Philip Mark Plotch, Ph.D. is the Principal Researcher and Senior Fellow at the Eno Center for Transportation. In this role, he conducts timely policy research and expert analysis across a broad spectrum of projects; he is also a critical sounding board on Eno work products.
Dr. Plotch has played a leading role in improving the New York metropolitan area’s infrastructure. As the director of World Trade Center Redevelopment and Special Projects at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, he helped lead the nation’s effort to rebuild Lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11, 2001. In his previous positions as manager of planning and manager of policy at the headquarters of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, he planned multibillion-dollar projects, developed emergency response procedures, and created strategic business plans. More recently, he was a professor of political science and the director of a master of public administration program at Saint Peter’s University, as well as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor at Sogang University in South Korea.
Dr. Plotch’s research into the planning of large transportation projects has explored the obstacles that lead to lengthy delays and the steps that can be taken to overcome them. He is the author of three highly acclaimed books: Politics Across the Hudson: The Tappan Zee Megaproject (published by Rutgers University Press), Last Subway: The Long Wait for the Next Train in New York (published by Cornell University Press), and Mobilizing the Metropolis: How the Port Authority Built New York (published by University of Michigan Press).
Dr. Plotch received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany, master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College, and Ph.D. in public and urban policy from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at the New School for Public Engagement.
Eno Transportation Weekly Articles
Halloween Rescue: Illinois Pulls Chicago Transit Agencies Off the Fiscal Cliff
October 31, 2025
October 31, 2025 - Illinois lawmakers approved a $1.5 billion transit funding and reform bill creating a unified Northern Illinois Transit Authority, following Eno’s recommendations to secure Chicago’s transit future and avert a fiscal crisis.
Advocates Responding to Policy Changes and Preparing for Reauthorization
October 17, 2025
October 17, 2025 - At an Eno webinar last week, transportation advocates stressed the need for major policy shifts, stronger accountability, and smarter investment as Congress prepares to reauthorize the federal surface transportation law.

