Joshua Schank

Biography:

Joshua Schank is a Senior Fellow at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies and a Managing Principal at InfraStrategies, a transportation and financial advisory firm, where he leads a practice focused on innovation, strategic planning, and technology.

Prior to joining UCLA, he was the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Schank joined Metro in 2015 to establish the agency’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation, which is responsible for fostering innovations that improve mobility, equity and environmental outcomes across LA County. Schank led an office that shapes Metro’s high-level strategic vision, serving as a liaison to the academic community, designing, piloting and implementing innovative programs and policies, and engaging entrepreneurs and businesses to develop public-private-partnerships. Schank helped create and lead numerous transformative Metro projects including the Vision 2028 Strategic Plan, Metro Micro, Mobility on Demand, Metro’s Traffic Reduction Study, Better Bus, two Pre-Development Agreements for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor, a Public-Private-Partnership for the West Santa Ana Branch, and an aerial tram from Union Station to Dodger Stadium.

He previously served as President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a leading national transportation policy think-tank based in Washington, D.C. He previously led the National Transportation Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and has worked as a consultant for Parsons Brinkerhoff (now WSP) and ICF International. Schank served as Transportation Policy Advisor to Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) during the authorization of SAFETEA-LU, and is the co-author of All Roads Lead to Congress: The $300 Billion Fight Over Highway Funding. He began his career working on behalf of the riders of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City and has never lost that spirit.

He holds a PhD in Urban Planning from Columbia University.