About

Nicholas Klein is an Associate Professor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. His research examines critical questions about how transportation influences individual lives, urban development, and societal equity. He focuses on the role of transportation in social and economic mobility, transportation policy, public opinion, education, and the impact of new transportation technologies on cities and travel. Klein employs both quantitative and qualitative research methods, drawing on primary and secondary data collection to inform his work. He holds a Ph.D. from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, a master's degree in urban spatial analytics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor's degree in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University. His academic career includes teaching positions at Columbia University, Temple University, and Pratt Institute. Klein's work has contributed to understanding issues such as subsidizing car ownership for low-income households, induced demand in transportation planning, and the acquisition of automobiles by lower-income populations. His research has been recognized through various grants and fellowships, and he actively engages in exploring how transportation policies and technologies can shape more equitable and sustainable urban environments.

Research topics

• Business
• Transport engineering
• Demographic economics
• Geography
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Trade Associations and Lobbying for Roads: Funding, Strategies, and Discourses

  SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) · 2026-03-09

  preprintSenior author

  The need for spending on roads and highways is largely unquestioned because the benefits of economic growth, reduced congestion, and increased jobs seem both self-evident and politically neutral. Yet, as we document in this report, this narrative benefits from the support of hundreds of lobbyists, millions of dollars in spending, and a collection of extensive and diverse strategies. This report focuses on one group involved in the road lobby — the trade associations and business organizations that stand to directly benefit from increased investment in road building, including contractors, building material and aggregate producers, and engineering companies. We find that trade associations spend heavily on lobbying and political campaigns, and they are often among the top spenders in their industry category. This results in hundreds of lobbyists working for trade associations, many with government experience, and millions of dollars donated to political campaigns and political action committees (PACs). The strategies used are diverse and extensive, including direct engagement with elected officials, mobilizing association members and grassroots advocacy, establishing expertise through “informational lobbying” and research institutes, and funding programs to support lobbying at other levels. These resources are used to frame road building as critical to economic growth and job creation, worthy of support through increased spending and dedicated user fees as well as regulatory reform.

  Publisher

• How Transport Journals Weed Out Qualitative Research and Why It Matters

  2026-02-02

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Transportation researchers rarely publish findings from qualitative methods in peer-reviewed transportation journals; quantitative methods dominate research in the field. In this article, we document the paucity of qualitative research in transportation journals and examine the significant challenges researchers face in getting this type of work published. To do this, we (1) systematically reviewed the methods used in top transportation journals, and (2) conducted in-depth interviews with 46 researchers and editors. Qualitative research accounts for a very small but growing share of peer-reviewed publications in the top fifteen transportation journals. Challenges in publishing stem from widespread misunderstandings of qualitative methods and a lack of expertise from reviewers and editors in evaluating this type of work. The barriers that qualitative researchers face in peer review have implications for individual careers and the field of transportation more broadly. Gatekeeping around research methods limits how our field understands critical transportation issues with potential implications for practice and policy.

  PublisherDOI

• Trade Associations and Lobbying for Roads: Funding, Strategies, and Discourses

  2026-03-09

  article

  The need for spending on roads and highways is largely unquestioned because the benefits of economic growth, reduced congestion, and increased jobs seem both self-evident and politically neutral. Yet, as we document in this report, this narrative benefits from the support of hundreds of lobbyists, millions of dollars in spending, and a collection of extensive and diverse strategies. This report focuses on one group involved in the road lobby — the trade associations and business organizations that stand to directly benefit from increased investment in road building, including contractors, building material and aggregate producers, and engineering companies. We find that trade associations spend heavily on lobbying and political campaigns, and they are often among the top spenders in their industry category. This results in hundreds of lobbyists working for trade associations, many with government experience, and millions of dollars donated to political campaigns and political action committees (PACs). The strategies used are diverse and extensive, including direct engagement with elected officials, mobilizing association members and grassroots advocacy, establishing expertise through “informational lobbying” and research institutes, and funding programs to support lobbying at other levels. These resources are used to frame road building as critical to economic growth and job creation, worthy of support through increased spending and dedicated user fees as well as regulatory reform.

