An analytical approach to generate synthetic population by harnessing household travel survey data with mobile phone data
Dr Prateek Bansal
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
11 December, 2024 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Data and Systems Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 December, 2024 (Wednesday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Venue : Innovation Wing Two, G/F Run Run Shaw Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Conventional methods to synthesize population use household travel survey (HTS) data. HTS encounters a low spatial heterogeneity issue due to a low sampling rate of the HTS data. Passively collected mobility (PCM) data (e.g., cellular traces) provides extensive spatial coverage but poses integration challenges with HTS data due to differences in spatial resolution and attributes. This study introduces a novel cluster-based data fusion method to address these limitations and simultaneously generate synthetic populations with accurate sociodemographics and homework locations at high spatial heterogeneity. Analytical properties are derived to retain essential distributional characteristics from both datasets in the fused distribution. The data fusion properties are validated using HTS and LTE/5G cellular signaling data from Seoul, South Korea. Validation against census data confirms the method's efficacy in maintaining distributional consistency while increasing spatial heterogeneity, with 97% of the generated population being unobserved in the HTS data. This research advances methods to synthesize a population by leveraging the complementary strengths of HTS and PCM data, providing a robust framework for generating spatially diverse synthetic populations essential for urban planning.
SPEAKER
Dr Prateek Bansal is a Presidential Young (Assistant) Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Before joining NUS in 2022, he was a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at Imperial College London and did a Ph.D. from Cornell, an MSc from UT Austin, a BTech from IIT Delhi. Prateek leads the Behavioural Cognitive Science Lab at NUS and is a co-principal investigator of the Adaptive Mobility module at Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore. His research group is interested in creating new methods to address challenging questions related to mobility behavior and the adoption of emerging technologies at an individual level and an urban scale. His research has led to over 55 journal articles. Apart from top Transportation journals, he regularly publishes in interdisciplinary journals like Energy Economics and Statistics and Computing. He also serves as the editorial board member of Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, and Journal of Choice Modelling, among others. He is a member of the TRB’s standing committees on Travel Survey Methods (AEP25) and Travel Forecasting (AEP50), and a regular board member of the International Association of Travel Behavior Research (IATBR).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Fangni Zhang at E-mail: fnzhang@hku.hk
Agentic participatory design and development of future mobility systems
Professor Jiangbo (Gabe) Yu
Department of Civil Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
6 December, 2024 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 December, 2024 (Friday
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Unleashing the synergies among rapidly evolving mobility technologies in a multi-stakeholder setting presents unique challenges and opportunities for addressing urban transportation problems. This talk presents a novel human-machine collaborative platform for conceiving and planning shared automated electric mobility systems. By critically leveraging large language models (LLMs), we enable conversational agents to conduct surveys and interviews with technical and non-technical stakeholders and represent them in designing and developing future mobility systems. These synthetic agents, along with real stakeholders, collaboratively identify objectives, envision and evaluate decision alternatives, and strategize implementation under risks and constraints. The results of a Montreal case study indicate that a structured and parameterized agentic workflow provides outputs with higher controllability and comprehensiveness on a system design and plan than that generated using a single LLM-enabled expert agent. This approach offers a promising avenue for cost-efficiently improving the inclusivity and interpretability in transportation engineering and planning, suggesting a paradigm shift in how we ideate and realize sustainable and resilient mobility systems.
SPEAKER
Dr. Jiangbo Yu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at McGill University. He is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) and a licensed Professional Transportation Planner (PTP). Before joining McGill, Dr. Yu worked as a research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and senior engineer at AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, serving clients in both public and private sectors. Dr. Yu's research centres on Human-Machine Transportation Systems (HMTS), which refers to transportation systems designed, implemented, and operated jointly by human intelligence and machine capabilities. In HMTS, intelligent machines (e.g., smartphones, autonomous vehicles, smart chargers, traffic controllers, construction robots, planning support systems) are entities with different levels of autonomy interacting with each other and with humans in and for transportation systems. Dr Yu’s research on HMTS aims to maximize synergies between human intelligence and artificial intelligence to provide people with more sustainable and resilient access to resources and opportunities. Dr. Yu received his BSc. in Transportation Engineering from the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). He then received his MSc. and PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI), respectively. His doctoral dissertation on HMTS was recognized with a dissertation award from the University of California Center on Economic Competitiveness in Transportation (UC Connect).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Anthony Chen at E-mail: anthony.chen@polyu.edu.hk
Cognitive hierarchy in day-to-day network flow dynamics
Professor Feng Xiao
Business School, Sichuan University, China
1 November, 2024 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 1 November, 2024 (Friday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
When making route decisions, travelers may engage in a certain degree of reasoning about what the others will do in the upcoming day, rendering yesterday's shortest routes less attractive. This phenomenon was manifested in a recent virtual experiment that mimicked travelers’ repeated daily trip-making process. Unfortunately, prevailing day-to-day traffic dynamical models failed to faithfully reproduce the collected flow evolution data therein. To this end, we propose a day-to-day traffic behavior modeling framework based on the Cognitive Hierarchy theory, in which travelers with different levels of strategic-reasoning capabilities form their own beliefs about lower-step travelers’ capabilities when choosing their routes. Two widely studied day-to-day models, the Network Tatonnement Process dynamic and the Logit dynamic, are extended into the framework and studied as examples. Calibration of the virtual experiment is performed using the extended Network Tatonnement Process dynamic, which fits the experimental data reasonably well. We show that the two extended dynamics have multiple equilibria, one of which is the classical user equilibrium. While analyzing global stability is intractable due to the presence of multiple equilibria, local stabilities near equilibria are developed analytically and verified by numerical experiments. General insights on how key parameters affect the stability of user equilibria are unveiled.
