Recent UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies activities have explored the dynamics between yearning for change within the transportation system and the challenges posed by unwillingness or inability to implement necessary changes. Launched in January 2023, TRACtion is a collaborative effort between community-based advocates and UCLA researchers, aiming to craft a comprehensive agenda that tackles barriers to achieving sustainable and just transportation in Los Angeles. Also last year, the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Symposium discussed many of the same themes.
Join professionals, researchers, community activists, and students at UCLA ITS’ first downtown symposium since 2019! This in-person event will focus on an exciting release of the TRACton: Transforming Transportation report at The California Endowment. Speakers will discuss in-depth themes from the report and the 2023 UCLA Arrowhead Symposium, including:
- Internal Capacity of Government Agencies
- Inter-Agency Coordination
- Pilot Projects for Learning and Demonstration
- Decision-making
- Reconsidering the Status Quo
- Managing Multiple People in the Public Sector
- Visioning and Planning
- Inclusion and Diversity
- Public Engagement
Register Here
Registration fee covers access to full programming and materials, breakfast, lunch and reception.
Schedule
| 9:30 AM | Welcome | Juan Matute welcomes attendees and introduces the TRACtion process and its recommendations for researchers and policymakers in Los Angeles. |
| 10 AM | Session 1 TRACtion: A community-engaged research agenda for transportation sustainability and justice | TRACtion participants Oscar Zarate (community organizer), Andres Ramirez (mobility justice advocate), and Tierra Bills (Assistant Professor at UCLA) discuss the importance of partnering with communities to produce knowledge. |
| 11:15 AM | Session 2 TRACtion Research in Action | Researchers present work related to the TRACtion research agenda.
In researching California’s transit labor recruitment and retention challenges, Jacob Wasserman and the research team found that pay raises are necessary but not sufficient to address labor shortages that impair services and ridership. Wasserman will discuss what else agencies should be doing. Manos Proussaloglou will present recent research into freeway planning choices made in California during the 1960s that displaced people of color and continue to reverberate today. Qiao Yu will share recent research on EV adoption in California that found improvements to air quality for everyone but have less impact in areas with existing environmental injustices. |
| 12:15 PM | Lunch | Lunch is provided and attendees are invited to network and engage in discussions. |
| 1:30 PM | Session 3 Lessons Learned from Transforming Transportation: 2023 UCLA Arrowhead Symposium | Attendees of the 2023 UCLA Arrowhead Symposium on Transforming Transportation share key messages and lessons learned. |
| 3 PM | Keynote Speaker | California State Transportation Undersecretary Mark Tollefson discusses the objectives for California’s Transit Transformation Task Force, initiated by the 2022 budget cycle to rethink funding and policies to set transit up for success well into the future. |
| 3:45 PM | Closing Remarks | UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies Director Brian Taylor offers closing remarks. |
| 4 PM | Reception | Attendees will gather in the outdoor courtyard with appetizers and beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages. |
