UCLA Urban Planning and UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies Perloff Lecture Series on Race in Transportation
New Routes to Equity: The Future of Transportation in the Black Community
UCLA alumna Regan Patterson, who also holds a doctorate from UC Berkeley, will present from her report for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. This report highlights ongoing challenges affecting African Americans in the transportation system and provides policy recommendations for how shared mobility, electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles can equitably serve the Black community. She will also discuss her research that focuses on the intersection of transportation, air quality engineering, and environmental justice.
About Regan Patterson
Regan F. Patterson is the Transportation Equity Research Fellow for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF). Prior to joining the CBCF, Patterson was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, where she examined the linkages between racial residential segregation and air pollution.
She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. While at UC Berkeley, she was a recipient of the US EPA STAR Fellowship, the Switzer Environmental Fellowship, and the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship. Dr. Patterson’s dissertation research focused on the impact of diesel truck emission control regulations and freeway routing policies on air pollution and environmental equity. Parts of her dissertation are published in the peer-reviewed journals Atmospheric Environment and the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Additionally, she has conducted air quality research in Kenya and China. Patterson has taught courses on the environment, environmental justice, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In the past, she interned with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in their Community Engagement Office. She also interned with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Patterson holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UCLA and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley.