SPEAKER
Feng Xiao is currently a professor at Business School of Sichuan University, recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, China. Dr. Xiao's research interests include artificial intelligence algorithms and data mining, modeling and optimization of complex traffic systems, financial risk management and quantitative trading, healthcare data management, etc. He has published more than 70 papers in internationally renowned journals and conferences in the fields of management science and engineering, transportation technology and data mining, such as Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part A, B, C, D, E, IEEE TKDE, ISTTT, etc.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Jintao Ke at E-mail: kejintao@hku.hk
Road electrification pathways
Professor Seungjae Lee
Department of Transportation Engineering, University of Seoul, Korea
30 September, 2024 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 30 September, 2024 (Monday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z510, 5/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The electrification of road transport is a critical component in the transition to sustainable and low- emission transportation systems. This lecture explores various electrification pathways, focusing on wireless charging systems and autonomous robot charging systems. Wireless charging systems on roads offer a dynamic solution to energy demands, enabling electric vehicles to charge while in motion, thus addressing range anxiety and improving efficiency. Autonomous robot charging systems provide flexibility and convenience, capable of delivering energy to vehicles without requiring human intervention. Case studies are presented to illustrate the implementation and impact of these technologies in real-world scenarios. Additionally, the lecture includes a sentiment analysis on the fire hazards associated with battery technologies, highlighting public perceptions and safety concerns. The discussion section synthesizes the findings, emphasizing the importance of infrastructure development, regulatory frameworks, and technological advancements in achieving widespread road electrification. The results suggest that a combination of wireless charging and autonomous systems could significantly enhance the adoption of electric vehicles, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to a greener, more energy- efficient transport sector.
SPEAKER
Dr Seungjae LEE is a Professor of Transportation Planning in University of Seoul. He obtained his PhD in Department of Civil Engineering, University College London in 1994, and worked as a Research Fellow in Department of Statistical Science, UCL, and Korea Transport Institute. He is the author of the TOP 1% SCI Journal and Top 100 Journal (based on SJR) such as Nature Scientific Reports, Science Advances and Journal of Cleaner Production. A total of 157 papers have been published, including more than 80 SCI-level papers, 15 publications as Q1 journals. He is the Author of book chapters in Springer, Elsevier, Routeledge, ScienceDirect Procedia, and the ICE. He has found and served International Journal of Transportation as an Editor-in-Chief, (ESCI). He has also served several editorial boards of SCI journals such as Transportmetrica, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation and Proceedings of Municipal Engineering, Institution of Civil Engineering, and Oxford Energy Journal, Oxford University Press. He is currently working as the Head of the Integrated Cooperation Center of the Big Data and AI Research Institute. He is a recipient of the James Hill Prize for the best paper on Municipal Engineering in the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 2023 and a recipient of the Smeed Prize of the UTSG, 1995.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Wei Ma at E-mail: wei.w.ma@polyu.edu.hk
Urban traffic control, on-demand mobility, and autonomous vehicles: a tale of three topics
Dr. Mohsen Ramezani
School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia
21 August, 2024 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 21 August, 2024 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Z206, 2/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This talk delves into recent research advances in macroscopic dynamic modeling and control of urban transport networks with a specific focus on disruptive on-demand markets and autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. The talk covers network macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) models, perimeter (gating) control, dynamic non-equilibrium models and management strategies for transportation network companies (TNC) such as Uber and DiDi, and decentralized control methods for AVs. TNCs provide an on-demand mobility platform that acts as a two-sided market by matching riders (and goods) with drivers. The conventional models of ride-sourcing systems are based on equilibrium assumptions suitable for strategic decisions. This steady-state approach is not fit for operational decision-making where there is noticeable variation in the state of the system, denying the market enough time to balance back into equilibrium. This talk introduces dynamic non-equilibrium models and algorithms for traffic control and on-demand mobility systems. The models and algorithms challenge the common shortcomings by addressing the market supply as earning-sensitive, independent contractors, and self-scheduling. The talk finishes with recent advances on future of traffic with non-communicative decentralized AVs in urban networks.
SPEAKER
Associate Professor Mohsen Ramezani received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering (control systems) from the University of Tehran, Iran, in 2008 and 2010, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in Transportation from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland in 2014. Prior to joining the TransportLab at the School of Civil Engineering, the University of Sydney in 2016, he was a Lecturer at the Institute of Transport Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (2015-2016). He was an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellow. His research interests are in traffic modelling and control, traffic flow theory, ride-sourcing and ride-sharing systems, and autonomous vehicles.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Tony Sze at E-mail: tony.nn.sze@polyu.edu.hk
Economic analysis of curb parking with urban delivery
Professor Zhengtian Xu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Washington University, USA
19 August, 2024 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 19 August, 2024 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The surge in online shopping has dramatically increased the demand for short-term curb access for package pickups and deliveries, leading to heightened competition for limited curb space. This talk addresses how the unique parking demand of deliverers, particularly their endogenous parking durations, affects the dynamics of urban curb parking systems. Continuum models of curb parking systems are developed, and analytical analyses are performed to understand the system dynamics and steady-state properties under the influence of increased urban deliveries. Theoretical capacity of three prevalent curb management strategies, including pricing, parking duration caps, and dedicated delivery bays, are examined and compared. Our findings offer valuable insights into the unique properties that deliverers introduce to curb parking dynamics, highlighting the need for a strategic reevaluation of status-quo managerial measures.
