Luis Enrique Ramos-Santiago, Ph.D.

Areas of Interest and Research

Recent Papers Accepted, In-press, and Under Review

Working Papers

Funded Research

On-going Research Collaborations & Proposals

TRB Presentations

Sustainable Transportation-Related Publications

Social-Ecological Systems (SES) and Ecological Urban Design Publications

Utopian Neighborhood Models and Real-World Implementations - Publications

Graduate Courses Taught

Roundtable Planning | Moderator

MBTA Operations Control Center, Boston

MBTA Operations Manager Leading Discussion with UPCD Graduate Students

UPCD Graduate Students Working on 'Remix' Workshop

MBTA Director of Service Planning and Staff Presentation to UPCD Graduate Students

My interest in cities, landscapes, and the relationships between human settlements and natural systems has long shaped my academic and professional trajectory. Growing up on a Caribbean island—surrounded by ocean and tropical vegetation, yet within an automobile-dependent, sprawling, and often challenging urban environment—prompted an early curiosity about why places develop as they do and how planning and design decisions shape mobility, accessibility, environmental quality, and everyday life.

That curiosity led me through the interconnected fields of Architecture, Urban Design, and City and Regional Planning. More than fifteen years of professional practice as an architect and urban designer, together with experience in city and regional planning, gave me a strong interest in the spatial structure of human settlements and in the processes that continually transform them. I later pursued doctoral studies in Urban and Regional Planning, concentrating on sustainable urban mobility, transportation planning, and spatial analysis.

Today, I am an Assistant Professor in Transportation Planning and Equity at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where my research examines the relationships among transportation systems, land use, urban form, travel behavior, accessibility, and environmental sustainability. A central focus of my work is sustainable urban mobility, including public transportation, walking, bicycling, and multimodal transportation networks. I develop and apply spatial, statistical, and data-driven methods to questions involving transit ridership and performance, travel behavior, route and mode choice, accessibility, and the influence of the built environment on transportation outcomes.

Increasingly, my work examines these questions across multiple spatial scales—from individual travel behavior and bicycle or pedestrian routes to neighborhoods, transit corridors, metropolitan systems, and broader patterns of urban and suburban development. Current projects include research on bikeshare route choice and travel behavior, pedestrian accessibility and walking environments, transit demand and performance, and the relationships between neighborhood form, development patterns, and environmental conditions. I am particularly interested in combining geospatial analysis, behavioral data, and emerging data-science methods with the institutional and design perspectives of urban planning.

A complementary line of my research focuses specifically on suburban areas and developments through a Social-Ecological Systems perspective. I am interested in how suburban land-use patterns, transportation systems, urban design, governance, demographic and socioeconomic change, and environmental processes interact over time. This work examines how suburban landscapes evolve, adapt, decline, and sometimes lose environmental assets such as vegetation and open space, as well as how planning and design decisions influence their long-term resilience.

This suburban focus also reflects a broader interest in the legacy of twentieth-century development models and the challenges associated with adapting automobile-oriented environments to contemporary environmental, mobility, and social needs. By examining suburban development as a coupled social and ecological system, I seek to better understand how changes in population, land use, infrastructure, governance, and environmental conditions influence one another over time.

Across these areas, my research seeks to contribute to planning and policy approaches that reduce automobile dependence, expand sustainable and equitable mobility, strengthen accessibility, and improve the relationship between built and natural environments. I am especially interested in translating analytical research into tools, policies, and design strategies that can help cities and suburban communities become more adaptable, environmentally responsible, and responsive to the people who inhabit them.

Teaching is an important extension of this work. I aim to prepare graduate students not only to understand neighborhoods, cities, and regions, but also to intervene thoughtfully in their transformation. My courses emphasize analytical reasoning, spatial and quantitative methods, planning and design judgment, and engagement with real-world institutions and communities. Ultimately, I hope to help students become capable and reflective planners who can contribute to more equitable, sustainable, and resilient cities and regions.

