29 MAY 2024 (WED) 11:00 – 12:00 (HKT)

Social and Environmental Impacts of Carsharing: Looking Back and Looking Forward

The slides of this Distinguished Transport Lecture can be downloaded here:

Shaheen_Keynote_52824

.pdf

Download PDF • 13.47MB

SPEAKER Susan Shaheen, PhD

Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Co-Director, Transportation Sustainability Research Center

University of California, Berkeley ​ DATE AND TIME 5/29 (Wednesday), 11 am -12 noon (Hong Kong Time)

5/28 (Tuesday), 8-9 pm (Pacific Time) ORGANISED BY Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong ​ ABSTRACT Carsharing, short-term access to a vehicle fleet, has been a sustainable transportation strategy employed across the globe, starting as early as the 1940s. This talk features Professor Susan Shaheen’s work on carsharing, starting with her doctoral dissertation research and numerous evaluations, spanning over two decades. The presentation explores a range of operational models, methods of calculating impacts, energy/environmental impacts, social equity, and electric vehicle deployment in carsharing fleets. The presentation includes key takeaways and policy options for maximizing the social and environmental benefits of this shared mode. SPEAKER’S BIO Susan Shaheen is a pioneer in future mobility strategies. Her research focuses on sustainable transportation, social equity, behavioral dynamics, public policy, shared mobility, electrification/alternative fuels, and advanced air mobility. She is a professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and Co-Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS)-Berkeley. She also directs the UC ITS’ Resilient and Innovative Mobility Initiative. In January 2023, she was appointed to the California Air Resources Board by Governor Gavin Newsom. In 2022, she became the Chair of the Subcommittee for Planning and Policy Review for the TRB Executive Committee. She also joined the California Transportation Foundation Board in January 2022 where she serves as Co-Chair of the Scholarship Committee. She served as Chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee in 2021and Vice Chair in 2020. She has a Ph.D. from UC Davis and a M.S. from the University of Rochester. She has authored 92 journal articles, over 160 reports and proceedings articles, 36 book chapters, and co-authored and -edited three books. She received the 2017 Roy W. Crum award from TRB for her distinguished achievements in transportation research. In May 2016, she was named one of the top 10 academic thought leaders in transportation by the Eno Transportation Foundation.

17 JAN 2024 (WED) | 19:00-20:00

Does Teleworking Increase or Decrease Travel? Using Selection Models to Obtain (Counterfactual) Longitudinal Results from Cross-Sectional Data

Speaker:

Prof. Patricia Mokhtarian

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech

Date:    January 17, 2024 (Wednesday)

Time:   7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Venue:  Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract

The (mostly pre-pandemic) literature presents mixed findings with respect to whether teleworking (TWing) reduces travel or increases it.  This talk examines why, and presents a portfolio of methods -- selection models -- that can provide a more convincing answer to the question, particularly when only cross-sectional data are available.  The basic concepts of selectivity bias, its correction, and the estimation of treatment effects are described, and then applied to the title question.  The results confirm both that (1) on average, TWing reduces individuals' vehicle-miles driven (VMD) compared to their counterfactual non-TWing state, and (2) for a non-trivial subset of cases (particularly those who are not travel-stressed), TWing does, in fact, increase VMD.

About the Speaker

Patricia Mokhtarian is the Clifford and William Greene, Jr. Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech, as well as Professor Emerita of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).  She has specialized in the study of travel behavior for more than 40 years, and has authored or co-authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed journal articles.  According to Google Scholar, her work has been cited more than 35,000 times.  In particular, she has been studying the relationships between information and communication technology (ICT) and travel behavior since 1982, and has published more than 75 journal articles on that subject, including more than 40 articles on teleworking alone. Dr. Mokhtarian is a past Chair of the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from that society in 2021. She serves on the editorial boards of eight prominent transportation journals, including Travel Behaviour and Society.

Hosts:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

SEMINAR

JOINTLY ORGANIZED WITH

INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT STUDIES, HKU

4 JAN 2024 (THUR) | 16:00-17:00

Experimental Studies on Bicycle Flow Dynamics of Cyclist Loading and Unloading Processes at Bottlenecks

Speaker: 

Dr. WONG Wai

Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury

Date:    January 4, 2024 (Thursday)

Time:   4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Venue:  Room 632C, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract

Cycling has emerged as one of the most important green transport modes in recent years, with cities increasingly prioritizing cycling in their sustainable policy agenda. However, the associated traffic dynamics, especially the evolution of bicycle flow at bottlenecks, have not been extensively studied. In this study, real-world experiments were conducted to investigate the dynamics of bicycle flow at bottlenecks under varying cycling demands generated by the cyclist unloading and loading processes. Upon the activation of the bottleneck, its capacity remained largely constant. For the same physical system, the bottleneck capacity of the cyclist loading process exceeded that of the unloading process, indicating the occurrence of capacity drop and hysteresis. Statistical analyses demonstrated that the capacity drop was attributable to the difference in speeds of the two processes for the same cycling demands after the bottleneck activation. These findings could potentially be explained by behavioral inertia. Further analysis revealed that compared with the unloading process, the cyclist loading process was associated with higher cycling speeds owing to the higher overtaking rates. The outcomes of this study can advance our understanding of the physics of bicycle flow dynamics and provide valuable insights for transport planning professionals involved in the facility planning and control of existing networks.

About the Speaker

Dr. Wai Wong is a lecturer in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He earned his Ph.D. in transportation and traffic engineering and his bachelor's degree with first-class honours in Civil Engineering both from the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Hong Kong. Following his graduation, Dr. Wong served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, USA. His research interests include smart city development, big data analytics, intelligent transport systems, cybersecurity and sustainable transport. Fueled by his passion and vision for creating smarter and more efficient transportation systems, Wai has dedicated his research to advancing smart cities through cutting-edge research. He has published in top-tier international journals, including Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part B, Transportation Research Part C, and IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. He also contributes as a reviewer for these prestigious transportation journals.