TTI Graduate Research Assistant Jinuk Hwang is the recipient of a $6,500 scholarship from the American Public Transportation Foundation (APTF). The APTF Americans with Disabilities Act 25th Anniversary Scholarship will be awarded during the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA’s) TRANSform Conference held Oct. 13–16, 2019, in New York. This scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate or a graduate student who works to enhance accessible public transportation.
APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 public- and private-sector member organizations. An affiliate of APTA, the APTF provides scholarships for transit scholars. As a member of APTA, TTI sponsored Hwang’s application.
“Hwang is a deserving student for this scholarship,” says TTI Executive Associate Director Katie Turnbull. “His Ph.D. dissertation focuses on the potential of autonomous vehicles to serve individuals with disabilities, which is a topic of great interest to transit agencies and the disabled community. His research, which includes focus groups and surveys of disabled individuals, will help ensure that autonomous vehicles expand mobility options and avoid unintended consequences.”
Working in TTI’s Transit Mobility Program, Hwang conducts GIS and spatial analysis, performs data collection and review, and prepares technical documentation. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in urban and regional science in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning (LAUP) at Texas A&M University. LAUP Associate Professor and TTI Assistant Research Scientist Wei Li is Hwang’s committee chair. Turnbull, who is an LAUP executive professor, is a member of Hwang’s committee.
“As I continue my graduate studies, I’m grateful for this scholarship and my transit mobility program team members and TTI colleagues,” says Hwang. “I’m honored to be chosen by the APTF as a scholarship recipient, and I’m looking forward to furthering my research in the public transportation and urban planning fields.”