Michael R. Kodama
About us
MK Planners
MK Planners was founded in 1992. MK Planners works for public and private sector clients on transportation planning, policy, funding, and land use issues and is recognized nationally for its work on demand-based parking management programs.
Our firm understands how to successfully work with community based organizations, stakeholders, and government agencies, developing creative programs and projects that involve public and private sector partnerships.
Michael R. Kodama is the President of the firm. He has an M.A in Urban Planning from UCLA and was a Professor teaching Transportation Planning at USC in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development. He has over 30 years of transportation and parking experience.
Michael Kodama
Michael Kodama is an urban planner with a background in transportation planning, funding, and policy issues. He has also worked on economic development, environmental and land use issues. During the past 30 years, Mr. Kodama has worked on a wide variety of projects involving highway, rail (passenger and freight), transportation demand management, traffic safety, goods movement, parking management, waste management, park and recreation, special event centers, foreign trade zones, e-government, community transportation issues, environmental justice and downtown revitalization.
This includes working with businesses and stakeholder groups on transportation needs assessments in downtown areas and working with residents in local communities on transportation-related issues.
Mr. Kodama has worked on Federal Reauthorization issues as well as a number of boards and commissions including the vice-chair of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI) and as a commissioner with the State Senate Asian Pacific Islander Advisory Commission. He was the Executive Director of Eco-Rapid Transit, leading the efforts of 13 cities as they worked together to bring a $10 billion rail project to Southeast Los Angeles County with proposed connections to Union Station and Burbank Airport. He has also worked with governments of other countries from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and Central America. He taught transportation planning at the University of Southern California and has also taught public funding courses at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mr. Kodama has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in Sociology and Economics and a Masters of Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in Urban Planning, with an emphasis in Social Policy Analysis and Transportation.