Ralph Buehler

Ralph Buehler, PhD is Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech’s Research Center in Arlington, VA. Most of his research has an international comparative perspective, contrasting transport and land-use policies, transport systems, and travel behavior in Western Europe and North America.

In addition to over 100 articles in refereed academic journals, Ralph is also the author or co-author of the edited books City Cycling and Cycling for Sustainable Cities (both MIT Press), chapters in edited books, as well as reports for governments, NGOs, and for-profit industry organizations.  Ralph’s work has been funded by the European Commission (EC), the United Nations (UN) Habitat, the U.S. and German national departments of transport, the U.S. National Park Service, the Brookings Institution, and for-profit organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the U.S. and abroad. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as chair of the Committee for Bicycle Transportation of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and between 2019 and 2023 Ralph chaired the Urban Affairs and Planning program at Virginia Tech. In 2025, he was a Senior Dresden Fellow at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany and an Otto Mønsted Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Denmark. His research interests include:

• The influence of transport policy, land use, and socio-demographics on travel behavior;
• Bicycling, walking, e-scooters, and
• Public transport demand, supply, regional coordination, and financial efficiency.