SPEAKER
Dr. Zhengtian Xu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at George Washington University and directs the Sustainable Urban Mobility Lab. His research focuses on developing novel models, tools, and data-driven quantitative analyses to understand, enhance, and regulate urban mobility systems and services. Dr. Xu's work has been featured in leading transportation research journals, including Transportation Research Part B/C and Transportation Science. Notably, one of his papers received the Stella Dafermos Best Paper Award and the Ryuichi Kitamura Paper Award at the Transportation Research Board’s 95th Annual Meeting. His doctoral dissertation, which addressed the critical issues of empty miles in app-based ride-hailing services, was recognized with the TSL Dissertation Award from INFORMS and the HKSTS Outstanding Dissertation Award with the Gordon Newell Memorial Prize from the Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies. He is currently guest editing a special issue on "the Economics of Platform-Based Mobility and Logistics Services" at Transportation Research Part C. Dr. Xu earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2020, his M.S. from the University of Florida in 2016, and his B.S. from Tsinghua University, China, in 2014.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Jintao Ke at E-mail: kejintao@hku.hk
Expected bipartite matching distance in an Lp space: approximate closed-form formulas and applications to on-demand shared mobility services
Professor Yanfeng Ouyang
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
22 July, 2024 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 July, 2024 (Monday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In this talk, we discuss how strategic performance evaluation and resource planning of shared mobility services can benefit from new closed-form formulas that estimate the expected distances from a random bipartite matching problem in a D-dimensional Lp space. Asymptotic approximations of the formulas are also developed for some special cases. These formulas provide a theoretical foundation for taxi matching functions in the literature, and also reveal conditions under which the matching function will be most suitable. These formulas can also be easily incorporated into optimization models to select taxi operation strategies; e.g., whether newly arriving customers shall be instantly matched or pooled into a batch for matching. Agent-based simulations are also conducted to verify the predicted performance of the demand pooling strategy for two types of e-hailing taxi systems.
SPEAKER
Yanfeng Ouyang is George Krambles Professor, Paul Kent Faculty Scholar, and Donald Willett Faculty Scholar at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is also Associate Director for Mobility of the Illinois Center for Transportation. His work mainly focuses on planning, operations, and control of complex transportation and logistics systems. He currently serves (or previously served) as a Department/Area/Associate/Board Editor of IISE Transactions, Networks and Spatial Economics, Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part B, Transportation Research Part C, and Transportmetrica B. He is also Chair of TRB’s AEP40 Committee on Transportation Network Modeling. His work has been recognized by a Merit Award for Technical Study from the American Planning Association, a Walter L. Huber Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers, a High Impact Project Award from the Illinois Department of Transportation, a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation, among others.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Jintao Ke at E-mail: kejintao@hku.hk
A general equilibrium model for multi-passenger ridesharing systems with stable matching
Professor Shlomo Bekhor
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
17 July 2024 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 17 July 2024 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This paper proposes a general equilibrium model for multi-passenger ridesharing systems, in which interactions between ridesharing drivers, passengers, platforms, and transportation networks are endogenously captured. Stable matching is modelled as an equilibrium problem in which no ridesharing driver or passenger can reduce his/her ridesharing disutility by unilaterally switching to another matching sequence. By integrating matching sequence with hyper-network, ridesharing-passenger transfers are avoided in a multi-passenger ridesharing system. Moreover, the matching stability between the ridesharing drivers and passengers is extended to address the multi-OD multi-passenger case in terms of matching sequence. A sequence-bush algorithm is developed for solving the multi-passenger ridesharing equilibrium problem. Results illustrate that the proposed sequence-bush algorithm outperforms general-purpose solver. Numerical experiments indicate that ridesharing trips are typically longer than average trip lengths. Sensitivity analysis suggests that a properly designed ridesharing unit price is necessary to achieve network benefits, and travellers with relatively lower values of time are more likely to participate in ridesharing.
SPEAKER
Shlomo Bekhor is Professor in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion. He was the former Faculty Dean and Head of the Transportation and Geo-Information Division. He has a B.Sc. in Aeronautical Engineering from ITA – Aeronautical Institute of Technology, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. His M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Transportation Engineering were obtained at the Technion. He spent a two-year Post-Doc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He teaches and conducts research in transportation planning and network equilibrium models, and has special interest in route choice modeling. He has also participated in several consulting projects related to transportation demand forecasting. He has published more than 100 papers in refereed journals and presented more than 120 papers in international conferences. He has participated in several research projects funded by the European Commission and other governmental agencies related to transportation demand management, road safety and sustainability.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with Mr. Yiyang Peng at Email: yiyang.peng@connect.polyu.hk.
