Dr Chandra Balijepalli
- Position: Associate Professor & Visiting Professor, ITB, Indonesia
- Areas of expertise: Strategic transport modelling; Traffic assignment; Network resilience; Transport Engineering
- Email: N.C.Balijepalli@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: Room 2.01, Institute for Transport Studies (34-40 University Road)
Profile
Dr Balijepalli has over three decades of work experience in transport sector involving research, teaching and consulting in India, Indonesia and UK. Dr Balijepalli has specialised in transport modelling and developed methods for analysing vulnerability of road networks. He is keenly interested in transport issues of the Global South and led Newton Funded research on electric motorcycles in Indonesia sponsored by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering. Dr Balijepalli developed an evacuation plan for Mt Merapi emergencies with the help of Dikti Fund, Ministry of Education/Culture, Indonesia. Dr Balijepalli has published in top-rated transport journals and presented at various forums in Europe, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Peru, Philippines, UK and USA. Dr Balijepalli’s paper on mobile vendor routing due to wholesale market relocation won Best Paper Award for methodological contribution at the 16th EASTS conference, in Solo, Indonesia.
As the Director of International Activities at ITS Leeds, Dr Balijepalli has developed successful Trans-National Education Links with universities in China, India, Indonesia and Taiwan. As the Programme Leader, Dr Balijepalli successfully renewed the accreditation of MSc(Eng) programme by the Joint Board of Moderators. He has been leading the Masters Student Admissions for over 12 years during when the application numbers increased seven-fold and student numbers reached record levels. Dr Balijepalli’s sustained high quality contributions to transport profession have been recognised by the UK’s professional body, Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) and awarded the highest professional status as the Fellow of CIHT in August 2024.
PhD Thesis
- Stochastic Process Models for Dynamic Traffic Assignment
(Supervisors: Prof David Watling and Prof Ronghui Liu)
Employment History
- Jul 2020 – present Associate Professor, ITS, Leeds
- Jul 2015 - Jun 2020 Lecturer, ITS, Leeds
- Jan 2007 - Jun 2015 Research Fellow, ITS,Leeds
- Nov 2005 - Dec 2006 Research Officer, ITS,Leeds
- May 1989 - Sep 2002, Consultant in Transport Planning and Modelling, Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai, India
Education
- 2006 PhD in Transport Modelling, University of Leeds,Leeds,UK
- 2000 Masters in Transport Planning and Engineering with Distinction, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
- 1989 Masters in Transportation Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India
- 1987 Bachelors in Civil Engineering with Distinction, Nagarjuna University, Guntur, India
Professional Qualifications
- Fellow, Higher Education Academy
- Fellow, Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation, UK
Professional Engagements
- Academic Advisor, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, UK (2022 – present)
- Member, EPSRC's Engineering Prioritisation Panel, UK
- Member, British Council's Newton Fund Evaluation Panel
- Member, Transportation Network Modelling Committee ADB30, Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., USA
- Life Member, Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi, India
- Member, Advisory Group for Research Evaluation, Pontifical University of Peru, Lima, Peru (2015 - present)
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Transportation Research Record, TRB, Washington D.C. (2009 - present)
- Reviewer of journals: Transport Policy, Tra Res - A, B, Networks & Spatial Economics, Institution of Civil Engineers:Transport, Transportation
PI: Uptake of e-motorcycles in Indonesia funded by Royal Academy of Engineering (2018-2020)
Research Experience and Special Expertise
- Strategic transport modelling: dynamic land use transport interactions, gaming simulation, optimisation
- Traffic assignment modelling including day-to-day and within day dynamics
- Traffic flow modelling for Dynamic Network Loading
- Stochastic process models and driver learning models
- Resilient networks: analysing vulnerable road links
- Modelling road pricing and parking
- Software: LINSIG, SATURN, MATLAB and OmniTRANS
Project Experience
- MARS: Strategic land use transport model for Jakarta Region
- Resilient transport networks and interdependencies, EPSRC
- Competition between cities, EPSRC
- Lane change modelling in dynamic traffic flow models, EPSRC
- Modelling day-to-day travel time variability on strategic road network in England, Highways Agency
- Parking location choice modelling and area-based road pricing as part of DISTILLATE F - UK EPSRC
- Doubly dynamic traffic assignment modelling, Centenary Chair Research Project,University of Leeds
- Involved with the research project 'Advancing Methods for Evaluating Network Reliability' funded by the Department for Transport, UK
- Project Leader: Comprehensive Transportation Plan for Jalgaon City, Maharashtra State,India
- Worked on several consultancy studies funded by organisations such as World Bank, UNCHS, GTZ.
Programme Leader
MSc(Eng) Transport Planning & Engineering (2015-20)
Module Leader
- Principles of Transport Engineering TRAN5072
- Road Geometry & Infrastructure TRAN5241
- Deterioration and Maintenance of Pavements TRAN5946
- Principles of Transport Modelling TRAN5020
Teaching
- Transport Planning and Engineering CIVE2081
- Principles of Transport Modelling TRAN5020
- Traffic Network Modelling TRAN5290
- Transport modelling software e.g., OmniTRANS, SATURN
Supervision
- Masters student dissertations (55 students thus far)
- PhD students (Five completed and six ongoing)
Visiting Lecturer
- University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia 2014-2018
Responsibilities
- Director of International Activities: 2021 – present
- Masters Admissions Tutor: 2013 - present
- U-PASS Urban Public Administration and ServiceS innovation for Innovative Urban Mobility Management and Policy
- Uptake of E-Motorcycles
Research groups and institutes
- Spatial Modelling and Dynamics