Tara Goddard

Dr. Tara Goddard is internationally known for her expertise in traffic safety and reducing traffic deaths and injuries, particularly for pedestrians, bicyclists and other vulnerable road users. She is also recognized for her work on roadway safety culture and for studies examining racial and gender bias in transportation safety. Her primary research focuses on creating a just transportation system through safe roadway design and inclusive transportation planning. Her research focuses on transportation safety and justice in the context of wildfire evacuation, urban heat and other issues of planning in the Pyrocene. Dr. Goddard holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from UC Davis and earned her Ph.D. in Urban Studies at Portland State University. She previously worked as an Associate Transportation Planner for the City of Sacramento and served as the Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Coordinator for the City of Davis, California, before joining Texas A&M faculty in 2017. She is a member of the doctoral committee of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. She also served as Vice-Chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Women and Gender in Transportation and as a member of the TRB Standing Committee on Bicycle Transportation.