Gerard Soffian is active in the transportation engineering profession working on challenging projects such as those involving transportation safety adaptive traffic signals, accessible traffic signals for blind and visually impaired pedestrians, traffic management centers and intersection design for bicyclists and pedestrians. It has been a privilege for Gerard to be currently serving on the staff of NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Department of Civil and Urban Engineering.
Gerard is retired from a productive career at the New York City Department of Transportation where he served as Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Operations. At NYCDOT Mr. Soffian managed a staff of 1,400 engineers, planners, technicians, electricians, field and administrative personnel with an annual budget of $900 million dedicated to protecting safety and mobility of the travelling public. He was responsible for progressive management of traffic signals at more than 12,400 intersections, 1.2 million traffic signs, 80 million linear feet of roadway markings, 90,000 on-street and off-street metered parking spaces, including 42 municipal parking facilities and 330,000 streetlights. Responsible for operation of Traffic Management Center monitoring real-time traffic conditions, controlling 6,500 computerized traffic signals and variable message signs on major arteries. Managed red light cameras at 150 intersections and 20 video cameras for bus lane compliance. Previously he served as an environmental engineer at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II.
Education
CUNY Brooklyn College 1969
Bachelor of Science, Physics
University of Southern California 1970
Air Pollution Control Institute,
University of Kentucky 1972
Master of Science, Chemical Engineering
Publications
Journal Articles
Particulate Emissions from Apartment House Boilers and Incinerators, with P. Westlin, Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, Transportation Research Board, March 1975.
Other Publications
Improving Bicyclist Compliance With Traffic Laws with co-author Sam Schwartz, Cityland, Center for New York City Law, August 20, 2014 http://www.citylandnyc.org/improving-bicyclist-compliance-with-traffic-laws/
A Way Forward in the Bike War with co-author Sam Schwartz, NY Daily News, Op-Ed, September 25, 2013.
Hoyt Avenue at the RFK Bridge, Astoria, Queens, with co-authors Randy Wade, Sean Quinn, Inessa Lipsky, for presentation at 2011 ITE Northeastern District Annual Meeting, Port Jefferson, NY, May 27, 2011.
Redesign of Jackson Avenue at the Pulaski Bridge, Long Island City, Queens, with co-authors David Arcement, Ryan Russo, Randy Wade and Keri Tyler, for presentation at ITE Northeastern District Annual Meeting, Portland, Maine, May 20, 2010.
Safe Streets for Seniors in New York City, Walk21 - The 10th International Conference on Walking and Livable Communities, New York, NY, October 7, 2009.
Traffic Safety Improvements in Murray Hill, New York City, with co-author David Arcement, CITE Conference, Montreal, Canada, June 2, 2009.
A Comprehensive Transportation Policy for 21st Century: Case Study of Congestion Pricing in New York City, Breaking the Logjam, with co-authors Sam Schwartz and Jee Mee Kim, New York Law School – New York University School of Law, March 28, 2008
Pedestrian Safety – Traffic Calming, 2007 Conference for the Road Safety Congress of the Americas, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, December 3, 2007.
Pedestrian Safety Initiatives for the Asian American Elderly, 2006 CUNY Conference on the Well-Being of Asian American Senior Citizens, New York, NY, May 12, 2006.
Pedestrian Design: Examples and Best Practices, Pedestrian and Bicyclist Standards and Innovations in Large Central Cities, NACTO Peer-to-Peer Workshop, New York, NY, September 23, 2005.
Roundtable Discussion: Design Policy and Trends, ITE District 1 36th Annual Meeting, Morristown, NJ, May 2-4, 2005.
Traffic Safety Improvements in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, ITE 2005, Technical Conference and Exhibit, Las Vegas, NV, February 27-March 2, 2005.
Pedestrian Safety Improvements in New York City, Lifesavers 2004, National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities, San Diego, CA, March 28-30, 2004.
Herald Square, Context Sensitive Solutions in Large Central Cities, NACTO Peer-to-Peer Workshop, New York, NY, June 19-20, 2003.
Midtown THRU Streets, Institute of Transportation Engineers Metropolitan Section, Astoria, NY, November 19, 2002.
Queens Boulevard Pedestrian Safety Project, Institute of Transportation Engineers 2002 Annual Meeting, Shelter Island, NY, May 15-17, 2002.
Urban Infrastructure Pollution Prevention Panel, USEPA Industry and Academic Pollution Prevention Coalition Conference, New York, NY, January 17, 1996.
Panel Discussion: But Will It Play in New York City? Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Linking Transportation and Land Use Planning, New York, NY, June 1-2, 1995.
New York City Department of Transportation’s Telecommuting Pilot Program, with R. Caruana for presentation at the ITE conference, The Environment Changing Our Transportation Priorities, La Jolla, CA, March 21– 24, 1994.
The 42nd Street Transitway – An Intermodal Case Study, presented at the U. S. Department of Transportation Conference United Links for the United States, New York, NY, July 14-16, 1993.
The Department of Transportation Traffic Bureau’s Calming Program, presented at the New YorkCity Traffic Calming Seminar, New York, NY, May 19, 1993.
Central Park Bicycle Use, presented at Pro-Bike Velo Mondiale Conference, Montreal, Canada, September 13-17, 1992.
The Clean Air Act, presented at American Society of Civil Engineers Metropolitan Section, New York, NY, May 13, 1992.
The Clean Air Act: Regional Transportation Impacts, presented at the Metranet Forum, New York, NY, April 22, 1992.
Where Do the Cars Go? presented at the Auto-Free Cities Conference, New York, NY, May 3, 1991.
Van Policy, presented at the New York City Department of City Planning Conference on Alternative Transportation Services: Ferries, Vans and Express Buses, New York, NY, June 12, 1989.
New York City’s Better Air Campaign: A Program to Attain the Carbon Monoxide Standard, with I. Tsarnas and J. Antokas, presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Air Pollution Control Association, Dallas, Texas, June 19-24, 1988.
The Transportation–Air Quality Planning Process, presented at the ASCE Conference on Transportation and the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments, November 12-14, 1979.