Areas of Interest and Research

Dr. L. Enrique Ramos-Santiago is a city and regional planner, architect, and urban planning scholar whose research examines the relationships among sustainable urban transportation, accessibility, land use, urban form, and travel behavior. His transportation research focuses particularly on public transit, bicycling, walking, and multimodal accessibility, while a complementary line of research examines suburban development and environmental change through Social-Ecological Systems (SES) and ecological urban design perspectives.

His transportation research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Journal of Public Transportation, Urban Studies, and Case Studies on Transport Policy. His work has also been published through the Mineta Transportation Institute. Research addressing suburban social-ecological systems, environmental change, and ecological urban design has appeared in interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability journals including Ecology and Society and Sustainability.

Dr. Ramos-Santiago has additionally published work in professional, planning, architectural, and historic-preservation venues, including Patrimonio, the official publication of the Puerto Rico State Historic Preservation Office, and the proceedings of Docomomo International, an organization dedicated to the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement.

His academic and design work has received several recognitions, including a 2007 Congress for the New Urbanism Charter Award for Towards an Urban and Sustainable Puerto Nuevo: A Green Redevelopment of San Juan's Inner-Ring Suburbs. This early work anticipated themes that continue to inform his research, including suburban transformation, automobile dependence, sustainable redevelopment, and the integration of transportation, urban design, and environmental planning.

Before entering academia, Dr. Ramos-Santiago practiced professionally as a licensed architect and city and regional planner in Puerto Rico and worked in planning and design practice in North Florida. He is currently Assistant Professor of Transportation Planning and Equity in the Department of Urban Planning and Community Development, within the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Recent Papers Accepted, In-press, and Under Review

Ramos-Santiago, Luis Enrique and Derochers, Luke, (Published; Journal of Public Transportation) The Influence of Walking Accessibility on Station-to-Station Passenger Flow and its Interaction with Metropolitan Race/Class Segregation: A Case Study of Marta's Heavy-Rail Network, Atlanta (USA). Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubtr.2024.100115
Ramos-Santiago, L.E., Rodriguez, Y.N., Shemirani, M., Morris, P. (In-Press). "Developing and Pilot-Testing a Neighborhood Multi-Destination Walking Accessibility Index: Evidence from ‘New Deal’ Villages ”
Kamyab, F. and Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Published; Sustainability). "Neighborhood Decline and Green Coverage Change in Los Angeles Suburbs: A Social-Ecological Perspective"; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17219850
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Published; Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives). "Enhancing Station-Level Direct-Demand Models with Multi-Scalar Accessibility Indicators"; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2023.100834
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Published; Case Studies On Transport Policies). "Towards a Better Account and Understanding of Bus / Rapid-transit Interactions: The Case of Los Angeles" ; doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2021.06.005
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (Published; Journal of Public Transportation). "Does Walkability Around Feeder Bus-Stops Influence Rapid-Transit Station Boardings?" ; doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubtr.2022.100026
Ramos-Santiago, L.E., Novales, M., and Varela-Garcia, F.A. (Published; Case Studies On Transport Policies). "Identifying and Understanding Determinants of Regional Differences in Light-Rail Patronage and Performance" ; doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2022.04.005

Towards a Better Account and Understanding of Bus / Rapid-transit Interactions: The case of Los Angeles

Published

Case Studies On Transport Policies

Does Walkability Around Feeder Bus-Stops Influence Rapid-Transit Station Boardings?

Published

Journal of Public Transportation

An International Comparative Study of the Transit Performance of Small Light-Rail Systems in Spain and the United States

Published

Case Studies on Transport Policies

Published

Transportation Research: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Published

(above): Panoptic Accessibility

(below): Conditioned Walkability

Transportation Research: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Published

New Deal Villages POIs

and

Walksheds

Working Papers

Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (working paper). "Assessing MAUP [Modifiable Areal Unit Problem] in Walking Accessibility Indicators at Neighborhood Level"
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. and Lopez, David (working paper). "Enhancement and Validation of a Multi-Destination Walking Accessibility Index (ETCO)"
Ramos-Santiago, L.E. and Rodríguez, Y.N. (working paper). "A 20th Century Morphological and Typological Historiography of Federal Housing Projects and Policies in San Juan of Puerto Rico [1934-1966] : Neighborhood Design Experimentations, Metropolitan Restructuring, and Displacement"
An, M., Xuewu, C., Ramos-Santiago, L.E. (working paper). "Streetcar Development in China: A Reflection of Five Case Cities"

