Upcoming Webinars
MTI organizes or participates in several transportation-related webinars each year. You can find leading transportation experts at all of these webinars, making them an excellent resource for professional and research insights. You can also view our past webinars.
| Dates | Events |
|---|---|
| September 15, 2026 |
Trailblazer Tuesday with Lynda Tran 12:00-12:30 p.m. (PT) | Link to register. The Mineta Transportation Institute is hosting a series of virtual fireside chats featuring influential women leaders in transportation. These successful women—representing academia, public and private industries, and the nonprofit sector—will share their compelling personal narratives and leadership journeys. Gain valuable insights into their strategies for balancing assertiveness with emotional intelligence, overcoming stereotypes, and leading with intention. Join us to explore the profound impact of reshaping perspectives and championing women's roles within the transportation industry and beyond. Featured Guest: Lynda Tran, CEO, Lincoln Room Strategies & MTI Trustee Moderator: Dr. Karen Philbrick, Executive Director, MTI This webinar is co-sponsored by COMTO. *0.5 PDH credit available
About the Featured GuestLynda is a nationally recognized leader in transportation and infrastructure policy. She is on the Board of Trustees for the Mineta Transportation Institute and serves on the Board of Directors for STV, a leading professional services firm that plans, designs, and manages infrastructure projects across North America. Lynda is a member of the Board of Directors for Main Street America, a national network of local and grassroots leaders working to strengthen economies and improve quality of life in thousands of downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts all across America.
During her tenure at DOT, Lynda served as the agency’s official designee to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawai’ians and Pacific Islanders. Lynda returned to federal service after co-founding 270 Strategies, where she developed public engagement strategies for a variety of campaigns, companies, and causes across the globe. A CBS News Political Contributor and columnist through the 2020 campaign cycle and frequent commentator, Lynda regularly appears in major national and international broadcast, print, and interactive news media. She has been featured on Glassceiling.com and was profiled by Modernae Woman.
During the Obama Administration, Lynda was director of communications for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation. She steered NHTSA through numerous communications crises and helped inform key policy decisions by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, and White House officials. In this role, Lynda oversaw the agency’s nationwide earned and paid media efforts, including messaging on federal regulations, new automotive safety technologies, and vehicle fuel economy, as well as nearly $30 million each year dedicated to NHTSA’s “Click It or Ticket” and “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaigns.
Lynda earned a Masters degree in International Policy and Development from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. She speaks Vietnamese, French, and conversational Spanish.
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| September 17, 2026 |
Moving Goods, Managing Impacts: Planning for Sustainable Freight - Online 12:00-12:30p.m. (PT) | Link to register. This MTI Research Snaps webinar is based on Routes to Sustainable Goods Movement: How Local and Regional Governmental Agencies Can Plan for the Sustainable Freight System of the Future. Freight keeps our economy and our everyday lives moving, but growing demand means growing costs. Urban areas are increasingly contending with congestion, infrastructure strain, emissions, pollution, and safety concerns, often concentrated in already burdened communities. How are metropolitan regions responding? In this webinar, hear from Dr. Serena Alexander about her research examining goods movement plans from eight major U.S. regions. She will discuss how agencies are balancing economic competitiveness with sustainability, resilience, and equity. Join in to learn what strategies are gaining ground, where freight planning continues to fall short, and how challenges around data, funding, and coordination are shaping the path forward. Featured Guest: Serena Alexander, PhD, MTI Research Associate; Associate Professor, Northeastern University Moderator: Hilary Nixon, PhD, Deputy Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) *0.5 PDH credit available About the Featured GuestSerena E. Alexander, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Environmental Policy and Engineering and Interim Director of the Master of Science in Urban Planning and Policy at Northeastern University. Her research focuses on transportation decarbonization, climate resilience, freight and rail systems, and equity, with an emphasis on applied, policy-relevant research that informs planning and decision-making. She previously served as a Visiting Scholar of Climate Policy and Infrastructure Resilience at the U.S. Department of Transportation and is a Research Associate with the Mineta Transportation Institute. Prior to joining Northeastern, Dr. Alexander was on the faculty in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University. She has led several federally and statefunded research projects supported by USDOT, the Federal Railroad Administration, Caltrans, and the California State University Transportation Consortium. Her work has been published in academic journals such as Cities, Transportation Research Record, and Sustainability, and she regularly engages with transportation agencies and practitioners through technical reports, workshops, and invited talks. Dr. Alexander holds a Ph.D. in Urban Studies and Public Affairs from Cleveland State University, a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and degrees in Architectural Engineering from Azad University of Tehran. |
| October 13, 2026 |
Beneath the Surface: Predicting Underground Corrosion - Online 12:00-12:30p.m. (PT) | Link to register. This MTI Research Snaps webinar is based on an MTI-led CSUTC research project, Steel Corrosion in Underground Transportation Infrastructure. Corrosion of steel is one of the costliest challenges facing transportation infrastructure, especially when it occurs underground, out of sight and difficult to detect. In this MTI Research Snaps webinar, Dr. Amr M. Morsy will discuss his new research that combines laboratory testing, field data, and machine learning to better predict underground steel corrosion as soil conditions change over time. Join us to learn how these findings could help engineers better estimate the lifespan of buried infrastructure and prevent costly and dangerous failures. Featured Guest: Amr M. Morsy, PhD, PE, MTI Researcher & Assistant Professor, California State University, Long Beach Moderator: Hilary Nixon, PhD, Deputy Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) *0.5 PDH credit available About the Featured GuestDr. Amr Morsy is an Assistant Professor at California State University, Long Beach and a professional civil engineer with experience in both academia and industry, with research focusing on geotechnical engineering, transportation geotechnics, environmental geotechnics, and climate adaptation. He has participated in research sponsored by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK Research and Innovation, the US Federal Highway Administration, the Geosynthetic Institute, the Departments of Transportation of Texas and Indiana, and geosynthetic manufacturers. |
| October 20, 2026 to October 22, 2026 |
2026 Research to Practice Transit Symposium - Online
The 2026 “Research to Practice” Transit Symposium will be held October 20-22, 2026. The symposium will take place online and be streamed on YouTube. As the transit industry is experiencing significant changes (e.g., new technologies, potential funding shortage) in recent years, the Symposium provides a platform where transit experts share insights on how evidence-based research is being used or can be used to make the most of these opportunities in a dynamic environment. The agenda for this year’s symposium is still being finalized. Register today to receive updates on the upcoming sessions and speakers as they are announced. Past year’s symposiums included the following topics:
Information about previous years’ events can be found here. In addition to the opening and closing plenaries, the symposium features two types of sessions:
AICP credits will be available for this event. Questions? Contact the following: Chad Riding Dr. Xiang ‘Jacob’ Yan The Symposium is convened by a partnership between California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), University of Florida (UF) Transportation Institute, University of California, Davis (UC Davis) Transit Research Center, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), and the Safety and Mobility Advancements Regional Transportation and Economics Research (SMARTER) Center. |
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