Michael Shiffer, Vice President, Chicago Transit Authority and Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, UIC

Shiffer is Vice President responsible for Planning and Development at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Clinical Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago . At CTA Shiffer spearheads the overall strategic and operations planning efforts of the second largest public transit system in the U.S. , including service scheduling and facilities development. He is responsible for a staff of planners, architects, engineers and other transit professionals in five departments. His research has focused on how information technologies can better inform deliberation, decision-making and public debate with a focus on spatial (geographic) information. Before returning to his native Chicago in 2000, Shiffer served for nine years on the MIT faculty where he was Principal Research Scientist and a Lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Shiffer received a Ph.D. in Regional Planning and Master's of Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also a fully certified train driver at the Chicago Transit Authority.