Transportation Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Colleague(s): Dr. Evelyn Blumenberg (co-PI), Dr. Charles N. Darrah
$60,611
2009 - 2011 “The Intersection of Urban Form and Mileage Fees: Findings from the Oregon Road User Fee Pilot Program”
MTI National Transportation Finance Center
Colleague(s): Zhan Guo (PI), Jennifer Dill
$59,628
$
to
Enter a valid date range.

Professional Service and Affiliations

2017 - Present Member, Journal of the American Planning Association Redesign Task Force
2017 - Present Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Women's Issues in Transportation Conference Planning, Transportation Research Board
2017 - Present Member, Task Force on the Transportation Research Board Centennial
2017 - Present Co-Chair, Steering Committee, Transportation Research Board’s 6th Conference on Women’s Issues in Transportation Conference
2015 - Present Chair, Transportation History Committee (ABG50) of the Transportation Research Board
2012 - Present Member, Congestion Pricing Committee (ABE25) of the Transportation Research Board
2012 - Present Member, Research Associates Policy Oversight Committee, Mineta Transportation Institute (San José State University)
2010 - Present Member, Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of the American Planning Association
2002 - Present Chair or Member on multiple committees, Department of Urban and Regional Planning (San José State University)
2014 - 2016 Adviser, Pedestrian Access to Transit Plan Task Force, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency
2014 - 2016 Adviser, Traffic Safe Communities Network Steering Committee
2015 Adviser, Regional Means-Based Transit Fare Pricing Study Technical Advisory Comm, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
2013 - 2015 Member, Transportation History Committee (ABG50) of the Transportation Research Board
2014 Member, Conference Organizing Committee, Transportation Research Board’s 5th International Transportation Finance Conference
2010 - 2014 Member, Conference Steering Committee, UCLA Lake Arrowhead Symposium on the Transportation – Land Use – Environment Connection
2012 - 2013 Mentor, Mentorship Program of the American Planning Association, California Northern Section
2008 - 2013 Member, Transportation Education and Training Committee (ABG20) of the Transportation Research Board
2006 - 2012 Chair, Research Associates Policy Oversight Committee, Mineta Transportation Institute (San José State University)
2010 Member, Conference Steering Committee, Transportation Research Board’s 4th International Conference on Surface Transportation Financing
2009 - 2010 Member, Conference Planning Committee, California University Transportation Centers
to
Enter a valid date range.

Honors and Awards

  • Outstanding Paper Award from the Transportation Research Board Committee on Pedestrians (2007), for the paper “Pedestrian Preference to Transit: A Spatial Analysis of Route Choice” (with Marc Schlossberg and Katja Irvin).

Courses

  • Field Study Seminar
  • Environmental Planning
  • Communication Skills for Planners
  • Introduction to Urban & Regional Planning
  • Special Study: Planning Report
  • Planning Report: Preliminary Report
  • Transportation and the Environment
  • Transportation Planning: Local Issues

Education

to
2002 PhD, University of California - Berkeley ‐ City and Regional Planning
to
1994 MS, London School of Economics ‐ Urban and Regional Planning
to
1993 B.A., Harvard University ‐ Folklore and Mythlogy
to

Links

Contact Information

Asha.Weinstein.Agrawal@sjsu.edu

Email:

Publications (87)