Artificial intelligence, decision making, and fairness: risks and opportunities
Professor Abdullah Konak
Pennsylvania State University, USA
5 July 2024 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 5 July 2024 (Friday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 8-28, 8/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
With the proliferation of machine learning applications across industries such as transportation, human resources, finance, surveillance, and healthcare, concerns about the fairness and equity of artificial intelligence (AI) have intensified. Recent incidents highlighting biased AI predictions have underscored the urgent need to ensure fairness in these systems. In this presentation, we will first review different sources and types of biases that can affect AI applications and approaches to remedying the effects of biases. We will later introduce Multi-Objective Ensemble Learning for Fairness (MELF). This novel approach combines ensemble learning and multi-objective decision-making to train machine learning models that achieve a balance between predictive performance and fairness metrics. MELF is adaptable across various datasets and machine learning algorithms and can be integrated with other fairness-aware training techniques. Computational experiments with various algorithms demonstrate that MELF can enhance fairness without compromising predictive accuracy.
SPEAKER
Dr. Abdullah Konak is a Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University, Berks. Dr. Konak also teaches graduate courses in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations program at the College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State World Campus. Dr. Konak's primary research focuses on modeling, analyzing, and optimizing complex systems using computational intelligence combined with probability, statistics, data sciences, and operations research. His research also involves active learning, entrepreneurship education, and the innovation mindset. Dr. Konak published numerous academic papers on a broad range of topics, including network design, system reliability, sustainability, cybersecurity, facilities design, green logistics, production management, and predictive analytics. Dr. Konak held visiting positions at Lehigh University and Cornell University, as well as at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he taught engineering innovation for over a decade. He has been a principal investigator in sponsored projects from the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, and Venture Well. He is a member of INFORMS and ASEE.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Yong-Hong Kuo at Email: yhkuo@hku.hk
Does dockless bikesharing create a competition for losers?
Professor Yu (Macro) Nie
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, USA
18 June, 2024 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 18 June, 2024 (Tuesay)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
We model the oligopoly competition in a dockless bike-sharing (DLB) market as a dynamic game. Each DLB operator is first committed to an action tied to a specific objective, such as maximizing profit. Then, the operators play a lower-level game to reach a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium, by making tactical decisions (e.g., pricing and fleet sizing). We define a Nash equilibrium under either weak or strong preference to characterize the likely outcomes of the dynamic game and formulate the demand-supply equilibrium of a DLB market that accounts for key operational features and mode choice. Using the oligopoly game model calibrated with empirical data, we show that, if an operator seeks to maximize its market share with a budget constraint, all other operators must either respond in kind or be driven out of the market. When all operators compete for market dominance, even a slight efficiency edge gained by one operator can significantly shift the outcome, which signals high volatility. Moreover, even if all operators agree to focus on making money rather than ruinously seeking dominance, profitability still plunges quickly with the number of operators. Taken together, the results explain why an unregulated DLB market is often oversupplied and prone to collapse under competition. We also show this market failure may be prevented by a fleet cap regulation, which sets an upper limit on each operator's fleet size.
SPEAKER
Dr. Yu (Marco) Nie is currently a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. He received his B.S. in Structural Engineering from Tsinghua University, his M.S. from National University of Singapore and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Nie’s research covers a variety of topics in the areas of transportation systems analysis, transportation economics, and sustainable transportation. Dr. Nie served as a member of the TRB committees on Transportation Network Modeling and Traffic flow Theory and Characteristics. He is currently an Area Editor for Transportation Science, an Associate Editor for Transportation Research Part B and Service Science. Dr. Nie's research has been supported by National Science Foundation, Transportation Research Board, US Department of Transportation, US Department of Energy, and Illinois Department of Transportation.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Jintao Ke at E-mail: kejintao@hku.hk
Towards a sustainably safe urban network: the role of advanced technologies and big data
Professor Tarek Sayed
University of British Columbia, Canada
19 April, 2024 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 19 April, 2024 (Friday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Urban transportation seems to be on the cusp of a new era of “Smart mobility”. The application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will lead to interconnected road infrastructure, travelers and transportation modes resulting in higher safety, enhanced mobility, and minimum adverse environmental impacts. New technologies such as connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) are expected to provide considerable social and economic benefits. As well, the availability of a tremendous amount of real-time data "Big Data" is expected to completely change the ways in which urban transportation systems are designed, built, operated and maintained. One particular area that can benefit significantly from the application of advanced technologies is road safety. The importance of reducing the social and economic costs of road accidents cannot be overstated. The application of innovations that are both progressing and disrupting the status quo represents an opportunity for improved transportation safety. However, with the introduction of new modes of mobility and the complex interactions created by these different technologies within the transportation system, governments will need to rely on advanced research and analysis techniques to support policies towards the transition to these new forms of mobility. All these issues will be discussed and several methods and techniques developed in this area will be described with example projects from several agencies worldwide.
