Past 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.

Dates	Events
April 22, 2026	A Conversation with the Authors: New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies - Online This event featured a candid and insightful conversation with the authors of New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies: Joshua Schank, Emma Huang, and Marla Westervelt Berg. Drawing on their experiences inside the Office of Extraordinary Innovation at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the speakers shared practical lessons from working within one of the nation’s largest public agencies. Attendees gained behind-the-scenes perspectives on the strategies, challenges, and successes that shaped their work at the $9.5 billion agency. The discussion highlighted what it takes to drive meaningful change in complex bureaucracies—and how others can apply these insights to make a difference. Guest Speakers: Joshua Schank, MTI Research Associate & Partner, InfraStrategies Emma Huang, Principal, InfraStrategies Marla Westervelt Berg, Principal, Cityfi Moderator: Dr. Hilary Nixon, Deputy Executive Director, MTI View PDH Certificate. View Recording. View Slide Deck. About the Guest Speakers Joshua Schank is a partner with InfraStrategies, a consulting firm that works with transportation organizations across the world on strategy, innovation, and policy. He is also the Executive Director of ACES, a Senior Fellow with the UCLA Institute for Transportation Studies, and a Research Associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University. Joshua joined the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) in 2015 as the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer, where he was responsible for fostering innovations that improve mobility, equity, and environmental outcomes across LA County. Before that, he served as the former President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a national transportation think-tank based in Washington, DC. He is the co-author of All Roads Lead to Congress: The $300 Billion Fight Over Highway Funding. Emma Huang is a Principal Consultant with InfraStrategies, where she helps transit agencies navigate critical challenges, from foundational strategy to implementing innovative service models and policies. She has led the development of major strategic plans including Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s (DART) 10-year strategic plan, Point B, San Mateo County Transit District’s plan, Moving San Mateo County, and CapMetro’s Strategic Plan. Prior to joining InfraStrategies, as a Manager with Los Angeles Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation, Emma spent over six years focused on advancing strategic initiatives for the agency, including the development and implementation of an innovative FTA Mobility-on-Demand partnership with Via, Metro's 10-year strategic plan, Vision 2028, and Metro’s Traffic Reduction Study exploring congestion pricing in Los Angeles County. Emma has a Master of Public Policy degree from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Marla Westervelt Berg is a Principal at Cityfi, where she helps governments and private-sector companies - from early-stage startups to global firms - navigate the rules, politics, and partnerships that shape innovation in civic space. Marla was a founding member and Head of Research at LA Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation, led global policy at the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility, and built regulatory strategy and data systems from the inside at Bird. Her work bridges public systems and private ambition to turn civic friction into real-world results. She began her career at the Eno Center for Transportation.
April 14, 2026	Trailblazer Tuesday with Michelle Bouchard - Online The Mineta Transportation Institute hosted 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, shared their compelling personal narratives and leadership journeys. Audience gained valuable insights into their strategies for balancing assertiveness with emotional intelligence, overcoming stereotypes, and leading with intention. J Featured Guest: Michelle Bouchard, Executive Director, Caltrain Moderator: Dr. Karen Philbrick, Executive Director, MTI View Recording. View PDH Credit. About the Featured Guest Michelle Bouchard has served as Executive Director of Caltrain since April 2021. She brings nearly 30 years of experience in the transit industry, with a long history of progressively senior leadership roles at Caltrain. Under her direction, Caltrain successfully completed the landmark $2.44 billion Electrification Project, which marked its one-year anniversary in September 2025 and represents the most significant transformation in the railroad’s 160-year history. The project has delivered faster, quieter, and more reliable and frequent service - benefiting both riders and the communities Caltrain serves. In 2018, Ms. Bouchard was recognized by Railway Age as one of its “Women in Rail” for her leadership, industry contributions, and community service. She currently serves as Chair of the Commuter Rail Coalition, a national advocacy organization for commuter railroads. Ms. Bouchard earned a BA in Economics from Brown University and an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from the London School of Economics.