Map of MARTA's Metro Lines, CBD, Station Service Areas, and Median HH Income Levels. Credit: J.L. Derochers, M.Eng., MCP (Clemson University MCRP graduate)

Funded Research

"Environmental Justice Capacity Building at UMass Boston", Co-PI - University of Massachusetts Foundation; $50,000
"MIGEODAT: Microsimulation, Geospatial Analysis, and Data Science for Sustainable Mobility"; Universidade A Coruna (Spain) & University of Massachusetts Boston; L. Enrique Ramos-Santiago is research team member and external expert consultant (unfunded); Margarita Novales PhD and Alfonso Orro PhD Co-PIs; Funded by Spain's Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and the European Union; € 150,000
"Enhancement and Validation of a Multi-Destination Walking Accessibility Index: ETCO" - University of Massachusetts Boston & Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico; Co-PI; Funded by UMass-Boston Internal Research Funds (startup) $15,000.
"Intentions, Interactions, and Outcomes: a Case Study of Planners, Architects, Landscape Architects, and Developers of El Monte Renewal Project (San Juan, Puerto Rico)"; PI; Funded by Clemson University - College or Architecture, Arts, and Humanities (CAAH); Faculty Research Development Program, Faculty Research Grant.
"Eleonor Roosevelt: An Investigation of a New Deal Village in the Tropics."; PI; Funded by Clemson University - College or Architecture, Arts, and Humanities (CAAH); Faculty Research Development Program, Faculty Research Grant.

3-D Model Credits: Glenda Dias, B.Arch., MCP (Clemson University CPRED Program graduate)Viewpoints and Light/Shadow Rendering: Luis Enrique Ramos-Santiago, Ph.D. (Assistant professor). Software: SketchUp v.2017

On-going Research Collaborations & Proposals

Environmental Justice Capacity Building at UMass Boston | Co-Mapping Children’s and Older Adults’ Pedestrian Risks While Walking in Lower East Boston — Pilot Study (2026 - active); Co-PI; University of Massachusetts Foundation
ETCO-2 (2025 - active) "Development of an Enhanced Threshold-based Cumulative Opportunities Indicator of Walking Accessibility - Phase 2: Scaling and Validation"; University of Massachusetts - Boston Startup Funds; Dr. Luis Enrique Ramos-Santiago (PI) and Dr. David Lopez (collaborator; Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico-UNAM).
MIGEODAT - (2026 - active) "Microsimulation, Geospatial Analysis, and Data Science for Sustainable Mobility", European Union + 'MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA, INNOVACIÓN Y UNIVERSIDADES' (Spain) Grant; Dr. Margarita Novales (co-PI) and Dr. Alfonso Orro (co-PI) at Universidade A'Coruna; External Consultant (Equipo de Trabajo) collaborating in Origin-Destination model development of bikeshare flows.
VASAC (2025 - active) "Vieques: Ambiente, Salud, y Accion Comunitaria", EPA-funded, University of Massachusetts-Boston; Dr. Lorena Estrada (co-PI) and Dr. Rosalyn Negron (co-PI); Team member in charge of multidisciplinary GIS data integration and management, mapping, and spatial analyses.
RSA Early Career Grant Scheme (EC) PROPOSAL: "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on LRT Transit Patronage and Operations: A Pre-Post Station-Level Comparative Study of Systems in Spain and the United States". Submitted 7/30/2020.

TRB Presentations

2019

2020

Selected Papers [PDF]

Google Scholar Site

Sustainable Transportation-Related Publications

My transportation research interests focus on land-use and built-environment (LU.BE) influence on travel behavior, with special attention to urban mass-transit systems patronage. These include most collective modes (heavy-rail, light-rail, bus, streetcar (tram)) and multi-modal network combinations. I also research and teach planning and design for non-motorized modes (bicycle and walking), and their interactions within multi-modal systems.

