
Chester Harvey
Chester Harvey directs research on transportation and data science at the National Center for Smart Growth (NCSG). His research examines interactions between urban design, land use, and transportation systems, including how factors outside the traditional sphere of transportation impact the behavior and wellbeing of transportation users. His Transportation Policy Research Group (TPRG) oversees a portfolio of work for the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) that examines how transportation systems can be improved to serve the needs of Marylanders throughout the state. He also co-leads an NCSG initiative to develop innovative approaches for combining urban analytic technologies, including emerging AI, with community-engaged planning to provide early warnings of risks to community development and resilience. Chester is an Affiliate at the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM) and teaches on urban data science and smart cities in the Urban Studies and Planning Program (URSP). He has worked professionally as a planner and data scientist at firms including WSP and Alta Planning and Design. He has published in both academic and professional forums, including the Journal of the American Planning Association, Environmental and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, and the Transportation Research Record. He also contributes to open source development of urban analytic software.