  PublisherDOI

• How Transport Journals Weed Out Qualitative Research and Why It Matters

  2025-04-12

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Transportation researchers rarely publish findings from qualitative methods in peer-reviewed transportation journals; quantitative methods dominate research in the field. In this article, we document the paucity of qualitative research in transportation journals and examine the significant challenges researchers face in getting this type of work published. To do this, we (1) systematically reviewed the methods used in top transportation journals, and (2) conducted in-depth interviews with 46 researchers and editors. Qualitative research accounts for a very small but growing share of peer-reviewed publications in the top fifteen transportation journals. Challenges in publishing stem from widespread misunderstandings of qualitative methods and a lack of expertise from reviewers and editors in evaluating this type of work. The barriers that qualitative researchers face in peer review have implications for individual careers and the field of transportation more broadly. Gatekeeping around research methods limits how our field understands critical transportation issues with potential implications for practice and policy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Do Scooters Obstruct Access—or Attention? Perceptions of Sidewalk Conflicts and Overlooked Causes of Obstruction

  2025-07-03 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Shared e-scooters have drawn heightened attention from the public and policymakers due to theirpotential to block sidewalk access, an issue especially salient for people with disabilities. Yetscooters are only one of many sidewalk obstructions. Is the focus on them disproportionate—andpotentially biased? To assess whether people see scooters differently than other obstructions, weadministered an online survey to 2,347 US adults. We measured scooter versus bike bias in twoways. A between-subjects measure reveals that respondents are less accepting of scooters thanidentically positioned bikes in some settings, especially when the appropriateness of the parking isambiguous. A within-subjects measure reveals limited scooter bias: only 15% of respondents aremore annoyed by a scooter than an identically placed bike. How do people see scooters relative toother common sidewalk obstructions? Respondents say signs and automobiles block sidewalksmore frequently than scooters, and that car obstructions are the most annoying. As sidewalksnarrow, people become substantially more annoyed. We find that people with and without mobilitydisabilities are equally annoyed by sidewalk obstructions, but the former report encountering themmore often.We find broad public support for policies to manage scooter parking, with more support amongpeople most annoyed by scooters and people with mobility disabilities. Both groups raiseimportant concerns about designating scarce sidewalk space for scooter parking. Overall findingssuggest that scooters, while salient, may distract attention from broader sidewalk accessibilityissues including more common sidewalk obstructions and narrow sidewalks that intensify conflict.

  PublisherDOI

• Implementing shared micromobility parking: Planning and engineering best practices from around the globe

  Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives · 2025-05-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  • What are micromobility parking implementation and design best practices? • Interviews with 12 professionals from cities in 5 countries. • Implementation best practices align micromobility parking with broader city goals. • At-grade street parking can utilize unused space and have safety benefits. • Cost, maintenance, and funding considerations are critical, particularly at scale. Cities are increasingly adding dedicated micromobility parking corrals to their streets to make dockless shared micromobility parking more compliant, tidy, and predictable. Previous research shows that designated micromobility parking must be provided in a dense network to successfully meet demand. But questions and challenges remain for implementation: how do practitioners go about building the necessary micromobility parking infrastructure? We identify best practices for implementation through interviews with transportation professionals in twelve international cities: use trip demand and built environment cues to identify micromobility parking locations; build parking into active transportation infrastructure investments; implement micromobility parking at intersections to enhance sightlines and safety and utilize unused curb space; install micromobility parking at street grade; and weigh infrastructure needs and costs to manage available budgets. The results provide planning guidance for how practitioners can achieve multiple objectives through dedicated micromobility parking corrals, including improved micromobility parking compliance and safety through cost-effective strategies that support low-carbon transportation options.

