CTTR Director

Dr Lewis

Carol A. Lewis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Transportation Studies and Director of the Center for Transportation Training and Research. She is responsible for educating students in fundamentals of transportation and urban transportation issues, as well as conducting operational and policy related transportation research. Since 1992, she has conducted research for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) regarding Smart Growth, Land Use and Development, Strategic Planning, and Land Value Effects of Freeways. She also has research with TxDOT’s Public Transportation division to improve regional commuting. Lewis was the research supervisor for FHWA’s Noise Compatible Land Use Brochure and workshop series on this topic. She has completed work including research titles, Optimizing Route Specific Marketing to Increase Public Transit Ridership, Land Value Assessment of Bus Transit Facilities, and Criteria for Transit-Friendly Decision Making. Her funded research also includes corridor feasibility studies for major Houston area freeway corridors, analysis of options to better manage freeway lanes and an assessment of the external influences on transit-oriented development.

Prior to joining Texas Southern University, Lewis spent 15 years as manager and director of planning at the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. During that time, Lewis developed the citizen participation programs and bus routing scenarios. She was also responsible for systemwide bus routing plans and METRO capital projects including Park & Rides, transit centers, and rail planning.

Lewis belongs to a number of professional organizations including the Transportation Technical Committee of the local Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Red Cross Transportation Advisory Committee. In 2004, Houston’s Mayor Bill White appointed her to the Office of Mobility, an advisory function of the Mayor’s Office and as Chair of the City’s Planning Commission. At the suggestion of Mayor White, she was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force on Emergency Evacuation following the 2005 hurricane season. Lewis served two years on the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority as an appointee of, then, Houston Mayor Lee Brown and six years as the national academic advisor for the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials. Lewis holds a Ph.D. from the University of Houston in Political Science and M.A. and B.A. from the University of Iowa.



CTTR Transportation Chair

Dr Yu

Lei Yu is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Transportation Studies at Texas Southern University (TSU). As a professor at TSU, he has taught courses in Highway Traffic Operations, Travel Demand Forecasting & Analysis, Transportation Design & Engineering, and Computer Applications in Transportation. Dr. Yu has a wide spectrum of research interests and expertise related to highway traffic design and operations, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), transportation planning and modeling, and vehicle emission testing and modeling, which can be evidenced by the variety of research projects that he has conducted. In the past over 10 years, Dr. Yu has secured 35 externally funded projects as the Principal Investigator (PI) sponsored by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Southwest Region University Transportation Center (SWUTC), Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), etc. Most recently, he has been serving as a Co-PI of an earmarked program by the U.S. Congress, in the funding of $18 millions annually for establishing the National Transportation Security Center of Excellence (NTSCE) at TSU and other six institutions.

In his tenure at TSU, Dr. Yu has initiated the development of several advanced laboratories, including full-motion driving simulator, mobile traffic lab, real-time traffic monitoring system Mini-TranStar, full-motion flight simulator, portable emission measurement system (PEMS), etc. These lab facilities have been providing a strong support to accomplishing various advanced research projects. Under his administration, the Department of Transportation Studies was awarded the Department of the Year in April 2004. Dr. Yu has published more than 150 research papers, and research reports. He is an active member of Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB). He is a professional engineer registered in the State of Texas. He also holds the membership in numerous committees, councils, and task forces in the regional, state, national and international organizations.

Dr. Yu received his Ph.D. degree in Civil/Transportation Engineering from Queen’s University (Canada) in 1994, Master of Engineering Degree in Production and Systems Engineering from Nagoya Institute of Technology (Japan), and Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Transportation Management Engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University (China).



CTTR Associate Director

Dr. Godazi

Mr. Khosro Godazi is Associate Director of the Center for Transportation Training and Research and Technology Transfer. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering Technology and a MS in City Planning. He has been with CTTR since its beginning in 1983. Recently he was coordinator of the 4-week Texas Summer Transportation Institute held in Houston, at Texas Southern University. In addition he spearheads the Transportation Studies Mentorship Program. Mr. Godazi has coordinated numerous conferences for CTTR. He was Co-PI for An Examination of the Accuracy of Travel Demand Forecasting Models and led the Integration of Light Rail Transit in a Traditional Bus City Conference held in Dallas, Texas. 

Mr. Godazi has extensive experience in transportation research and in the conduct and analysis of transportation related surveys. Mr. Godazi directed the compilation of the Third Ward Street Inventory, which was later, used to identify projects for the City’s Capital Improvement Program and METRO’s street projects. He conducted a survey of junior colleges to determine the validity and reliability of course programs offered. The project included development of the survey instrument, coding, and interpretation of results. Mr. Godazi was project manager on the on-board bus survey for Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority (Austin). He managed a vanpool demonstration project funded by the Federal Transit Administration. He also examined the impact of alternative fuels on school buses for Texas and evaluated the integration of Light Rail into a traditional bus city. Mr. Godazi instructs transportation students in various Transportation Software and Quantitative Statistics.



