August 30, 2021

We are excited for the start of a new fall semester.  Please join us for the return of the Smart Mobility Connection (SMC) seminar series!

Friday, September 10, 2021 from Noon-1:00pm (eastern), hear Allanté Whitmore and Constantine Samaras speak on their project, “Opportunities for Shared Autonomous Mobility Technology in Public Transit Systems to Improve Equitable Transit Coverage.”

As automated transportation technology advances, public transit agencies are considering how automated vehicles can compete or complement existing transit systems as well as the subsequent impacts to transit equity. Capital and operating costs for automated vehicles managed by public transit agencies are uncertain since few deployments have occurred to date.

Their work identifies unmet transit service needs based on transit dependence and sociodemographic information, then performs a cost analysis on the operation of shared autonomous vehicles  and autonomous shuttles as a part of a public transit system. They explore  autonomous vehicle transit service across three transit systems in U.S. cities: New York City, NY, Pittsburgh, PA, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. By comparing transit systems in different cities they reveal transit demand conditions most suitable for a cost-efficient and complementary service for shared automated mobility to improve equity and access.

To register for the September 10 SMC, click here.

Smart Mobility Connection seminar series:  As the nature of transportation continues to evolve, Carnegie Mellon University has students and faculty conducting transportation related research in data analytics, robotics, public policy, engineering, architecture and design, and more.  Since not all of these efforts are co-located in the same building, or even the same department, there was a need to help building a “community space” to bring together people interested in transportation on CMU’s campus.  This was the impetus for Mobility21’s launching of the SMC  One of the University Transportation Center  faculty is featured at each hour long session; half of the time is reserved for questions and answers as well as networking.