William (Billy) Riggs, Ph.D., AICP, LEED AP is a professor of engineering and management at the University of San Francisco and the Director of the Autonomous Vehicles and the City Initiative. He has worked in urban planning, venture capital and management consulting and been an advisor to multiple companies and start-ups on technology, engineering, smart mobility and urban development. His experience also extends to academic management / administration, curriculum design, and finance having held university appointments in city planning, engineering and management from University of San Francisco, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, and the University of Louisville. In the past Dr. Riggs was chair City of Palo Alto’s Planning and Transportation Commission and Planning Commissioner for the City of San Luis Obispo for a total of almost 10 years, a member of San Francisco’s Pedestrian Advisory Board, and a Trustee and Board Member of Horicon School District where we led a successful voter initiative to approve $11M bond to support teacher housing and infrastructure.
Dr. Riggs’ academic research focuses primarily on transportation innovation, urban technology, sustainable development, transport economics and business models, and the future of cities. He is has over 100 publications; with work featured in media outlets—including the Economist, Forbes, Wired Magazine, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, PBS, TF1, the Atlantic and more. He is the author of two books, End of the Road: Reimagining the Street as the Heart of the City and Disruptive Transport: Driverless Cars, Transport Innovation and the Sustainable City of Tomorrow. He has been recognized with many research awards over his career and has been both a National Science Foundation Fellow and a UC Transportation Center Fellow.
Dr. Riggs work outside of academia has included two decades work as a professional planner and urban designer, economist, and transportation engineer. This includes work as the founder of INTN.CITY, SFLUV.org and ReStreet.com, Director of Research at Sustinere Consulting, an investment partner at Just Business, Transportation Program Manager and Principal Planner for UC Berkeley, Asset Manager and Engineering Technician for the US Coast Guard. He has been involved with many automated vehicles projects around the world including SHOW, ULTIMO, and Diversify-CCAM. He currently serves on the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Policy and Law, Committee on Emerging Technology and Law, and the Committee on the Landscape and the Built Environment.