The Transportation Research Board has awarded Indian American transportation expert Ram M. Pendyala its 2026 W.N. Carey, Jr. TRB Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his service to TRB.
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 to the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India, alumnus on Jan. 13, 2027, during the annual meeting of TRB, a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
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Pendyala has been deeply engaged with TRB for more than three decades, serving in leadership roles at the committee, section, group, and council levels, according to a TRB news release.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
With a B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from IIT Chennai, Pendyala received his PhD and MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Transportation Systems) from the University of California, Davis.