SPEAKER
Professor Tarek Sayed is a distinguished professor and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair of Transportation Safety and Advanced Mobility at the University of British Columbia. He has a distinguished research track record in transportation engineering and has received a high number of honors and awards. In 2004, UBC granted Dr. Sayed the title of Distinguished University Scholar, an honor held by a very small group of professors at UBC. Beyond several best paper awards, he also received the Sandford Fleming Award from the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering "for a member who has made particularly outstanding contributions to the development and practice of transportation engineering in Canada" (2009), and the Award of Academic Merit from the Transportation Association of Canada (2010) "in recognition of long-term contribution to the advancement of the academic field and the development of tomorrow's transportation leaders." In 2011, he received the Wilbur Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award for outstanding contributions to the field of transportation engineering from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). In 2014, he was awarded the Centennial Road Safety Award from the Transportation Association of Canada. This one time award recognizes his outstanding transformational and long-term contributions to road safety over the past 100 years. And in 2015, Dr. Sayed received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for the most outstanding international road safety initiative. He is also a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and was the editor of the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering for 8 years. During his research activities, he has addressed a wide spectrum of transportation system applications with a focus on traffic operation and safety, Intelligent Transportation Systems, and the application of information technologies. He supervised to completion more than 100 Master and PhD students. He is the author or co-author of more than 400 journal and conference papers, including 250 published in the leading international journals. As well, he has completed numerous consulting projects in traffic operations and safety in North America and internationally.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Tony Sze at E-mail: tony.nn.sze@polyu.edu.hk
Using machine learning to address nonlinear relationships between land use and travel behavior
Professor Jason Cao
Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, USA
29 January, 2024 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 January, 2024 (Monday)
Time : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : BC201, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Empirical studies often assume a (generalized) linear relationship between variables. However, scholars need to diagnose this assumption before interpreting modeling results. If the true relationship between variables is nonlinear, the linear assumption will lead to a biased estimate of the relationship. This presentation emphasizes the charm of machine learning approaches in address the nonlinear relationships between variables in the context of land use and travel behavior. The case studies show that the applications of machine learning may change the conventional understanding of land use- transportation interactions and inform urban and transportation planners of efficient solutions to address transportation-related challenges. The approaches enable scholars and practitioners to revisit previous questions from an innovative perspective.
SPEAKER
Dr. Jason Cao is a professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and a visiting scholar of Chang’an University. He specializes in land use and transportation interaction, the effects of ICT on travel behavior, and planning for quality of life. He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed papers and edited four books. Dr. Cao is internationally well-known for his research on residential self-selection in the relationships between the built environment and travel behavior. He is currently leading the area of machine learning applications in land use and transportation research. Dr. Cao is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Research Part D and an associate editor of Transport Policy. Dr. Cao received his degrees from University of California, Davis and Tsinghua University.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Min Xu at E-mail: min.m.xu@polyu.edu.hk
Experimental studies on bicycle flow dynamics of cyclist loading and unloading processes at bottlenecks
Dr. Wai Wong
Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
4 January, 2024 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 4 January, 2024 (Thursday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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.
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.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. W.Y. Szeto at E-mail: ceszeto@hku.hk
Ensuring the robustness of link flow observation systems in sensor failure events
Professor Ning Zhu
College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, China
4 January, 2024 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 4 January, 2024 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 632C, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Network link flow data are an intuitive information for monitoring the traffic condition of the entire network, and can be used to enhance traffic management and control. Link flow observation systems are typically designed using flow conservation equations to obtain the information of flow on unobserved links by inference. The occurrence of sensor failures in such systems may lead to flow information loss on both observed and inferred links. Most studies on this issue have considered sensor deployment and failure evaluation as separate processes. In contrast, in this study, both processes are integrated to establish a link flow observation system that withstands sensor failures. First, we propose a novel model to solve the sensor location problem for full link flow observability. The proposed model is then modified to evaluate the link flow information loss in sensor failure event, and incorporated into a distributionally robust optimization (DRO) model for the sensor location problem concerned. The DRO model minimizes the worst-case expected information loss of the system during the planning horizon with different types of sensors. Moreover, we extend the DRO model to a target-based version, into which a convex risk measure named Observation fulfillment risk index is introduced to evaluate the risk of failing to meet the predetermined observation target for any sensor installation schemes. The devised models can be directly solved by commercial solvers for networks like Nguyen-Dupuis, and a matheuristic genetic algorithm is designed for large-scale example networks. Numerical experiments are performed for networks with different sizes. The DRO model generates robust sensor location schemes with worst-case performances that are superior to those achieved using benchmark methods, such as stochastic programming. The use of the Observation fulfillment risk index enhances the system stability and target fulfillment level and decreases the standard deviation of the link flow information loss. We also make use of numerical experiments to derive some insightful conclusions on installation budget, coverage ratio, failure risks, etc.
SPEAKER
Dr. Ning Zhu is a Professor in the College of Management and Economics at Tianjin University. His research interests encompass transportation and logistics system modeling, operation, and optimization. He focuses on various research problems including traffic sensor locations, transit system modeling (including bus stop modeling and related topics), vehicle routing problems, bike sharing system operations, disaster operations and management. Ning Zhu employs technical tools such as mixed-integer programming, stochastic programming, robust optimization, and stochastic processes to tackle these problems. He has published more than 40 academic papers in international journals such as Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part B/C/E, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management and the European Journal of Operational Research. Additionally, he is the Principal Investigator for four national natural science foundation projects, including one National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Jintao Ke at E-mail: kejintao@hku.hk
Markov decision processes in shared mobility operation problems
Professor Zheng Zhu
Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, China
28 December 2023 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 28 December 2023 (Thursday)
Time : 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The supply-demand imbalance of shared mobility (e.g., ride-sourcing and bike-sharing) is one critical factor that leads to passenger queueing and congestion, idle ride-sourcing vehicles, accumulation of shared bikes, low public transit ridership, and high-level travel costs, so that it restricts the mobility efficiency and social welfare of urban transportation systems. Designing spatial-temporal operation strategies (e.g., pricing, (e)bike rebalancing/recharging, ride-sourcing idle vehicle relocation) can be a feasible approach for mitigating the imbalance. However, concerning the coupling mechanism among supply, demand, and operational strategies, it is difficult to seek smart spatial-temporal strategies via conventional modeling and optimization approaches. Recently, with Markov decision processes (MDPs) and reinforcement learning (RL) have received increasing attention, which have the capability of formulating and solving dynamic optimization problems in complex environments. In this presentation, we show several MDPs the research team has developed for depicting and solving spatial-temporal operational problems in the shared mobility market. Aiming at developing smarter shared mobility systems, we would share our knowledge and experiences for a better understanding of similar problems.
