Nicholas J. Klein
Nicholas J. Klein's research contributes to two central areas of transportation planning: understanding the factors that influence how people travel on a daily basis and how these changes play out over the course of their lives. His work focuses on marginalized populations and neighborhoods that use transit, walk, and bike at high rates. By studying factors that influence how people in these communities travel on a daily basis and how their travel evolves over many years, his work offers new perspectives for planners, policymakers, and researchers on issues of equity and sustainability in transportation.
He received his Ph.D. from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, a master's degree in urban spatial analytics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor's degree in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University. Klein previously taught at Columbia University, Temple University, and Pratt Institute.
"I teach students how to look at cities, neighborhoods, and streets to provide ways of thinking about how they could be changed and rebuilt to mitigate so many of the daily transportation challenges and barriers people face."
Academic Research/Specialty Areas
- Regional science
- Social policy
- Transportation planning
Related News
- Adapting to Multiple and Cascading Climate Change Hazards in New York City
- Greyhound Bus Stops Are Valuable Assets. Here's Who's Cashing In on Them
- NJ Transit's "Most Outstanding" Award Surprises Some Frustrated Riders, Despite Successes
- In Brief: A Congestion Pricing Road Map with Nick Klein
- The Impossible Paradox of Car Ownership
Classes (Selected)
- CRP 3210 Intro to Quantitative Methods for the Analysis of Public Policy
Awards, Grants, and Fellowships (Selected)
- Principal investigator, "How Do Car donation programs Affect Travel, Income, and Healthcare Access Among Poor Families?" Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (2018–20)
- Principal investigator. "How Car Donation Programs Change the Lives of Poor Families," Institute for the Social Sciences at Cornell University Small Grants Program (2018–19)
- Journal of Planning Education and Research, Top Reviewer Award for Non-Editorial Board Members (2018)
- Coprincipal investigator, "Strategies to Improve Immigrants' Access to the Planning of Public Transportation," with Evelyn Blumenberg (UCLA) and Michael Smart (UCLA), Federal Transit Administration Public Transportation Participation Program (2010–13)
Exhibitions and Presentations (Selected)
- Nicholas J. Klein, "So Many Different Things Open Up to a Person That Is Mobile: Subsidizing Car Ownership for Low-Income Individuals and Households," 99th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC (January 2020)
- Klein, N., M. Tran, and S. Riley, "Desperately in Need of Car: Analyzing Crowdfunding Campaigns for Car Purchases and Repairs on Gofundme.com," 99th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC (January 2020)
- Nicholas J. Klein and Michael Smart, "Left Behind in an Auto-dominated Landscape: The Increasing Role of Cars in Economic Mobility, 1968–2015," 98th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC (January 2019)
- Michael Smart and Nicholas Klein,"Remembrance of Cars and Buses Past: How Prior Life Experiences Influence Travel," 96th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC (January 2017)
- Michael Smart and Nicholas Klein, "Transport and Housing Expenditures: Muddying the relationship," 96th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC (January 2017)
- Nicholas Klein, Michael Smart, and Erick Guerra, 56th Annual Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference, Portland, Oregon (November 2016)
Publications (Selected)
- Klein, Nicholas J. and Smart, Michael, "Life Events, Poverty, and Car Ownership in the United States: A Mobility Biography Approach," Journal of Transport and Land Use, 12 (1) (2019)
- Smart, Michael and Klein, Nicholas J., "Complicating the Story of Location Affordability," Housing Policy Debate, 28 (3): 393–410 (2018)
- Smart, Michael and Klein, Nicholas J., "Remembrance of Cars and Buses Past: How Prior Life Experiences Influence Travel," Journal of Planning Education and Research 38 (2), 139–51 (2017)
- Klein, Nicholas J. and Smart, Michael, "Millennials and Car Ownership: Less Money, Fewer Cars," Transport Policy 53, 20–29 (2017)
- Chatman, Daniel G., and Klein, Nicholas J., "Why Do Immigrants Drive Less? Confirmations, Complications, and New Hypotheses from a Qualitative Study in New Jersey, USA," Transport Policy 30, 336–44 (2013)
- Smart, Michael J., and Klein, Nicholas J., "Neighborhoods of Affinity: Social Forces and Travel in Gay and Lesbian Neighborhoods," Journal of the American Planning Association 79 (2): 110–24 (2013)
