UCL’s Centre for Transport Studies (CTS) is one of the University College London Faculty of Engineering’s core research centres, based in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering in London. It brings together academics, researchers, doctoral students and visiting experts around transport policy, planning, operations and infrastructure.
CTS says its mission is to improve mobility, safety and quality of life for all. Its work spans the transport and city domains, with research on governance, city mobilities, economics, infrastructure investment, networks, operations, accessibility and transport safety. The centre also studies multiscale modelling and simulation of transport systems, human behaviour, and the design and implementation of policies, infrastructure and systems.
The centre works at a global scale. Its page notes that CTS collaborates extensively with governments and industry around the world, and that its research spans from established transport networks to emerging solutions for future cities. It also connects researchers across UCL through Transport@UCL, a platform that links transport-related work across the university.
A major part of CTS’s profile is PEARL, the People-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory, which it hosts as part of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure & Cities (UKCRIC). PEARL is designed as a physical urban laboratory for studying how people interact with infrastructure and built environments. The centre also runs research seminars and a “Provocations” series, bringing in speakers from academia, industry and public organisations.
Professor Nick Tyler is the current director. The centre’s academic staff include researchers such as Bani Anvari, Clemence Cavoli, Nicola Christie, Taku Fujiyama, Tim Hillel, Peter Jones, Francesca Medda and Helena Titheridge.