2027 TRB Annual Meeting: Ram M. Pendyala Recipient of the 2026 W.N. Carey, Jr. Transportation Research Board Distinguished Service Award

In recognition of his service to TRB, Ram M. Pendyala is the 2026 recipient of the W.N. Carey, Jr., TRB Distinguished Service Award. Pendyala, professor and director, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and director, TOMNET University Transportation Center, both at Arizona State University, is recognized for more than three decades of distinguished service to TRB and for his leadership in transportation planning, travel behavior, and travel analysis methods. The Carey Award, which was named in honor of W.N. Carey, Jr., TRB’s Executive Director from 1967 to 1980, recognizes individuals who have provided leadership and distinguished service to TRB.

The award will be presented on Wednesday, January 13, 2027, during the Chair’s Plenary Session portion of the TRB Annual Meeting, January 10 - 14, 2027, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Pendyala has been deeply engaged with TRB for more than three decades, serving in leadership roles at the committee, section, group, and council levels. He chaired the Standing Technical Committee on Traveler Behavior and Values, the Travel Analysis Methods Section, and the Planning and Environment Group, and served as a member of the Technical Activities Council. He also cochaired the Special Committee for Travel Forecasting Resources and served on National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transit Cooperative Research Program, and Second Strategic Highway Research Program panels and expert groups. Through these roles, Pendyala has helped shape research priorities, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and strengthen connections between transportation research and practice.

Pendyala’s service to TRB has been closely intertwined with his contributions to transportation scholarship. His research has helped advance activity-based approaches to transportation analysis and understanding of how activity participation, time use, lifestyle preferences, technology adoption, and mobility choices affect travel demand. His work also focuses on emerging issues such as telecommuting, information technologies, ride hailing, shared mobility, autonomous vehicles, e-commerce, transportation access, and changing attitudes and perceptions. Over his career, he has translated scientific advances into methods, tools, and guidance used by transportation practitioners in the United States and internationally.

Pendyala has been an especially prolific contributor to TRB’s research dissemination activities. He has published 80 papers in Transportation Research Record (TRR), representing nearly half of his refereed journal publications, and has reviewed manuscripts and proposals, organized workshops and sessions, chaired technical meetings, and contributed research needs statements. His sustained participation in TRB Annual Meetings includes service as a presenter, presiding officer, and coauthor across a broad range of sessions and workshops.

Beyond TRB, Pendyala has strengthened the transportation research community through professional leadership, institution building, and mentorship. He has held leadership positions in the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research and directed the $8.4 million TOMNET University Transportation Center, a national consortium that completed more than 60 research projects, delivered more than 50 practitioner webinars, and produced open-source analytical tools and dashboards. He has advised 24 doctoral students, mentored 49 master’s students, and served on more than 100 graduate committees, helping develop future generations of transportation researchers and professionals.

Across a career spanning more than three decades, Pendyala has authored 175 refereed journal publications, 103 refereed conference papers, 32 book chapters and articles, and 117 technical reports. Through approximately 90 sponsored projects supported by more than 20 organizations, his work has improved travel forecasting, informed transportation investment decisions, advanced understanding of emerging mobility technologies, and helped agencies respond to major societal and technological changes.

Pendyala received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Transportation Systems) from the University of California, Davis; and his B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.

Through his sustained leadership and distinguished service to TRB, his contributions to transportation research and practice, and his commitment to developing future leaders, Pendyala exemplifies the spirit of service and professional leadership that the W.N. Carey, Jr., Transportation Research Board Distinguished Service Award honors.

E-Newsletter Type: TRB News

This Summary Last Modified On: 9/30/2026