Dr. Deka assists in the implementation of the center’s overall research program, serves as the principal or co-principal investigator of research studies, and supervises the center’s research staff. He has been conducting transportation research since 1994. He worked previously for consulting firms, university planning programs, and one of the leading metropolitan planning organizations in the country.
At VTC, Dr. Deka has led several research studies as the principal investigator and supervised researchers on many other projects. His research interests consist of applied quantitative methods, socioeconomic issues in transportation, and transportation equity. His recent research includes the benefits from public transportation, impact of demographic changes on transportation, travel mode choice of adults and children, greenhouse gas emission from transportation, transportation for persons with disability, transit shuttles, emergency evacuation, and bicycling and walking among minority and low-income populations.
Prior to joining VTC, Dr. Deka managed projects on regional capital investment policies, regional transportation need and strategy assessment, and environmental justice for the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. He began his career as a transportation modeler and spent a year with the Federal Transit Administration as an Eisenhower Research Fellow. He earned a Ph.D. in Planning from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in Urban Planning from McGill University in Canada, and a master’s degree in Regional Planning from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.