Professor, Urban & Regional Planning

Email

Preferred: asha.weinstein.agrawal@sjsu.edu

Telephone

Preferred: (408) 924-5691

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, Univ Of Cal-Berkeley, 2002
• Master of Science, London School of Economics, 1994
• Bachelor of Arts, Harvard-Radcliffe College, 1993

Bio

Asha Weinstein Agrawal is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University, Director of the MS in Transportation Management program in the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, and Director of MTI’s National Transportation Finance Center. Her research agenda is guided by a commitment to the principles of sustainability and equity: what planning and policy tools can communities adopt to encourage environmentally-friendly travel and improve accessibility for people struggling with poverty or other disadvantages? She has explored this question most deeply through two substantive areas, transportation finance policy and the travel behavior of pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. Dr. Agrawal also works in the area of urban history and is currently Chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Sub-Committee on Transportation History.

Dr. Agrawal’s research on contemporary policy issues has been cited in the popular media. Stories quoting her or citing her work have appeared in such outlets as The Washington Post (on gas taxes and mileage fees), CBS Evening News (on mileage fees), ABC News/KGO-TV (on mileage fees), the San Diego Union-Tribune (on transit fare policy), WBUR (on the history of traffic congestion), and the San Francisco Chronicle (on transportation taxes).

In addition, she has been invited to share her research findings at events such as a briefing session for staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, a meeting of the California Road Charge Pilot Program Technical Advisory Committee, and an Informational Hearing for Subcommitttees of the California State Senate Committees on Housing and Transportation.

Dr. Agrawal is actively involved with service to the professional planning and policy community. For example, she has served on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Regional Means-Based Transit Fare Pricing Study Technical Advisory Committee, Santa Clara County's Traffic Safe Communities Network Steering Committee, and the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority's Pedestrian Access to Transit Task Force.

Dr. Agrawal earned a B.A. from Harvard University in Folklore and Mythology, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Urban and Regional Planning, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in City and Regional Planning.

 
Selected Publications

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, Hannah King, and Martin Wachs. The Impact of COVID-19 on California Transportation Revenue. San Jose: Mineta Transportation Institute, San José State University, May 2020.

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, et al. Crime and Harassment on Public Transportation: A Survey of SJSU Students Set in International Context. San Jose: Mineta Transportation Institute, San José State University, March 2020.

Alexander, E. Serena, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Ashley M. Hooper, and Michael R. Boswell. Harmonizing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Transportation and Land-Use Planning in California Cities. San Jose: Mineta Transportation Institute, San José State University, February 2020.

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, and Hilary Nixon. What Do Americans Think about Federal Tax Options to Support Transportation? Results from Year 10 of a National Survey. San Jose: Mineta Transportation Institute, San José State University, June 2019.

Fang, Kevin, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, and Ashley M. Hooper. How and Where Should I Ride this Thing? Rules of the Road for Personal Transportation Devices. San Jose: Mineta Transportation Institute, May 2019.

Barajas, Jesus M., Daniel G. Chatman, and Asha Weinstein Agrawal. Exploring Bicycle and Public Transit Use by Low-Income Latino Immigrants: A Mixed-Methods Study in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Jose: Mineta Transportation Institute, May 2016.

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, Hilary Nixon, and Ashley M. Hooper. Public Perception of Mileage-Based User Fees (NCHRP Synthesis 487).  Washington, D.C.: Transportation Research Board, 2016.

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, Stephen Granger-Bevan, Gregory Newmark, and Hilary Nixon. Comparing Modes of On-Board Transit Passenger Surveys: Assessing Trade-Offs between Data Quality and Cost. San Jose: Mineta Transportation Institute, June 2015.

Blumenberg, Evelyn, and Asha Weinstein Agrawal. “Getting Around When You’re Just Getting By: Transportation Survival Strategies of the Poor.” Journal of Poverty, 18, no. 4 (2014): 355-378.

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, Todd Goldman, and Nancy Hannaford. “Shared-Use Bus Priority Lanes on City Streets: Approaches to Access and Enforcement.” Journal of Public Transportation 16, no. 4(2013): 25-41.

Flamm, Bradley, and Asha Weinstein Agrawal. “Constraints to Green Vehicle Ownership: A Focus Group Study.” Transportation Research D: Transport and Environment 17, no. 2 (2012), 108-115.

Forsyth, Ann, Kevin J. Krizek, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, and Eric Stonebreaker. “Reliability Testing of the PABS (Pedestrian and Bicycling Survey) Method.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health 9, no. 5 (2012), 677-688.

Guo, Zhan, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, and Jennifer Dill. “Are Land-Use Planning and Congestion Pricing Mutually Supportive? Evidence from a Pilot Mileage Fee Program in Portland, OR.” Journal of the American Planning Association 77, no. 3 (2011), 232-250.

Cheng, Chao-Lun, and Asha Weinstein Agrawal. “TTSAT: A New Approach to Mapping Transit Accessibility.” Journal of Public Transportation 13, no. 1 (2010): 55-72. 

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, Marc Schlossberg, and Katja Irvin. “How Far, by Which Route and Why? A Spatial Analysis of Pedestrian Preference.” Journal of Urban Design 13, no. 1 (2008): 81 - 98.

Agrawal, Asha Weinstein, and Paul Schimek. “Extent and Correlates of Walking in the USA.” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 12, no.8 (2007): 548-63.

Weinstein, Asha. “Congestion as a Cultural Construct: The ‘Congestion Evil’ in Boston in the 1890s and 1920s.” Journal of Transport History 27, no.2 (2006): 97-115.

Weinstein, Asha, and Gian-Claudia Sciara. “Unraveling Equity in HOT Lane Planning: A View from Practice.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 26, no. 2 (2006): 174-84.