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Transportation Science Graduate Program | |
| Why Transportation? | Why Study at UCI? | Which UCI Program? | What's ITS's Role? |
| TS Master's Program? | Admission Requirements? | Who'll Be My Advisor? | Career Opportunities? |
| WHY PURSUE GRADUATE STUDY IN TRANSPORTATION? | [ back to top ] |
| In terms of career challenges, there has never been a better time to enter
the transportation profession. In California each year, 24 million vehicles
travel 155 billion vehicle miles over 166,000 miles of streets and highways;
travel in urban areas has increased 32% in the last 10 years with a
corresponding 26% increase of vehicle-hours of delay. Federal, state, and
local public expenditures on transportation have exceeded $100 billion
annually over the last decade; another $580 billion annually is spent on
purchasing, operating, and maintaining private household vehicles. In the
last 15 years, nearly a dozen urban or commuter rail systems have opened
or are being planned and many California counties have approved sales tax
propositions to fund regional transportation mobility projects. The problems
facing today's metropolitan areas are perhaps unprecendented despite years of
transportation demand and system management programs and more recent investment
in both transportation infrastructure and intelligent transportation systems.
The political, economic, social, and technical complexity of transportation systems strongly support the contention that a graduate degree represents the first professional degree in transportation, whether in engineering, economics, planning, or an interdisciplinary field such as transportation science. | |
| WHY CHOOSE UCI? | [ back to top ] |
There are numerous domestic, graduate transportation programs from which
to choose. There are many in California alone, including several in the
University of California system. Why UCI? UCI has established an
international reputation in transportation research and education in a
broad range of application areas. UCI has a premier record in placing
graduates in domestic academic positions and serves as a starting place
of employment searches by both private corporations and public agencies
in the transportation profession. UCI's breadth of program alternatives
is one of our primary reasons why prospective students choose UCI:
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| WHICH UCI TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM IS FOR ME? | [ back to top ] |
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With graduate programs in Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Transportation Economics, Urban and Regional Planning, as well as
Transportation Science, how does a prospective student determine
the best fit? Transportation Systems Engineering (TSE) is a concentration within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (a concentration is a focused set of courses from at least two different UCI academic units). The TSE masters program (M.S. in Civil Engineering) is the only full transportation master's degree program currently enrolling students at UCI (the Master's of Urban and Regional Planning (M.U.R.P.) degree program in the School of Social Ecology has a defined concentration in Transportation Planning but the degree is first and foremost a professional planning degree). Transportation Systems Engineering focuses on the planning, design, operation, and management of modern urban transportation systems. Emphasis is on the development of fundamental skills and knowledge in engineering, systems analysis, modeling, and planning, combined with advanced computational techniques, to address complex problems facing passenger and freight transportation systems. Both the Master's and the Ph.D. programs require a rigorous background in mathemetical, statistical, and computational methodologies best provided in an engineering (typically civil or electrical) or computer science degree program. The M.S. in Civil Engineering degree reflects an advanced level of competence for professional practice as demonstrated by the achievement of greater breadth than the bachelor's degree and by the development of some depth in a specific area of transportation systems engineering. The Ph.D. in Civil Engineering indicates attainment of a breadth of scholarship, the ability to communicate advanced concepts, and a capacity for independent, innovative research. The Transportation Economics program is first and foremost an economics program. It is a graduate concentration within the economics Ph.D. program in the School of Social Sciences (a concentration is a defined set of courses from at least two different UCI academic units). Students in this program typically have undergraduate economics degrees and are seeking career opportunities in the field of economics with research and teaching interests in transportation. Urban and Regional Planning offers two different graduate degree programs: a professional-oriented Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (M.U.R.P.) and a research-oriented Ph.D. Both are offered in a broadly defined planning program with a Transportation Planning specialization and a generally broader policy-orientation. The Transportation Science program was developed to provide exceptional students the option to define a customized transportation degree drawing from UCI's engineering, economics, and planning programs. Prospective students may apply directly from bachelor's or master's programs in engineering, economics, planning, or many related fields. The program requires a sound theoretical and methodological foundation and provides interaction with faculty, courses, and research in any of the participating programs. Such an approach allows for transportation economics or engineering as a graduate concentration without having a conventional economics or engineering background. | |
| WHAT IS THE ROLE OF ITS IN GRADUATE TRANSPORTATION STUDY? | [ back to top ] |
| UCI offers four integrated graduate programs in transportation. Although these programs are administered by independent academic units and have distinct goals and objectives, they are integrated via coursework, seminars, graduate committees, student advisement, and research opportunities. The Institute of Transportation Studies, a University of California Organized Research Unit, was established to foster research, education, and training in the field of transportation. A fundamental goal of the Institute is the stimulation of interdisciplinary research on contemporary transportation issues. The Institute provides an environment for interaction by providing offices for most transportation graduate students and many faculty and researchers. The Institute hosts visiting scholars from the U.S. and abroad to facilitate collaborative research and information exchange, and also sponsors conferences and colloquia to disseminate research results. | |
| IS THERE A MASTER'S PROGRAM IN TRANSPORTATION SCIENCE? | [ back to top ] |
| Currently, students are admitted only to study for the Ph.D. We do not offer a terminal master's program at this time. Students admitted to the Ph.D. program may obtain an M.S. during their course of study upon completion of Qualifying Examinations at a satisfactory level. The Transportation Systems Engineering specialization within the M.S. in Civil Engineering program is the only full transportation master's program currently enrolling students at UCI (the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning degree program has a defined concentration in Transportation Planning but the degree is first and foremost a professional planning degree). | |
| WHAT ARE THE TS ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS? | [ back to top ] |
| Students may enter the Transportation Science Ph.D. program after completing a bachelor's or a master's degree program in an appropriate field. While formal study in transportation is not required, the degree of prior preparation will affect the length of time it takes to complete the Ph.D. program. In addition to the standard UCI application form, applicants must provide three letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, transcripts for all post-secondary programs, and standard test scores. It is difficult to state specific GPA or test score minimums given the broad range of backgrounds that applicants may have, but program requirements are similar to those in other UCI transportation programs. | |
| HOW DO I CHOOSE AN ADVISOR AND A COMMITTEE? | [ back to top ] |
| Since Transportation Science is an interdisciplinary program, it draws all of its resources from affiliated departments. All Transportation Science faculty have appointments in at least one of these affiliated departments. Prior to an applicant being admitted, a relationship is established with one or more affiliated faculty to insure that each admitted students has the necessary initial resources (an advisor, research direction, and funding) to insure success in the program. As the research process matures, the student and the advisor will assemble a committee that can best provide guidance. | |
| WHAT ARE SUBSEQUENT CAREER OPPORTUNITIES? | [ back to top ] |
| The transportation field offers a wide range of career opportunities in both the public and private sectors. Many of UCI graduates follow a career path in education and research at universities here and abroad, while others choose positions in government agencies, think tanks, consulting, and with transportation operators (both private and public). Although Transportation Science is a young program, several of our graduates have sought and received faculty positions. | |
| Last revised: 18 November 2005 | http://www.transci.uci.edu/ |
| [ TranSci | Civil Eng | Planning | Economics | ITS | UCI ] |