Peter G. Furth
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Office
- 437 Snell Engineering Center
- 617.373.2447
Research Focus
Traffic signal control; transit signal priority; transit operations modeling; transit data collection and sampling
Education
- Ph.D., Transportation Systems, MIT, 1981
- M.S., Civil Engineering, MIT, 1980
- B.S., Civil Engineering, MIT, 1977
Honors & Awards
- 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Pedestrian & Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
- 2017 ITE Innovation in Education Award
- 2004 Best Paper – Committee on Traffic Signal Systems, Transportation Research Board
- 1987 Best Paper – Committee on Transit Performance and Management, Transportation Research Board
- 1985 Excellence in Teaching – Northeastern University Chi Epsilon chapter
Professional Affiliations
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals
- Institute of Transportation Engineers
- National Academy of Sciences
- Transportation Research Board
Research Overview
Traffic signal control; transit signal priority; transit operations modeling; transit data collection and sampling
Selected Research Projects
- Low-Stress Bicycle Network Planning: New Methods for Network Analysis and Improvement, with Application in Greater Boston
Principal Investigator, Helen and William Mazer Foundation - Traffic Signal Design and Operations Strategies for Non Motorized Users
Principal Investigator, National Cooperative Highway Research Program
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- P.G. Furth, Y.D. Wang, M.A. Santos, M.A., Multi-Stage Pedestrian Crossings and Two-Stage Bicycle Turns: Delay Estimation and Signal Timing Techniques for Limiting Pedestrian and Bicycle Delay, Journal of Transportation Technologies, 9(04), 2019, 489
- P.G. Furth, P. Moser, T.V.V.K. Putta, Measuring Low-Stress Connectivity in Terms of Bike- Accessible Jobs and Potential Bike-to-Work Trips: A Case Study Evaluating Alternative Bike Route Alignments in Northern Delaware, Journal of Transport and Land Use, 11(1), 2018, 815–831
- P.G. Furth, , A.T. Halawani, J. Li, W. Hu, B. Cesme Using Traffic Signal Control to Limit Speeding Opportunities on Bidirectional Urban Arterials, Transportation Research record, 2672(18), 2018, 107-116
- M.B. Lowry, P. Furth, T. Hadden-Loh, Prioritizing New Bicycle Facilities to Improve Low-Stress Network Connectivity, Transportation Research, 86, 2016, 124-140
Apr 03, 2023
Pedestrian Deaths Are up Sharply in Mass. Here Are Five Ways to Reduce Them
CEE Professor Peter Furth was featured in the Boston Globe article “Pedestrian deaths are up sharply in Mass. Here are five ways to reduce them” for his suggestions to improve traffic safety.
Dec 21, 2022
‘The Anxiety Is Unreal’ for Parents at Boston Intersection Where Kids Have to Dodge Cars
Peter Furth, a professor at Northeastern University, has been studying the traffic issues and says he met with officials at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Tuesday in an effort to find a solution. (Featured in NBC Boston)
Dec 14, 2022
MassDOT Plans to Tweak Its Highway ‘Blunder’ in Back Bay
Featured in a StreetsBlog article, a 2015 research project by Northeastern University student Dixian Qui and civil engineering professor Peter Furth made the argument that the Bowker Overpass is unnecessary, even under traffic engineers’ traditional logic that prioritizes minimal amounts of delay for people in cars.
Jun 09, 2022
Mode Shift: Built with Bike-priority Streets, Houten Is Quiet, Safe – and Utterly Unique
CEE Professor Peter Furth was featured in the Dominion Post article “Mode shift: Built with bike-priority streets, Houten is quiet, safe – and utterly unique.”
Nov 02, 2021
Biking to a Better Tomorrow
CEE Professor Peter Furth is encouraging communities to invest in biking infrastructure to lessen traffic congestion.
Sep 18, 2020
Peter Furth Receives 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from Association of Pedestrians & Bicycle Professionals
Peter Furth, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was awarded the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Pedestrian & Bicycle Professionals (APBP).
Jun 11, 2019
A New Push to Expand Ferry Service in Boston Harbor
CEE Professor Peter Furth was interviewed by Boston 25 News in the article "A New Push to Expand Ferry Service in Boston Harbor" about the impact this idea would have for the city.
Apr 09, 2019
FY20 TIER 1 Award Recipients
25 COE faculty and affiliates were recipients of FY20 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 18 different projects representing up to $900K dollars of investment in research.
Feb 08, 2019
Northeastern researchers proposed steps two years ago to make Centre Street in West Roxbury safer for pedestrians
A proposal created by CEE Professor Peter Furth and Huijie Gao, MS'17 about making a traffic area safer in West Roxbury was featured in the Universal Hub article "Northeastern researchers proposed steps two years ago to make Centre Street in West Roxbury safer for pedestrians."
Sep 04, 2018
Civil Engineering Student Receives Amtrak Engineering Scholarship
Ariella Liebman, BSCE 2020, was one of only five students to win a 2018 Amtrak Academic Scholarship.