Transportation Management, M.S.

To be eligible for admission to the School of Engineering's MS in Transportation Management program, you must hold at least a baccalaureate degree from an acceptable institution. You must also show evidence of quantitative analytic ability, generally including a minimum of 2 years of college mathematics. A college-level course in statistics is desirable.

If admitted, students lacking such skills must take remedial courses in addition to degree requirements to strengthen their analytic competency.

Find out more about Admission Requirements.

To earn a Master of Science degree in Transportation Management from the School of Engineering, you must complete 30 credits, as outlined below. In addition to completing the required courses, you must have a 3.0 GPA or better in all graduate courses, in all courses required for your degree, and in all guided studies (readings, projects, theses). Averages are separately computed for courses and guided studies and transfer credits from other institutions are omitted from this average. You may not repeat a course toward your degree more than once.

This program is for practicing professionals who deal with a public transit system, and agency and/or facility management. It combines basic management skills with a working knowledge of techniques and approaches to optimize transportation system results.

The primary goal of the MS in Transportation Management is to prepare professionals to effectively and efficiently manage various transportation enterprises. The emphasis is on agencies, facilities and services in the public sector. Specific objectives of the program are to provide:

• a basic background in management skills and techniques, specifically as applied to public and private transportation organizations;
• basic understanding of the economic aspects of the transportation sector;
• an understanding of the importance of national, state and local transportation policy on public and private sector organizations;
• fundamental knowledge on some specific issues and problems in managing and operating public transportation facilities.

3 Credits Transportation Economics and Finance Fundamentals TR-GY6053

In this course, we will discuss the fundamentals of economic theory and their application to the modeling and analysis of transportation systems. We will approach transportation systems as markets and study the resulting supply-demand equilibrium in these markets. Starting from concepts of utility maximization, we will explore how individuals optimally choose between alternatives and how these choices give rise to the demand functions for different services. Then, we will investigate the supply side and study provision of the aforementioned services. Lastly, we will study strategic interactions between different actors in the transportation market and how these interactions affect market outcomes. This will allow us to confidently approach and apply equilibrium analysis to transportation systems to derive insights as to their performance, their design and their regulation. Examples will be primarily drawn from, among other things: ride-hailing markets, network planning and design, parking provision and location for connected and autonomous vehicles, land use and automation, congestion pricing.
Prerequisite: Knowledge of a programming language (e.g.: C++, Julia, Python?), of a scripting language (e.g.: MATLAB?) or of an algebraic modeling language (e.g.: GAMS?) is strongly recommended due to the nature of some of the assignments.

3 Credits Intelligent Transportation Systems and Their Applications TR-GY6223

This course introduces the concepts and applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and its growing role in the management of transportation systems. The course stresses the role of ITS as national policy, as specified in major transportation funding legislation ? ISTEA, TEA21 and SAFETY-LU. A systems engineering approach to overall development of ITS technologies is stressed. Major components of ITS are discussed, and examples of their application treated. Coordination and integration of ITS components are treated.
Prerequisite: Graduate status or permission of instructor.

3 Credits Management of Transit Maintenance and Operations TR-GY7223

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of modern public transportation systems, emphasizing their technology and operational practices. Planning and management aspects are also covered. Such operational management issues as maintenance practices, scheduling, procurement and labor relations are broadly outlined and discussed. Planning and capital programming issues are also treated.
Prerequisites: Graduate status or permission of instructor.

EITHER:

• 3 Credits Urban Public Transportation Systems TR-GY7133

  This course provides a thorough understanding of policy, planning, operational and technical issues that affect urban public transportation. It includes the historical development of cites and the rise of urban transport. Also covered are the characteristics of various urban transportation modes (their specific operating and infrastructure characteristics), as well as key elements that are critical to service provision, such as service planning, scheduling, fare collection, communication and signaling, station design and customer service. The course offers a broad perspective on regional planning, capital programming and policy matters. Special focus will be on emerging technologies and their practical applications.
  Prerequisite: Graduate status or permission of instructor.

• 3 Credits Travel Behavioral Informatics TR-GY7073

  This course teaches students how to design information systems for operating transportation facilities and services. The information systems are built on information obtained from a diverse population of travelers, and hence behavioral modeling is a crucial component. An introduction is provided of intelligent transportation systems (ITS): systems engineering, ITS architecture, and current ITS trends associated with behavioral information systems: e.g. cyber-physical transport systems, Internet of Things, and information & communications technologies (ICTs). An introduction to decision theory with incomplete information is provided based on different models random utility maximization: multinomial logit, probit, nested logit, mixed logit. Students will design tools based on behavioral choice models (for users) in a dynamic setting and construct simulation tests to evaluate them. A route choice information system (new technology marketing strategy, route diversion system, or fare/toll revenue management system) will be used as a case study.
  Prerequisites: Graduate Standing or Department Permission

*Note: should a student want to take both courses, it is possible to take one as an elective.

ANY ONE OF:

• 3 Credits Transportation Management TR-GY7213

  This course presents an overview of the transportation management profession. Levels of management and unique objectives of management in the transportation sector are presented and discussed. Management structures for private and public transportation organizations are analyzed. Management practices are treated from the perspective of organizations, optimization of the use of public resources, legislative and legal contexts and operations.
  Prerequisite: Graduate status or permission of the instructor.

