Prior to Joining ASU in July 2021, Dr. Polzin served as the Senior Advisor for Research and Technology in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the US Department of Transportation. HIs research interests cover a broad spectrum of transportation policy analyses. His current research focuses on the changes in travel behavior and consequences of COVID-19 on travel. Prior positions include Director of Mobility Policy Research at the Center for Urban Transportation Research, USF, and working for transit agencies in Chicago, Cleveland, and Dallas. Dr. Polzin has also served on a Transit Authority Board of Directors and on the Board of Directors of a Metropolitan Planning Organization. He has conducted research for a wide range of clients at all levels of government and in the private sector. He has extensive experience with public and private decision makers, public and private stakeholders, the media, and students. Over 30 years of teaching experience includes graduate and undergraduate levels of in-class and online instruction.
Dr. Polzin is a Civil Engineering with a BSCE from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering with a focus on transportation from Northwestern University.
Recent Publications and Presentations:
“The Impacts of COVID-19 on Transportation” Plenary Session at 2021 Institute of Transportation Engineer, Annual Meeting, July 22, 2021. https://www.pathlms.com/ite/courses/32872/sections/36886/webinars/22755
“COVID Impacts on Transportation” Preview presentation, APTA Committee on Mobility Management, July 14, 2021
“Will the Cost of Freight Approach Zero?” B402-Shark Tank: Everything from free freight to AV for low- income travelers to how many AV firms will survive, 2021 Automated Road Transportation Symposium, July 15, 2021.
“Current and Future Impacts of the Pandemic”, presentation at ASCE’s 2021 International Conference on Transportation and Development, June 8, 2021.
"Perspectives on Travel During and After COVID-19", Northwestern University Transportation Center seminar, June 3, 2021.
Testimony before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, “Equity in Transportation Infrastructure: Connecting Communities, Removing Barriers, and Repairing Networks across America. May 11, 2021. ”https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=B03E1516-88B7-45F3-9473-5F223E5FD873
“Telecommuting Post Pandemic: Impacts on Transportation” North American Carbon World 2021 Virtual Conference, Path 4: Impact of a Virtual Working World on Transportation Demand, April 28, 2021.
“Post-COVID-19 Transportation Trends”, ITE Journal, Volume 93, Number 4, pp. 37-44, April 2021. Pp 37-44. https://www.nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/ITE/ite-journal-april-2021/index.php#/p/36
“Public Transportation Must Change After COVID-19” Reason Foundation, March 2021. https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/public-transportation-must-change-after-covid-19.pdf
“Telecommuting During the Pandemic: Lasting Impacts on Transportation Sector? Yes!”, Leonard Transportation Center, 2021 Regional Mobility Dialogue Series, California State University, San Bernardino, February 23, 2021. Webinar, https://www.csusb.edu/leonard-transportation-center
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 196, Zoom-Cast Episode 196 w/Steve Polzin, February 2021.
(With Tony Choi) COVID-19’s Effects on The Future of Transportation, January 14, 2021, US Department of Transportation, https://doi.org/10.21949/1520705.
“Residual Impacts of COVID on travel and transportation planning” 2020 TRB Innovations in Travel Modeling (ITM2020) conference virtual learning session -Behavioral Dynamics – The Future… Accelerated, Tuesday, December 15, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQCyfpmq4oM
“The Future of Transportation: How COVID-19 Impacts the Path Forward”, Transportation Research Forum, Washington, D.C., November 18, 2020, Webinar, 66 minutes.
(With Alan E. Pisarski), “A Gray Swan Decade”, TR News, Number 329, 100th Anniversary Edition, Transportation Research Board (TRB), pp. 40-43, September-October 2020. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/trnews/trnews329.pdf
“Planning Strategies for Addressing Massive Uncertainty”, Managing Transportation Systems in a Fast-Changing World, Transportation Research Circular, Number E-256, November 2019, pp 21-29. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec256.pdf
“Longer View: Positioning Transit for the 21st Century”, Transfers, Issue 4, Fall 2019, https://transfersmagazine.org/positioning-transit-for-the-21st-century/
“Good Data Can Improve Decisions and Help Hold Decision Makers Accountable” 2019 Highway Information Seminar, FHWA USDOT, October 23, 2019.
“The Confluence of Demographic, Economic and Technology Trends on Travel”, Guest Seminar, Department of Civil Engineering, George Mason University, October 16, 2019.
“Transit Ridership Trends and Reasons” Hillsborough Area Rapid Transit Authority Presentation, Tampa, FL. August 12, 2019.
“Transit Ridership Trends and Reasons” Plenary session presentation, APTA Board Member Workshop, Jacksonville, FL. July 2019.
“Are AVs resilient? Do they help or hinder the response to natural disasters?” Shark Tank III: Active Debate Regarding AVs Impact on Land Use; Resiliency; Congestion Pricing; High-Speed Rail, TRB/AUVSI Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, July 15, 2019.
"Will the Public Share Rides in AV’s?” “ITS America Annual Meeting, Washington DC, June 7, 2019.
“Changing Travel Behavior and the Role of Transit” Lunch Speaker, FAPTA Annual Training Workshop, June 5, 2019
(with Jodi Godfrey) Understanding Ridership Trends in Transit, NCTR Research Report, February 2019, https://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/508complete_understandingridershiptrendsintransit.pdf
Discussant, A Changing America: Challenges to Transportation Institutions, Workshop on Governance and Institutional Reform in the Transportation Sector, Eno Center for Transportation and The Reason Foundation, Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, February 2019.
Steven Polzin (2019) Book Review, Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit, Transport Reviews, DOI: 10.1080/01441647.2019.1568318
“Transportation 2019—Looking Back, Looking Ahead”, Planetizen Blog, https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/102255-transportation-2019-looking-back-looking-ahead, January 3, 2019.
“Confronting Change: How Public Transportation Can Cope”, (Planning Strategies for Addressing Massive Uncertainty), Lectern Session 1168, Managing Transportation Systems in a Fast-Changing World, TRB 2019 Annual Meeting, January 14, 2019.
“Making Public Transportation Great Again: Public Transportation and Change”, (Positioning Transit to compete as Technology Transforms Transportation), Lectern Session 1606, Transit Fight Back: Pushback on Technology Hype for Stronger Cities, TRB 2019 Annual Meeting, January 15, 2019.