The American Planning Association (APA) recently announced the winners for its annual regional planning awards. Multiple UCLA ITS research projects and programs, including work from our affiliated centers, received recognition. 

Academic Awards

Two UCLA Urban Planning recent graduates were honored with APA awards. 

Jayne Vidheecharoen, MURP ‘21 received APA LA’s award of excellence for her capstone project, “Equity Lenses: Targeting Equitable Community Investment Across Southern California.” Vidheecharoen conducted a comprehensive review of SCAG’s planning and funding programs through an equity lens to take on the thorny question: how can SCAG allocate its various streams of funding to best address inequities? She also produced an ArcGIS app prototype and scorecard system with unified equity indicators. Vidheecharoen also won the APA Sustainable Communities Division student award of excellence.

Asiya Patel, MURP ‘21 received APA LA’s award of merit for her master’s capstone project, “It’s Not Just a Sign: Traffic Calming Gives Bump to Safety—A Cost Benefit Analysis of Traffic Calming in the City of Los Angeles.” Patel looked into the effectiveness of low-cost traffic safety interventions, including speed humps, bike lanes, partial closures and stop signs. Patel also won the APA California academic award of merit.

Lastly, Homelessness in Transit Environments received the academic award of excellence from the APA Northern California chapter. This research project, led by Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, investigated the intersections of the pandemic, transit, and homelessness, and how transit agencies are responding. Researchers surveyed 115 transit operators nationwide on issues of homelessness. The study produced two reports and three policy briefs.

Communications Initiative

Transfers Magazine, the biannual research publication of the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center, received the APA California award of merit. By emphasizing clear and simple language, Transfers provides a forum to increase awareness of the most pressing transportation issues today. The magazine is produced by an editorial team at UCLA and features condensed, accessible versions of peer-reviewed research articles and other scholarly work. 

Advancing Diversity and Social Change

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s report, “Changing Lanes: A Gender Equity Transportation Study for Los Angeles,” received the award of excellence for advancing diversity and social change. The report used community-based research to gain a better understanding of how gender gaps in transportation affect the daily lives of women. UCLA researchers Evelyn Blumenberg, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, and Madeline Brozen with the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies provided research analysis and support for the study.