SPEAKER
Zheng Zhu, "Hundred Talents Program" Professor, Assistant Head of Department of Civil Engineering at Zhejiang University. Research interests include the planning, design, simulation, management/control and optimization of multi-modal transportation systems. From 2008 to 2021, Zheng has been studying and working at Tsinghua University, University of Maryland, Hong Kong University of Science. He is the principal investigator of 1 Hong Kong Research Grants Committee General Research Fund (RGC-GRF), the participant of 1 Major Research Plan of China National Natural Science Foundation. Zheng has participated in research projects funded by many agencies, such as the US department of transportation (USDOT), the US department of energy (USDOE), US National Science Foundation (NSF), US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Aspiration Zealous Force Trustworthy (AZFT), Smart Urban Future (SURF) Laboratory, Zhejiang Province. He has published over 50 SCI papers in top transportation journals such as IEEE TITS, TR Part B, POM, TR Part C, and TR Part E. Zheng serves as the area editor in the annual meeting of the Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA) and an editorial board member in Transportation Safety and Environment.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Jintao Ke at Tel.: 2857-8556
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024
Research cases on the applications of data-driven methods in smart cities
Dr. Hai Wang
School of Computing and Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore
28 December 2023 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 28 December 2023 (Thursday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The rapid development and widespread adoption of mobile devices, sensors, IoT, and communication technology have led to the generation of vast volumes of multi-source, high-dimensional data in various systems within the broader framework of smart cities, including transportation, logistics, e-commerce, healthcare, etc. Consequently, numerous data-driven methods have been developed and implemented to address research challenges related to the design and operations of these systems. In this talk, we will briefly discuss several research cases on the applications of data-driven methods in smart cities. These cases include: (1) Descriptive methods for mobile transaction digits distribution and crowd-sourcing food delivery operations; (2) Predictive methods for ICU patient condition evaluation and freelance platform service quality prediction; (3). Prescriptive method for shared transportation ride matching and feeder vessel transshipment routing and scheduling. Through these cases, we aim to showcase the diverse applications of data-driven methods in addressing some key challenges in smart cities.
SPEAKER
Dr. WANG Hai is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at Singapore Management University and a visiting teaching faculty at the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the Singapore PI for the interdisciplinary AI research program at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. He received B.S. from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. in Operations Research from MIT. His research focuses on methodologies of analytics and optimization, data-driven decision-making models, machine learning algorithms, and their applications in smart cities, transportation, and logistics systems. He has published in leading journals such as Transportation Science, American Economic Review P&P, M&SOM, Fundamental Research, and Transportation Research Part B/C/E and has long term collaborations with leading companies such as Meituan, Tencent, DiDi, Grab, and Upwork. He serves as Associate Editor for Transportation Science and Service Science, Special Issue Editor for Transportation Research Part B/Part C, and Service Science, and Editorial Board Member for Transportation Research Part C/Part E. Dr. Wang was selected as Chan Wu & Yunying Rising Star Fellow in transportation and mobility, received Lee Kong Chian Research Excellence Award twice, was nominated for MIT’s top graduate teaching award, and won the Excellent Teaching award for junior faculty at SMU. During his Ph.D. studies at MIT, he also served as the co-President of the MIT Chinese Students & Scholars Association and as Chair of the MIT-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Jintao Ke at Tel.: 2857-8556
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024
Design mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platform as an intermediary
Dr. Kenan Zhang
Laboratory for Human-Oriented Mobility Eco- system (HOMES), EPFL, Switzerland
19 December 2023 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 19 December 2023 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room Y303, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The primary goal of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) is to provide seamless door-to-door trips by integrating different transport modes. Although many MaaS platforms have emerged in recent years, most of them remain at a limited integration level. In this talk, I will present our recent work on the MaaS platform design. Specifically, we consider the MaaS platform as an intermediary in a multi- model transport system that purchases capacity from different service operators and sells multi-modal trips to travelers only based on their origin-destination pairs, regardless of the transport mode. We adopt the analysis framework of many-to-many stable matching to decompose the assignment and pricing problems and solve them in sequence. I will discuss several analytical results regarding the conditions of stable outcomes and show some numerical results on a hypothetical multi-modal transport system based on the Sioux Falls network.
SPEAKER
Dr. Kenan Zhang is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and leads the Laboratory for Human-Oriented Mobility Eco-system (HOMES). Her research focuses on the mathematical modeling, optimization and operations management of urban transportation systems, with special interests in emerging mobility services and technologies. Kenan obtained her BSc. in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University and MSc. in Architecture-Engineering- Construction Management (AECM) from Carnegie Mellon University. She completed her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (with a focus on Transportation System Analysis and Planning) and a second MSc. in Statistics at Northwestern University. Prior to joining EPFL, Kenan worked as a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Wei Ma at Email: wei.w.ma@polyu.edu.hk.
