transport and environment
Multiscale spatiotemporal heterogeneity analysis of bike-sharing system's self-loop phenomenon: Evidence from Shanghai
Wang, Yichen, Yu, Qing, Song, Yancun
Bike-sharing is an environmentally friendly shared mobility mode, but its self-loop phenomenon, where bikes are returned to the same station after several time usage, significantly impacts equity in accessing its services. Therefore, this study conducts a multiscale analysis with a spatial autoregressive model and double machine learning framework to assess socioeconomic features and geospatial location's impact on the self-loop phenomenon at metro stations and street scales. The results reveal that bike-sharing self-loop intensity exhibits significant spatial lag effect at street scale and is positively associated with residential land use. Marginal treatment effects of residential land use is higher on streets with middle-aged residents, high fixed employment, and low car ownership. The multimodal public transit condition reveals significant positive marginal treatment effects at both scales. To enhance bike-sharing cooperation, we advocate augmenting bicycle availability in areas with high metro usage and low bus coverage, alongside implementing adaptable redistribution strategies.
Climate Adaptation with Reinforcement Learning: Experiments with Flooding and Transportation in Copenhagen
Costa, Miguel, Petersen, Morten W., Vandervoort, Arthur, Drews, Martin, Morrissey, Karyn, Pereira, Francisco C.
Due to climate change the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events, which contribute to urban flooding, are expected to increase in many places. These floods can damage transport infrastructure and disrupt mobility, highlighting the need for cities to adapt to escalating risks. Reinforcement learning (RL) serves as a powerful tool for uncovering optimal adaptation strategies, determining how and where to deploy adaptation measures effectively, even under significant uncertainty. In this study, we leverage RL to identify the most effective timing and locations for implementing measures, aiming to reduce both direct and indirect impacts of flooding. Our framework integrates climate change projections of future rainfall events and floods, models city-wide motorized trips, and quantifies direct and indirect impacts on infrastructure and mobility. Preliminary results suggest that our RL-based approach can significantly enhance decision-making by prioritizing interventions in specific urban areas and identifying the optimal periods for their implementation. Our framework is publicly available: https://github.com/
Cornell team develops computationally efficient machine learning models for hyperlocal models of PM2.5 concentrations - Green Car Congress
Cornell engineers have developed machine learning models to simplify and reinforce models to calculate the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) Described in a paper in the journal Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, the modeling approach has low data requirements and is computationally efficient. Previous methods to gauge air pollution were cumbersome and reliant on extraordinary amounts of data points. Older models to calculate particulate matter were computationally and mechanically consuming and complex. But if you develop an easily accessible data model, with the help of artificial intelligence filling in some of the blanks, you can have an accurate model at a local scale.