Anne Benaroya

I am a Master of Planning Student with an interest in how transportation and land-use planning can together affect social, environmental, and economic aspects of society. Having previous work experience evaluating provincial and federal government programs, I have seen first-hand how policies impact citizens’ lives. I am excited to be studying Planning so that I can help directly address complex issues. I am particularly interested in the implementation of innovative approaches to improve the equity and sustainability of our cities and rural areas. I am currently working with Dr. Sweet on analyzing the impacts of the town of Innisfil’s unique partnership with Uber, which provides subsidized ride hailing as an alternative to traditional fixed-route buses.

Attiya Haseeb

My professional experience in the field of urban planning involves teaching the planning courses in a university and working with urban and environmental planning consultants. Travel behaviour of people and its implications towards promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly cities has been a primary focus of my studies throughout my professional and academic career. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D studies under the supervision of Dr. Raktim Mitra with a motivation to explore this area further

Avet Khachatryan

As a sustainability researcher and a lifelong cyclist, I see urban cycling as one of the most sustainable and equitable means of transportation. I aspire to pursue PhD studies in urban cycling planning. Participating in the TransForm Lab through the project "Urban Cycling Facilities and Traveller Behaviour Change" under the guidance of Dr. Raktim Mitra is an exciting opportunity to do quantitative research on cycling, to learn about new trends in cycling research, and to glimpse into how commuters in different areas of Toronto and other municipalities in Southern Ontario perceive cycling policies.

Andrew Robertson

I am a First-Year Master’s student with a passion for public transit. I am interested in how we can use public transit, transit-oriented development, and active transportation to make our cities more livable and sustainable. As an avid transit user, I want to see how we can make transit a more viable alternative to driving to free cities for people. I am currently working with Dr. Sweet on the Automated Vehicles in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area survey, which aims to see how the public’s perception of autonomous vehicles has changed over time.

Daniel Kogan

I am a Master of Spatial Analytics student with an interest in geospatial applications in transportation and urban planning. My interest in transportation began with a trip to the Netherlands, where transportation infrastructure is quite advanced and very different from that of Atlantic Canada, where I lived at the time. This interest grew while working as a GIS analyst at Dalhousie’s Food Policy Lab, researching the food environment and learning that an adequate transportation system is often required to access healthy foods. This led me to my current role at the TransForm lab working with Dr. Sweet, researching travel behavior and attitudes regarding automated vehicles, while providing a spatial lens to the project.

Parvesh Kumar

I began as an urban planner. Then my passion for cycling in Delhi led me to sustainable transportation. With a PhD and 12 years working in this field, I’m pleased to be working with TransForm as the project manager for StudentMoveTO under the guidance of Dr. Raktim Mitra. I am enrolled in the Master of Planning (MPl) in Urban Development One-year Accelerated Stream and kick starting my career in Canada. I am pleased to contribute my years of experience, global perspective, creative approach to problem solving and passion.

Vanessa Cipriani

I am a second year Master of Planning student who is passionate about transforming our cities into sustainable, resilient, and equitable places to live. I think that sustainable transportation and land-use planning policies play a critical role in addressing climate change. At the same time, I want to ensure that equity is embedded in our processes, goals, and future. I love commuting by bike and learning about different public transportation systems across the world.

Sukhjeet Kahlon

I am a Master of Planning student passionate about community engagement and the sustainable development of community spaces to create efficient and innovative communities. I am excited to learn how planning practices can make micromobility and public transportation more viable options and make communities more sustainable. I am currently working with Dr. Mitra to research the potential of shared e-scooters in Canadian municipalities.

Remington Latanville

I am a PhD student in the Policy Studies program in the Social Policy stream with a specialization in Urban Policy. I come from an interdisciplinary background of business and criminology with a sustained focus on power disparities which negatively impact the lower socioeconomic class. In my masters, my research focused on policies which would promote more equitable urban housing markets in Canada. My current research is led by Dr. Mitra and examines Canadian active transportation planning during and post-pandemic with a specific focus on street reallocation initiatives. In my PhD studies, I am interested in expanding the body of knowledge on the widespread victimization of pedestrians as vulnerable road users. In particular, I aim to explore the urban design issues which impede pedestrian well-being, as well as the responsibilization of vehicle operators and vehicle manufacturers.

Nico Zucco

My passion for transportation and mobility stems from taking transit and cycling when living in different Canadian cities and noticing how they offered a vastly different experience. Transportation is much more than simply moving someone from point A to point B. It intersects with housing, the local economy, equity, environmental sustainability and resilience, physical and mental wellbeing. I am passionate about how transportation relates to these systems and how people in cities experience them. As a cyclist and transit user, I am also interested in how transportation infrastructure projects impact the people in the communities they are transforming. As a coordinator with TransForm, I am continuing the work to help strengthen the lab’s research and branding by making it visually compelling, easy to access, and engaging.

Peter Maloney

I am a student in TMU’s Master of Planning program. I came to the field because of my strong belief that a paradigm shift in how we travel in our communities is needed to create a more sustainable and equitable future. Having grown up in a car-centric suburb, I became an avid cyclist when I moved to the city, which opened my eyes to the personal and communal benefits of access to complete streets and living in a 15-minute city. My area of research is concerned with improving micromobilty infrastructure and policy design. I have worked professionally as a researcher at an educational institution and as an active transportation planner at a large GTA city.