Dr. Megan Ryerson

Research 

In my research, student mentoring, and teaching, I produce high-impact scholarship and to empower the next generation of planners to scrutinize, rationalize, and create new transportation planning processes and policies towards a future of resilient and sustainable transportation systems. My research focuses on three main areas: 
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Economic Development and Environmental Planning for Air Transportation, to reveal both the uncertain and contextual nature of regional economic development generated by airports and the significant environmental impacts airports have yielded. Yet, the promise of economic development spurs cities to expand air transportation supply by pouring municipal funds into airline subsidy programs and fund airport expansions without rigorously evaluating policy and modal alternatives.

Multimodal Transportation Planning, with focus on the impact of rail and future vehicle technologies on the demand for short-distance air transportation. I also consider how alternatives to air transportation might encourage airlines to reduce the supply of inefficient short-distance flights.

Transportation Network Resilience – Plans and Algorithms, to establish how changes to airline network structures have rendered the aviation system more vulnerable to airport outages. I investigate how unpredictability in the aviation system encourages airlines to operate flights inefficiently hastening the very climate change that causes these outages. Towards keeping aviation networks operational during outages, I am developing analytical adaptive airport reuse algorithms for aviation resilience plans. ​

More information about publications, research grants, and presentations is available through the links below.