Matthew Browning , Kathleen Wolf, Pamela Murray-Tuite, Lara Browning, Mashrur Chowdhury, Chien-Fei Chen, David Coyle, Angel M. Dzhambov, Chao Fan, Richard Hauer, Haneen Khreis, Abigail Mack, Olivia McAnirlin, Lauren Marshall, Ariane Middel, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Matthew Nicolette, Alessandro Rigolon, Jennifer Ogle, Alessandro Ossola, Nilesh Timilsina, Katie Thurson, David White, Kuiran Zhang, Ray Yeager

Existing and expanding evidence indicates that trees in communities offer substantial social and ecological benefits. Discussions around trees in transportation systems have centered on roads and streets, with efforts to address human safety, reducing tree-related hazards and maintenance challenges. Expertise in fields such as urban forestry and public health is rarely integrated. We propose a new sub-field, “Transportation Forestry,” to optimize the effectiveness and promote the holistic co-benefits of transportation-related green infrastructure. Transportation Forestry bridges urban and community forestry, landscape architecture, transportation and urban planning, civil and automotive engineering, and environmental and public health. The field takes a transdisciplinary approach to enable the appropriate siting, selection, planting, and maintenance implementation of green infrastructure to most effectively and holistically address concurrent urban challenges. Focusing on roads and streets, we highlight the value of this sub-field and call for action to build a Transportation Forestry workforce. Transportation Forestry offers a pathway to sustainably advance transportation development, enhance human health, and build climate change resilience in cities worldwide.