Research assistant title



Sharon Boxill








Sharon A. Boxill serves is a Research Associate for the Center for Transportation Training and Research. Her professional expertise is in transportation planning software such as QRS II, TransCad, VISSIM, INTEGRATION and GIS and has extensively studied traffic simulation models for supporting Intelligent Transportation Systems development. Boxill is also proficient in gathering data from various sources and using the synthesis to determine trends, methodologies and future strategies. These specific projects involved the following data synthesis:

  • An evaluation of traffic simulation models for ITS development.
  • An examination of online community networks for local implementation.
  • Conducted a national survey to examine the state of the practice of GIS-T.
  • Researching the current use of 3-D traffic simulation usage across the nation.
  • Coordinating professional development workshops and training.


    • Boxill coordinates professional development courses through the newly formed 3D Traffic Simulation Demonstration Laboratory whose mission is to conduct training seminars and workshops to introduce and explore the prospect of bridging the gap between planning and visualization. The lab offers a series of planned activities coordinated with software vendors to demonstrate and train industry professionals in the latest advances in modeling and visualization in a 3D real time environment.

    Selected Publications:

    1. "3D Traffic Simulation Professional Development Seminars Final Report”, Southwest Region University Transportation Centers, April 2006.
    2. "The Integration of GIS and Transportation Modeling: A State-Of-The-Practice.
    3. " Southwest Region University Transportation Centers, September 2005.
    4. "Linking Transportation Research and Expertise to Community Interest: A Technology Transfer Initiative”. Southwest Region University Transportation Centers, September 2001.
    5. "An Evaluation of Traffic Simulation Models for Supporting ITS Development.
    6. " Southwest Region University Transportation Centers, September 2000.

    Selected Research Grants:

    1. "Disaster Preparedness for Texas.
    2. " TxDOT, 1/24/06-12/31/06, $100, 000.(with Texas Transportation Institute).
    3. "Improving Quality and Accuracy in Select Travel Surveys,
    4. " Texas DOT, 9/-1-07 - 8/31/08, $140,000.
    5. "3D Traffic Simulation Demonstration Lab.
    6. " Southwest Region University Transportation Centers, 9/04 – 8/05, $55,000.
    7. "An Alternative Transportation Fuels Update: A Case Study of the developing E85 Industry”, Southwest Region University Transportation Centers, 9/06 – 8/07, $50,000.


    Research Associate

    goodwin


    Gwendolyn C. Goodwin is a Research Associate with the Texas Southern University’s Center for Transportation Training and Research (CTTR). Goodwin is responsible for conducting research, developing and implementing surveys, preparing publications and transferring findings into the public domain. Goodwin also coordinates public involvement, meeting logistics, and media activities for Center projects. She has over 19 years experience in project management and policy planning. Goodwin holds a Masters of Science in Community and Regional Planning and a Bachelors of Art in English from the University of Texas.

    Gwen’s experience includes long range planning at the Cities of Austin and Houston where she coordinated neighborhood strategic plans. At the U.S. Census Bureau, Goodwin developed public awareness campaigns for the greater Houston area.

    Goodwin’s projects:

    Goodwin’s research:

     

    Education:

              University of Texas at Austin

    Research Interests:



     

     

      Mary Rollins

    Office:  Technology Building 104
    Telephone:  (713) 313-1988
    Fax:  (713) 313-1923
    E-Mail:  rollinsml@tsu.edu

     

    Education: 

                University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

                Bachelor of Arts – English
                Secondary Education

     Mrs. Rollins’s primarily functions as technical editor for the Center for Transportation Training and Research (CTTR).  She has over 25 years of experience in the educational field including experience in grant fund organizations, curriculum, secondary education (Houston Independent School District) and as a consultant for Pearson Educational Learning. In her position at CTTR,  she has edited many documents within a wide range of research including  those for Houston National Summer Transportation Institute at Texas Southern, Noise Compatibility, TOD, as well as conducted information and data collection for CTTR.

     Community Involvement: 

     

    Denita Paul LaShore is a Senior Secretary in the Center for Transportation Training and Research. She has studied Economics at the University of Houston, Central Campus. After which, she was then employed with the Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs for a period of seven years. The primary administrative figure in the Center for Transportation, she is responsible for all day-to-day functions of the office. She has had the opportunity to participate in CTTR's ITS Conference held in Houston. As CTTR's research dictates, she assists in the preparation of various research documents. Ms. LaShore's research interests include Intelligent Transportation Systems, Intermodalism and Light Rail.

     

    CTTR Executive Diretcor

    Naomi Lede

    Naomi W. Ledé, is the Executive Director Emeritus of The Center for Transportation Training & Research and Transportation Studies. Dr. Ledé, founder of the CTTR, Transportation Studies, and the Airway Science Program-holds and Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, a M.A. in Sociology and Social Psychology, a M.S. in Urban Affairs (Transportation Concentration) and a B.A. in Sociology and English.

    She is nationally recognized as a researcher in her field. Her background reflects experiences in social and cultural relations, community organization and development, urban and regional strategic planning, transportation systems analysis, research design and methodology, urban education, demographic and marketing studies, statistical analyses, program planning and evaluation. Ledé has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, research and training. This also includes service as a consultant for the US Department of Transportation's Advisory Board, and the University of Florida's Center of Transportation. Currently Dr. Ledé is a Research Scientist for Texas Transportation Institute(TTI).


     
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