In collaboration with local and international scholars I have been developing a strong multidisciplinary research work on modern-era streetcars (trams) in the United States, including the identification of key ridership determinants, comparative transportation performance analyses, station-level and station-to-station ridership modeling, and qualitative assessments of political-economic forces in their planning, financing, and implementation.

My preferred research methodology is quantitative, relying on multivariate direct-demand statistical models and have experience working with OLS and negative-binomial (NBREG) regression of station-level boardings, generalized multilevel structural equation modeling (ML-GSEM), and generalized multilevel crossed models of OD-pair trip flows.

I am also skilled in qualitative research methods (e.g. interviews and survey content analysis, archival, and document analyses) and actively pursue mixed-method studies for their added in-depth analytical potential to highlight key insights and policy recommendations.

A selection of peer-reviewed manuscripts related to transportation topics that I have lead and/or co-authored can be accessed below:

Left: Portland's downtown light-rail alignment vis-a-vis streetcar boarding pattern.

A comparative assessment of the factors associated with station-level streetcar versus light rail transit ridership

Towards a better account and understanding of bus/rapid-transit interactions: The case of Los Angeles

Multi-Scalar Assessment of Built-Environment and Bus Networks Influence on Rapid-Transit Patronage

Streetcar Resurgence in the United States: Transit Strategy, Growth Machine Tactic, or Some of Both?

The Transit Performance of Modern-Era Streetcars: a Consideration of Five U.S. Cities.

The Purpose, Function, and Performance of Streetcar Transit in the Modern U.S. City: A Multiple-Case-Study Investigation

A Cautionary Tale of Two Streetcars: Little Rock’s River Rail and Tampa’s TECO Line

Streetcars and light rail services serve different rider markets in American cities

Social-Ecological Systems (SES) and Ecological Urban Design Publications

A secondary line of research interest, which overlaps with my sustainable urban transportation studies and draws from my previous academic and professional experiences in architecture / urban design / regional planning, relates to social-ecological studies of urban and suburban environments with a focus on green/gray area dynamics at parcel- and neighborhood-scale. A few manuscripts where I served as lead author and co-author are listed below:

Left: El Monte Norte condominium green areas and tree inventory (2011). Source: Inventario de Arboles - Condominio El Monte Norte (map), by "arquitectura: ramos + lozada, csp".

Green Area Loss in San Juan's Inner-ring suburban neighborhoods

Synthesis of Household Yard Area Dynamics in the City of San Juan Using Multi-Scalar Social-Ecological Perspectives

Utopian Neighborhood Models and Real-World Implementations - Publications

Before engaging SES and transport-related scientific investigations my research interests lay in city- and neighborhood-scale utopian spatial models, cases of real-world implementation (mostly hybridized or transmuted versions), and longitudinal studies of their evolution along social, economic, physical, spatial, and environmental lines.

I also produced some articles related to these topics for professional and cultural venues, some of which are listed below:

Left: Partial map of San Juan City showing three distinct mid-20th century inner-ring suburbs wich were inspired in their planning, layout, and architectural typologies by three distinct European and North-American neighborhood utopian models: 1- Garnier's 'Une Cite Industrielle'; 2-Clarence Perry's 'neighborhood unit' and Stein's 'aggregate-cell' district model; and 3- the Corbusian/Sertian modernist 'Superblock'. Sources: 'Patrimonio: revista oficial de la oficina estatal de conservación histórica de Puerto Rico - Oficina del Gobernador', Vol 2 (2011); Arch/Plan Luis Enrique Ramos-Santiago, Ph.D.

Planificación e Implementación de Utopías Suburbanas en San Juan de Puerto Rico

Physical Transmutations and Social Disruptions of the Functional City Paradigm in the Americas: The Case of El Monte

CNU-Award 2007: Towards an Urban and Sustainable Puerto Nuevo

... and what it means for the resilience and sustainability of human settlements in this 21st Century...

Left: three distinct mid-20th century suburban neighborhood units in San Juan City. Colors represent different architectural typologies (e.g. one-story single family home, duplex, townhomes, and permutations of each).