Research at the Rudin Center has a future-oriented focus: we seek to identify and understand the forces that will influence transportation in the 21st century. To do this, the Rudin Center explores key areas such as:
How will mobile communications influence the use of transportation systems? Can new information technologies be used to improve the performance of transit systems and help consumers make choices among transportation alternatives?
What methods should be considered to finance transportation and infrastructure that reflect the need for alternatives to the gasoline tax. How can technological innovations in tolling be deployed to generate revenue for transportation infrastructure.
How does governmental regulation of the built environment (e.g. land use planning and infrastructure investment) limit travel options and encourage automobile use? How do travelers perceive different transportation options and can policies reinforce, change, or influence behavior?
What are the social and psychological functions of walking, the oldest form of transportation? The Rudin Center is engaged in a collaborative research endeavor with three of the nation’s leading neuroscientists, NYU Professors David Poeppel, Denis Pelli, and David Omodio, to examine the way in which cities differ from suburban and rural areas as places for walking.
The Rudin Center is also investigating the role of local and long distance commuting to Manhattan and the way in which new patterns of work affect transportation systems. In addition, the Center is currently conducting a projects on the economic impact of heliports in New York City, and exploring the role general aviation and commercial aviation in the life of the New York metropolitan region.
Rudin Researchers explore new LIRR East Side Access Tunnels with the MTA. East Side Access will significantly effect commuters throughout the City.
