Joseph L. Schofer

Interim Department Chair,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Professor,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Associate Dean,
Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

A234 Technological Institute
2145 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208-3109

Dean's Office
L260 Technological Institute
2145 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208-3109

E-mail address: j-schofer@northwestern.edu
Phone: (847) 491-8795
Fax: (847) 491-4011

Curriculum Vitae:

Education

• B.E., Yale University, Civil Engineering
• M.S., Northwestern University, Civil Engineering-Transportation
• Ph.D., Northwestern University, Civil Engineering-Transportation

Research

Professor Schofer's research interests focus on planning and management of transportation systems, particularly the provision and use of data and information for effective decision making and evaluation of systems, plans and projects. He works on mobility and safety of people and sustainability of transportation systems from the perspectives of policy, planning, design and operations.

Recently he has explored variable speed limit systems, factors affecting pedestrian crashes, transportation contributions to sustainable community development, and use of data and forecasts by transportation decision makers.

Teaching Activities

• CIV_ENG-371 Introduction to Transportation Planning and Analysis (with Prof. Frank S. Koppelman) Click here to view current syllabus.
• CIV_ENG-479 Transportation Systems Planning and Management. Click here to view current syllabus.
• CIV_ENG-482 Evaluation and Decision Making for Infrastructure Systems. Click here to view current syllabus.
• CIV_ENG-382 Infrastructure Facilities and Systems – capstone design course in Civil Engineering (with Prof. David F. Schulz. Click her to view current syllabus.

Professional Activities

• Presentation slides, Transportation Research Board Conference: "Information Assets to Support Transportation Decision Making: A Peer Exchange of State Transportation Organizations," April 17-18, 2007: Presentation 1: Transportation Information Assets: Review of Data Applications from States". CLICK HERE for PDF file.
• Presentation slides, Transportation Research Board Conference: "Information Assets to Support Transportation Decision Making: A Peer Exchange of State Transportation Organizations," April 17-18, 2007: Presentation 2: What the Peers Exchanged"." CLICK HERE for PDF file.
• Lecture slides: “Fulfilling Impossible Dreams: Keys to the Construction of the Panama Canal” , and “Panama Canal Today and Tomorrow”, presented on the Northwestern University Alumni Cruise of the Panama Canal , January, 2007: http://www.iti.northwestern.edu/panama
• "US DOT Expert Forum on Road Pricing and Travel Demand Modeling." To read the PDF file CLICK HERE.
• "Freight Database of the Future, " presented at the Transportation Research Board Conference on the Commodity Flow Survey, July, 2005, and at the 85th Annual Meeting of TRB, January, 2006 Link to Freight Database of the Future.; published in TRB E-Circular EC-088.
• "Decision-driven Framework for a National Transportation Data Program," presented at the 85th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January, 2006. Link to Decision-Driven Transportation Data 1-29-2006.
• "Academic Careers in Transportation," presented at the 85th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January, 2006. Link to Academic Careers in Transportation.
• "Key Observations from the Conference," presented at the Transportation Research Board National Household Travel Survey Conference: Understanding Our Nation's Travel, November 1-2, 2004, Washington, DC. published as TRB Circular E-C071, January, 2005 (http://trb.org/publications/circulars/ec071.pdf).
• Member, Board of Advisors of the Institute for Transportation Studies, University of California at Davis (http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/).
• Completed brief study tour to Sweden to review urban and transportation facility design ideas and examine pedestrian and bicycle treatments. Visited Mr. Jan Söderström of Svenska Kommunfördundet (http://www.lf.svekom.se/lopsedelbanner.asp?C=24). To see selected pictures CLICK HERE.
• Chairman, Transportation Research Board Committee to Review Bureau of Transportation Statistics Surveys. This TRB policy committee reviewed the two flagships surveys conducted by BTS - the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), as well as the periodic BTS Omnibus Survey. The committee's full report is available at http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=1980
• Member, Citizen's Advisor Board of Pace, the suburban bus service provider in the Chicago region (http://www.pacebus.com/).
• Life Member, American Society of Civil Engineers.

Honors and Awards

• Recipient of the Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award, 2003

Selected Publications

• J.L. Schofer, T. Lomax, T. Palmerlee, J. Zmud, Transportation Information Assets and Impacts , Transportation Research Circular E-C 109, Transportation Research Board, December 2006. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec109.pdf
• James R. Parks and Joseph L. Schofer, "Characterizing neighborhood pedestrian environments with secondary data,"  Transportation Research Part D, Volume 11, 2006, pp. 250-363.
• John J. Wirtz, Joseph L. Schofer and David F. Schulz, “ Using Simulation to Test Traffic Incident Management Strategies: Illustrating the Benefits of Pre-Planning,” Transportation Research Record 1923 , pp. 82-90, 2006.
• Brian H.Y. Lee, Joseph L. Schofer and Frank S. Koppelman, "Bicycle safety helmet legislation and bicycle-related non-fatal injuries in California," Accident Analysis and Prevention, Volume 37, 2005, pp. 93-102.
• Joseph L. Schofer, Barry L. Nelson, Ronald Eash, Mark Daskin, Ying Yang Hong Wan, Jingfeng Yan, and Laszlo Medgyesy, Resource Requirements for Demand-Responsive Transportation Services, Transit Cooperative Research Report 98, Transportation Research Board, 2003.
• Brian H.Y. Lee and Joseph L. Schofer, "Injuries in Fatal Crashes and Restraint Use: A National Analysis of the Age and Sex Demographics of the Occupants," Transportation Research Record 1830, 2003, pp. 10-17.