Susan Zielinski
Susan Zielinski (M.E.S. R.P.P.) is Managing Director of SMART (Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility Research and Transformation) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. SMART is a multi-disciplinary, university-wide project of CARSS, the Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society.
SMART undertakes implementation-focused research, demonstration projects (in India, South Africa, Brazil, and the U.S.), education, and global learning exchange on a range of issues related to the future of transportation in city regions around the world. Susan has developed and brought to her work at SMART the concepts and practice of New Mobility Hub Networks, New Mobility industry development, Open Source Transportation, and Public Private Innovation. SMART takes a systems approach to addressing the emerging challenges and opportunities of integrated, sustainable transportation in a rapidly urbanizing world.
Just before joining SMART/CARSS, Susan spent a year as a Harvard Loeb Fellow focusing on New Mobility innovation and leadership. Prior to 2004, she co-founded and directed Moving the Economy (MTE), a Toronto-based “link tank” developed to catalyze and support sustainable urban transportation innovation as well as New Mobility industry development, an integrated industry approach developed at MTE. She worked for over 15 years in the Planning Department at the City of Toronto, developing and leading transportation and livability policies and initiatives, including co-chairing the city’s anti-smog strategy. She has advised on a range of local, national, and international initiatives, including the National Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency, Transport Canada’s Sustainable Development Advisory Committee, the OECD’s Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Project, the King of Sweden’s jury of the Stockholm Partnerships for Sustainable Cities, and the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT). She was also a long-time board member of Canada’s Center for Sustainable Transportation, founding board member of the Green Tourism Association, and founder of Toronto’s bicycle choir.
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