April 2, 2026	Everyday GenAI: Your AI Writing Assistant for Transportation Professionals - Online MTI hosted the next webinar in our Everyday AI series: Your AI Writing Assistant. Participants explored how tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can support real writing tasks, including brainstorming ideas, organizing thoughts, and drafting and refining content. The session also addressed the limitations and risks of AI and discussed how to use it thoughtfully as a tool to enhance—not replace—professional expertise. Attendees learned practical strategies for prompt engineering, selecting the right tools for their needs, adhering to organizational policies, and streamlining workflows while maintaining clarity, accuracy, and their own voice. Presenters: Ramses Madou, Planning, Policy, and Sustainability Division Manager, San José Department of Transportation Lisa Rose, Editor, Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) Moderator: Dr. Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Education Director, MTI View Recording. View Slide Deck. View PDH Certificate. About the Presenters Ramses Madou is the Division Manager of Planning, Policy, and Sustainability for the Department of Transportation in the City of San José. At the City of San José, Ramses leads a team of planners, engineers, policy specialists, data and model experts to plan the Citywide transportation system. He is leading the City’s efforts to find new and innovative transit technologies, delivery methods, and business plans. Before joining the City of San José, Ramses served as the Associate Director of Parking & Transportation Services at Stanford University for 10 years. At Stanford, he played many roles over his time there, including managing program and policy development, planning efforts, retail operations, the University’s Marguerite transit system planning and operations, and regional transportation relationships. Lisa V. Rose has served as the Mineta Transportation Institute’s Communications Specialist since 2020, where she leads the development of clear, compelling, and inclusive communications across the Institute. She also collaborates with K–12 educators to design engaging, evidence-based lessons and classroom-ready resources for MTI’s workforce development programs. Lisa’s background includes more than fifteen years in communication, storytelling, and inclusive education. While earning her MA in English and Comparative Literature at San José State University, she taught undergraduate writing and helped develop and launch Reflection on College Writing, the university’s online prerequisite course for incoming first-year students.
March 3, 2026	Beyond the Bullet Train: Lessons from Japan’s Shinkansen - Online Japan’s Shinkansen is often described in superlatives: fast, precise, iconic. But what actually makes it work? This webinar peeled back the myth to explore the real decisions, principles, and design thinking behind Japan’s high-speed rail success—and what they mean for North American practitioners. Drawing on first-hand experience and professional practice in Japan, speakers examined the Shinkansen as an integrated system operating across multiple scales: train design and operations, station planning and passenger flow, and city-building and tourism strategy. Rather than a technical deep dive, the conversation served as a guided “show-and-tell” of observations, questions, and practical takeaways that oriented attendees to how and why the system functions so reliably. Attendees learned what makes the Japanese system so successful and how those lessons can be applied in other contexts. Speakers: Masahiro Nakayama, Managing Director, JR Central Hotels Company Bryan Wong, Associate Planner, Access Planning Moderator: Eric Eidlin, Station Planning Manager, City of San José Department of Transportation; MSTM Instructor This webinar was co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, APTA High-Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail Committee, High Speed Rail Alliance, and US High Speed Rail Association. View Recording. View Slide Deck. View PDH Certificate.
February 18, 2026	GIS Careers with GIS Professionals - Online A Conversation on GIS Careers brought together professionals from transportation, entertainment, and higher education to explore how GIS skills translate into real-world careers. The webinar panel examined in-demand technical and analytical skills, highlighted emerging career pathways, and shared practical advice on crafting resumes that stand out in the GIS field. Co-sponsored by BayGeo and the Mineta Transportation Institute, the event supported students in navigating the evolving geospatial workforce and preparing for next steps after graduation. Featured Speakers: Marshall Wilson Ballard, GISP, Supervising Transportation Planner, Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission Dhawal Kataria, AICP, Senior Planner, Kittelson & Associates Pariya Pourmohammadi, PhD, GeoSpatial AI Scientist View PDH Credit.
February 11, 2026	Intelligent Speed Assistance: Can Technology Help California Stop Speeding? - Online This MTI Research Snaps webinar was based on the MTI-led California State University Transportation Consortium report, "A Holistic Inquiry of Intelligent Speed-Assist Technology: Safety Impacts, Technology Implementation, and Challenges." Speeding is a leading contributor to U.S. roadway fatalities, and California ranked among the states with the most speed-related crashes. Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology offered a solution to address this issue by notifying drivers of speed limits and, in some cases, intervening and lowering the speed to the posted limit. The discussion focused on the potential advantages and challenges of adopting this technology. Research suggested that while ISA systems were well-positioned to reduce speeding and enhance road safety, their success hinged on thoughtful design, user trust, and supportive policy. Attendees joined us for an investigation into ISA systems with a focus on how their risks and benefits might have affected California drivers. Presenters: Sahar Ghanipoor Machiani, PhD, MTI Researcher & Associate Professor, San Diego State University Nusheen Baradaran, Graduate Student Research Assistant, MTI Moderator: Hilary Nixon, PhD, Deputy Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) View Recording. View Slide Deck. View PDH Certificate. About the Presenters Dr. Sahar Ghanipoor Machiani is an MTI Researcher, Associate Professor in San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, and the Co-Director of the SDSU Smart Transportation Analytics Research (STAR) Lab. Before joining SDSU, she worked as a Research Associate at the Center for Infrastructure-Based Safety Systems, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). She has expertise in traffic safety, driver behavior modeling, automated vehicles, and infrastructure-based safety systems. Nusheen Baradaran is an MTI Graduate Student Research Assistant and Master of Science candidate in Civil Engineering at SDSU, specializing in transportation systems and intelligent vehicle technologies. Her research explores the implementation and behavioral impacts of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), integrating empirical data analysis with human factors insights. Alongside her academic work, she is a full-time civil engineer in the land development sector, focusing on coastal single-family residential projects. Her combined professional and academic experience informs a practical, interdisciplinary approach to transportation safety and emerging vehicle technologies.