  PublisherDOI

• Transport Affordability and Automobile Debt in the United States

  2025-03-26

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Rising transportation costs have sparked widespread concern, with media headlines questioning whether the era of inexpensive automobility is over. Yet existing analyses often rely on sticker prices and aggregated sales data, failing to account for the full range of ownership costs such as insurance, fuel, and debt payments. This study bridges that gap by examining transportation affordability and “forced car ownership”—low-income households incurring high automobile costs due to limited alternatives. Using data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey from 1984 to 2023, we analyze trends in transportation expenditures, debt, and affordability using descriptive statistics, ordinary least squares (OLS), and binary logistic regression.Our findings reveal that while transportation expenditures have increased in nominal terms, real expenditures have remained relatively stable, and transportation costs as a share of household expenditures have declined since the 1980s. However, significant disparities persist. Low-income households, Black households, and households with multiple vehicles face disproportionate transportation cost burdens, with debt playing a critical role. Households in the bottom income deciles devote significantly higher shares of income to transportation, often driven by auto loans.Regional and demographic variations highlight structural inequities, with rural households and Southerners incurring higher absolute debt levels. These results underscore the inadequacy of existing affordability thresholds and the need for more comprehensive metrics that account for debt. By identifying the determinants of forced car ownership and its uneven distribution, this study offers policy-relevant insights into where transportation affordability initiatives should be targeted, and for whom.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pilots and Shifting Public Sentiment: Evidence From e-Scooters in Eugene (OR)

  Journal of the American Planning Association · 2025-01-21 · 5 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Cities with dense networks of shared scooter parking have higher parking compliance

  Journal of Transport and Land Use · 2025-01-22 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Many cities seek solutions to address public concerns about non-compliant shared electric scooter (e-scooter) parking. One strategy is to provide designated parking areas, called “corrals.” However, it remains unclear how much parking infrastructure is needed to improve compliance, or how this varies by land use. To address this gap, our study investigates: How dense does a network of dedicated shared micromobility parking need to be to increase compliance? How large should parking corrals be to meet demand? And how do these relationships vary by land use? We used e-scooter and built environment data in 12 cities worldwide and conducted descriptive, regression, and non-linear analyses. Results reveal that providing at least 20-30 parking corrals per square kilometer (about 50-80 per square mile or a one-minute walk in gridded areas) dramatically improves parking compliance. The spatial distribution of corrals is particularly important in areas with low corral density, where providing uniform coverage can significantly reduce parking non-compliance rates. Land-use intensity variables are non-linearly associated with parking non-compliance but suggest that parking corrals should have greater capacity in areas with more leisure, mixed-use, office, transit, and tourism destinations compared to places with more commercial or residential destinations. These findings offer direct policy recommendations to improve parking compliance and better match demand.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Invisible Rides: How Car-Less Americans Access Cars

  2024-09-13

  preprint1st authorCorresponding

  How and why do zero-car households seek car access? We used a national online survey of 830 American adults and interviews with twenty-nine low- and moderate-income travelers about their car access behaviors to answer this question. We validated our findings with the 2017 National Household Travel Survey. Respondents got rides, borrowed cars, and used ride-hail to access grocery trips, social/recreational activities, and medical care. While most interviewees intend to purchase a vehicle in the future, they also desire better transit, suggesting that households without cars do not necessarily prefer car ownership.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Michael Smart

  46 shared

• Rounaq Basu

  19 shared

• Anne Brown

  University of Oregon

  16 shared

• Calvin Thigpen

  13 shared

• Robert B. Noland

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  8 shared

• Daniel G. Chatman

  7 shared

• Kelcie Ralph

  5 shared

• Michael Gutperle

  4 shared

Education

• PhD, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

  Rutgers University New Brunswick

  2014

Awards & honors

• Grant, Cornell Center for Social Sciences "Transport Afforda…
• Faculty Fellowship, Cornell Center for the Social Sciences 2…
• Civic Innovation Challenge, National Science Foundation "Com…