Facility-based accessibility: a new research agenda by integrating facility choice behaviors into the evaluation of place-based accessibility
Professor Bi Yu Chen
Wuhan University, China
13 December 2023 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Geography; Centre for China Urban and Regional Studies; & David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 13 December 2023 (Wednesday)
Time : 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : AAB1217, Hong Kong Baptist University
ABSTRACT
Place-based accessibility is a fundamental concept in geographical research and other related fields. It refers to the ease with which opportunities can be reached from a given place using a particular transportation system. Most existing place-based accessibility measures consider only the proximity factor but ignore complexities of residents’ facility choice behaviors, resulting in considerable bias in the accessibility evaluation. In this talk, I will introduce a series of accessibility measures, namely facility-based accessibility measures, which generalize conventional place-based accessibility measures by explicitly incorporating the complexities of residents’ facility choice behaviors. Empirical studies using real-data in Wuhan China will be reported. Several empirical insights and methodological implications will be discussed.
SPEAKER
Dr. Bi Yu Chen is a full Professor at State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, China. His major research interests span GIS for Transportation, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Transport Geography, Behavior Geography and Spatiotemporal Big Data Analytics. He is the author of more than 60 articles in the leading SCI/SSCI journals of Geography, GIS and Transportation fields, such as Annals of AAG, JTG, IJGIS and TR Part A-E. He is an Associate Editor of several leading journals, including IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Travel Behaviour and Society, and Transportmetrica B. He also serve as the chairman for ISPRS working group on Geocompuation and Geosimulation.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Donggen Wang at E-mail: dgwang@hkbu.edu.hk
Integrated optimization of bus bridging service design and passenger assignment in response to urban rail transit disruptions
Dr. Yu Zhou
School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Beihang University, China
9 November 2023 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 November 2023 (Thursday)
Time : 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
As the urban rail transit (URT) system plays an increasingly important role in supporting large cities' mobility around the world, service disruptions have become more prevalent, potentially resulting in severe economic losses and passenger safety issues. It is imperative to investigate effective response strategies to mitigate the effects of such disruptions. In response to URT service disruptions, this paper systematically investigates the bus bridging service design (BBSD) problem, which concerns the integration of bus bridging route design, frequency determination, and passenger assignment in the integrated URT and bus network. The problem is formulated as a path-based integer linear programming (ILP) model with the goal of simultaneously minimizing operator-oriented and passenger-oriented costs. A column generation-based approach is proposed to solve this model efficiently, allowing nonintuitive bus routes to be freely generated on the network dynamically. Our method has been tested with two different case studies based on real data from the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR). Experiments demonstrate that our proposed approach can assist public transit (PT) operators in developing efficient emergency response plans for various potential disruption situations in advance. Even in the face of unexpected disruptions that necessitate a quick response, our approach can generate high-quality solutions in a matter of minutes.
SPEAKER
Dr. Yu Zhou is about to join the School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Beihang University as an associate professor. Dr. Zhou's research interests include (i) public transportation operations and management, (ii) future mobility and (iii) multimodal transportation. Dr. Zhou dedicated his research efforts to addressing fundamental and cutting-edge issues in the field of transportation. His rigorous studies have culminated in the publication of over 30 papers in internationally renowned SCI journals and academic conferences. Notably, Dr. Zhou has taken the lead role, as either the first or corresponding author, in publishing 14 papers in prestigious SCI-indexed journals, including Transportation Research Part B, Part C, Part D, European Journal of Operational Research and Applied Energy. Beyond his published work, Dr. Zhou has actively contributed to the discourse within the global transportation community. He serves as the editorial member of Digital Transportation and Safety. In addition, Dr. Zhou has also been invited to peer review for over ten international journals and top-tier transportation conferences. These include but are not limited to Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part B, Part C, Part D, Part E, Accident Analysis and Prevention, and Computers & Operations Research. He is also a reviewer for prestigious conferences in the transportation field, like the International Symposium on Transportation and Traffic Theory (ISTTT) and TRB meetings.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Jintao Ke at Tel.: 2857-8556
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024
Robust charging strategies for regular electric bus fleets and scheduling optimization of electric modular buses
Professor Kai Liu
School of Transportation and Logistics, Dalian University of Technology, China
12 September 2023 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 September 2023 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z411, Z core, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Charging management has a profound impact on the reliability and safety of electric bus (EB) services due to uncertain energy consumption, limited charging resources and other factors. A deterministic model and a robust model with a probability-free uncertainty set are proposed and compared. The power is optimized via rational allocation of charging resources, where the uncertainty of energy consumption is addressed to achieve the dual goals of reducing charging expenses and improving system robustness. Moreover, we propose a reorganization and scheduling optimization model of station-based demand responsive based on an electric modular vehicle technology that enables dynamic capacity adjustment via coupling/decoupling actions. Taking a single bus route to be the modelling object, the model optimizes station capacity reorganization and schedule execution sequences for electric modular vehicles with the aim of minimizing the total cost including vehicle dispatch cost, charging cost and other items.
