Nick Compin, PhD

Dr. Nick Compin is an Office Chief in the Caltrans HQ Division of Transportation Planning, where he leads efforts to implement the Safe Systems Approach for Caltrans Planning and Modal Programs statewide. He has worked at Caltrans since 2000 and over that time has held positions in the district and headquarters in the Divisions of Planning, Traffic Operations, Transportation System Information, the Director’s Office, and the California Transportation Commission.  His expertise focusses on Transportation System Management and Operations (TSMO), Integrated Corridor Management (ICM), Performance Measurement/Management, Safety Planning, and the use of innovative technologies and data sources to improve multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation network operations and management.

Dr. Compin has written published academic papers and articles and frequently makes presentations for national audiences.   Nick has served on many National Cooperative Highway Research Panels (NCHRP) and actively participates in Transportation Research Board (TRB) meetings and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) committees and subcommittees. Nick has also taught courses in Planning and Transportation Management at the University of California, Irvine, and California State Universities at Sacramento and San Jose.  Courses Nick has taught at SJSU’s Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) include MTM 215: Transportation Planning and Project Development and MTM 297: Emerging Technologies for Transportation System Management.

Dr. Compin graduated in 1988 from CSU Chico with a B.A. in English. He worked for three years in the private sector (government affairs/legislative tracking and analysis) and returned to academia at the University of California, Irvine, receiving his M.A. in Social Ecology (1996) (Thesis: Rail Transit Station Development and the Municipal Land-Use Decision-Making Process) and his PhD in Urban and Regional Planning in 1999 (Dissertation: The Four Dimensions of Rail Transit Performance: How Administration, Finance, Demographics, and Politics Affect Outcomes).