• 3 Credits Project Management CE-GY8203

  This course covers management of technology-based projects ranging?from individual research and development to large-scale and complex technological systems. Topics covered include: feasibility and risk analyses; project selection and portfolio optimization; functional and administrative structures; coordination and scheduling of activities; personnel planning; negotiations and contracts; cost estimation; capital budgeting; cost controls; and effective matrix management.

• 3 Credits Project Management for Construction CE-GY8253

  The course covers topics specific to developing and coordinating large projects, including organizational structures, management functions, pricing and estimating project costs, bidding and contracting, risk allocation, scheduling, time and cost control, labor relations, quality management and project life-cycle activities.

You can choose any elective course from the Transportation catalogue, including:

3 Credits Traffic Operations & Control TR-GY6343

The course would focus heavily on signalization, with an introduction to simulation and signal timing tools. The course would cover warrants, timing pretimed signals, understanding actuated controllers and their settings, as well as detector types placement.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or department consent

3 Credits Urban Transportation & Logistics Systems TR-GY7013

This course provides graduate students with operations research methods to solve logistics problems faced by decision-makers for congested urban infrastructure. Optimization and evaluation methods covered include linear programming, network flow, integer programming, vehicle routing, facility location, functions of random variables, Markov processes, (point, spatial, and Jackson) queueing, and queue tolling. Students will design and analyze a toy system related to one of the following applications: public transport, shared mobility, ITS applications, freight deliveries, traffic operations.
Prerequisites: Graduate Standing or Department Permission

3 Credits Multimodal Transportation Safety TR-GY7033

Technology, legislation and market forces have contributed to improved transportation safety for decades. But one must consider which metrics are most relevant for which modes, the role of demographics and traffic levels and other factors when analyzing and predicting safety trends. The course pays attention to a systems view, to metrics by mode and to both standard field and statistical analyses. Consistent with current priorities, the course addresses security as well as safety issues.
Prerequisite: Graduate status or permission of instructor.

3 Credits Stochastic Models and Methods for Engineering Systems TR-GY7063

Basic theory of stochastic processes and random graphs with a variety of transportation applications. Random variables, events, laws of large numbers; Finite-state Markov chains, steady-state distribution, exponential convergence, Markov decision process; Poisson process, Little's theorem, M/M/1 queues, queuing networks, hybercube model, fluid model; Branching process, Erdos?Renyi model, geometric random graph; Applications in connected/autonomous vehicles, intersections, highway traffic, transit, patrol, emergency services, air transportation, infrastructure maintenance, urban development.
Prerequisites: Knowledge of Undergraduate course on calculus, probability, and linear algebra

3 Credits Travel Behavioral Informatics TR-GY7073

This course teaches students how to design information systems for operating transportation facilities and services. The information systems are built on information obtained from a diverse population of travelers, and hence behavioral modeling is a crucial component. An introduction is provided of intelligent transportation systems (ITS): systems engineering, ITS architecture, and current ITS trends associated with behavioral information systems: e.g. cyber-physical transport systems, Internet of Things, and information & communications technologies (ICTs). An introduction to decision theory with incomplete information is provided based on different models random utility maximization: multinomial logit, probit, nested logit, mixed logit. Students will design tools based on behavioral choice models (for users) in a dynamic setting and construct simulation tests to evaluate them. A route choice information system (new technology marketing strategy, route diversion system, or fare/toll revenue management system) will be used as a case study.
Prerequisites: Graduate Standing or Department Permission

3 Credits Urban Public Transportation Systems TR-GY7133

This course provides a thorough understanding of policy, planning, operational and technical issues that affect urban public transportation. It includes the historical development of cites and the rise of urban transport. Also covered are the characteristics of various urban transportation modes (their specific operating and infrastructure characteristics), as well as key elements that are critical to service provision, such as service planning, scheduling, fare collection, communication and signaling, station design and customer service. The course offers a broad perspective on regional planning, capital programming and policy matters. Special focus will be on emerging technologies and their practical applications.
Prerequisite: Graduate status or permission of instructor.

3 Credits Data-driven Mobility Modeling & Simulation TR-GY7353

The goal of this course is to provide students with the tools and methods to understand basics of traffic flow theory, modeling and simulation. The emphasis will be on the use of real-world data to supplement the understanding of the theory behind theoretical models. Small-scale models will be developed in R or Python then tested and validated against real-world data. The use of some of the well-known microscopic, mesoscopic, and agent-based transportation / traffic modeling and simulation software tools such as SUMO and MATSIM will also be introduced using a hands-on approach with real-world transportation networks.
Prerequisites: TR-GY 6333 and TR-GY 6343 or equivalents; or permission of advisor

3 Credits Selected Topics in Transportation I TR-GY8013

These courses are given as needed to present material on current topical subjects that are not expected to be given on a regular basis. The topic(s) for each offering are indicated and are listed on the student's transcript. These courses may be taken more than once if the listed topics are different.
Prerequisites: As approved for the topic(s); to be specified for each offering and Graduate Standing.

3 Credits Selected Topics in Infrastructure Systems CE-GY7983

This course examines topics of current interest in infrastructure systems. Topics vary with each offering and are disseminated before the semester of offering.
Prerequisite: Instructor's Permission

Students may also choose relevant graduate courses offered by CUSP, the Wagner School of Public Service's Urban Planning and Public Administration programs, or other Management courses, with approval by their advisor. 

View a more complete list of pre-approved courses.