November 13, 2025	Everyday GenAI: Research, Writing, and Design Tools for Transportation Professionals - Online Generative AI is a powerful tool already benefitting the industry as a whole—but were you integrating it into your everyday work? In Everyday AI, MTI’s new webinar series, participants learned how to use AI tools to enhance their research, simplify their writing, and elevate their report design. The first session, “Finding Information,” focused on using free GenAI tools to quickly find transportation data and information. SJSU Professor Egbe-Etu Etu, an expert in transportation data analytics, shared strategies for asking the right questions (“prompt engineering,” in AI-speak) and validating results. The session explored how GenAI can empower transportation professionals at every level to work more efficiently and make better data-driven decisions. Presenter: Dr. Egbe-Etu Etu, MTI Research Associate & SJSU Assistant Professor Moderator: Dr. Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Education Director, Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) This webinar was co-sponsored by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and WTS SF Bay Area Chapter. View Recording. View Slide Deck. View PDH Certificate. About the Presenter Dr. Egbe-Etu Etu is an Assistant Professor of Business Analytics at San Jose State University (SJSU). Before joining SJSU, Dr. Etu received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Wayne State University in 2021 and his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Covenant University, Nigeria, in 2016. His research interest centers on the development of use-inspired machine learning models to solve challenging business problems in healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation. The main aim of his research is to develop decision-support tools that will help business professionals do their best work, improve resilience and overall system performance while minimizing errors. He is a member of the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineering (IISE), and SAVE International. In 2020, he received the IEOM Annual Conference Best Paper Award in the Healthcare Systems track.
November 13, 2025	Real Talk: Navigating Scholarships with Confidence and Clarity - Online The Mineta Transportation Institute Student Association hosted its third annual Scholarship Success Session—a free virtual event designed to help students strengthen their scholarship applications and explore funding opportunities for their education. Scholarship providers from the following organizations shared their insights: Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) California Transportation Foundation (CTF) Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) They discussed what reviewers look for, introduced scholarship opportunities from their organizations, and provided practical tips participants could use right away. Attendees came ready with questions and left with valuable advice and resources to support their scholarship journey. View Recording. View Slide Deck. *MTI was a proud co-sponsor of this event.
November 4, 2025	Connect for Your Career: An Introduction to Professional Associations in Transportation (2025) - Online WTS-SF Bay Area and the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) of San Jose State hosted this free virtual event "Connect for Your Career: An Introduction to Professional Associations in Transportation" that introduced university students and emerging professionals to transportation organizations that offer networking, professional development opportunities, and/or scholarship opportunities. Invited organizations include: American Planning Association (APA) American Public Transportation Association (APTA) American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Asian American Leadership in Mobility (AALM) Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Latinos in Transit (LiT) National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Transportation Research Board (TRB) US High Speed Rail Association (USHSR) Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) Young Professionals in Transportation (YPT) View Recording. View Slide Deck.
October 28, 2025 to October 30, 2025	2025 “Research to Practice” Transit Symposium - Online The 2025 “Research to Practice” Transit Symposium took place October 28-30, 2025, online. As the transit industry is experiencing significant changes (e.g., new technologies, potential funding shortage) in recent years, the symposium provided a platform where transit experts shared insights on how evidence-based research is being or can be used to make the most of these opportunities in a dynamic environment. This year’s symposium focused on the following topics: AI in Transit Federal Transit Innovations High-speed rail Rural Transit Intercity Bus Systems Microtransit and Paratransit State of Practice The Symposium was convened by a partnership between APTA, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), University of Florida Transportation Institute, UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, the Mineta Transportation Institute, and the Safety and Mobility Advancements Regional Transportation and Economics Research (SMARTER) Center at Morgan State.