SPEAKER
Prof. Kai LIU is a professor and director of Institute of Transportation Planning at School of Transportation and Logistics, Dalian University of Technology, China. His areas of specialties include transportation planning and management, travel behaviour modelling, GIS in Transportation, and Transportation Electrification. He is an editorial board member of Transportation Research Part D, an associate editor of Asian Transport Research. Prof. LIU received his Ph.D. degree in Transportation Engineering from Nagoya University in 2006 and received a M. Eng. (2003) and a B.Eng. degree (2000) in Urban Planning from Tongji University, China. His research has been applied to realize carbon neutral in transportation systems, including electric vehicles system and demand-responsive bus system.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Prof. Anthony Chen at Email: anthony.chen@polyu.edu.hk.
Mobile charging on-demand innovations leveraging optimization and machine learning
Professor Lili Du
Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, USA
15 August 2023 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 15 August 2023 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z405, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Mobile charging is an emerging technology combining connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) cable or wireless charging and automated battery swapping technologies. It enables roadside charging on-demand (CoD) services which eliminate lengthy charging delays or detours and extend the coverage of an existing stationary charging station network. Consequently, the CoD will reduce electric vehicles (EVs)' range anxiety, enhance trip flexibility, improve charging service resilience, and promote widespread adoption of EVs. However, these advancements raise new challenges in both charging technologies and system operations, especially with the anticipated widespread adoption of EVs in the near future. Both policymakers and stakeholders must understand whether such emerging technologies are applicable in scale and how they will affect traffic congestion, user trip experience, and power system from a holistic system perspective. Motivated by this view, this presentation will share several of our recent studies focusing on developing innovative and viable solutions for resilient and optimal charging station planning, optimal joint routing and battery redistribution for mobile battery swapping services, and V2V on-the-move CoD charging services. All these studies leverage emerging charging technologies, optimization techniques, and machine learning algorithms, aiming to contribute the methodologies necessary for large-scale CoD implementation in applications. Our studies strive to strike a balance among charging service efficiency, traffic management, and power grid stability. By promoting mass EV adoption and improving the resilience of EV usage, our studies will help pave the way for building a sustainable transportation system in the future.
SPEAKER
Dr. Lili Du a professor in the Civil and Coastal Engineering Department, University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. degree in Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems with a minor in Operations Research and Statistics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2008, MS degree in Industrial Engineering from Tsinghua University in 2003, and her BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China in 1998. Dr. Du's research is characterized by integrating operations research, network modeling, game theory, control theory, machine learning, and statistical methods into traffic flow analysis, transportation system analysis, urban planning, and network modeling. Her current research mainly focuses on the impacts of connected and/or autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles, mobility on demand, smart curb, network resilience, and traffic flow analysis. Dr. Du's research has been published in Transportation Research Part B, Part C, and Part D, IEEE Transactions on ITS, Networks, and Spatial Economics. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), State DOTs, STRIDE UTC, FMRI UTC, and Toyota InfoTechnology Center. Dr. Du was a recipient of the NSF CAREER award in 2016. Her recent project, “Driverless City” won the First Nayar Prize at IIT. She is the founding and active chair of both TRB AEP40-4 subcommittee on Emerging Technologies in Network Modeling and ASCE-T&DI Artificial Intelligence in Transportation Committee. She serves as an editor for Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, and a member of the editorial advisory board for Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Wei Ma at Tel.: 2766-6069
Please reserve your seat with
Dr. Wei Ma at Email: wei.w.ma@polyu.edu.hk.
On-demand shared mobility management for smart cities
Professor Xiqun Chen
Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Berks, USA
8 August 2023 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 August 2023 (Tuesday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
On-demand ride-sourcing services (e.g., Uber, DiDi) receive praises from consumers and investors. This presentation focuses on the ride-sourcing system optimization modeling and behavioral analysis for smart cities. Under governmental regulation of ride-sourcing platforms, pricing and subsidies on passengers and drivers have become an effective incentive to coordinate supply and demand. A multi-stage game-theoretic model is formulated to reveal the coupling game among heterogeneous passengers, heterogeneous drivers, and the ride-sourcing platform in the on-demand ride services market regulated by the government. Ride-sourcing platforms offer incentive subsidies and set pricing strategies to ensure stable supply capacity for on-demand ride services. Understanding the causal effects is a prerequisite for deploying related activities, as well as the heterogeneous and stochastic responses to subsidy and pricing. Data-driven agent-based modeling and simulation for large-scale transportation networks are implemented to investigate how regulatory policies impact the ride-sourcing market, which goes beyond existing approaches by employing data-driven multi-objective deep learning to train ride-sourcing drivers' offline/online behavior. Those research initiatives of the presenter’s research team have the potential to help decision-makers and ride-sourcing platforms to optimize regulatory policies and operations management strategies in the era of shared mobility.
SPEAKER
Dr. Xiqun (Michael) Chen is Tenured Professor of Zhejiang University, Director of Institute of Intelligent Transportation Systems, Vice Dean of Zhejiang University-UIUC Institute, and Deputy Director of Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Transportation. Prof. Chen’s research interests include shared mobility on demand, simulation-based optimization, transportation big data analytics, and intelligent transportation systems. He received the National Excellent Young Scholars Award of National Natural Science Foundation of China and Distinguished Young Scholars Award of Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and was an awardee of Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by China Association for Science and Technology. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of Transportation Management and Control of World Transport Convention, Transportation Consultant for World Bank, Board Member of ASCE Greater China Section, Board Member of Society of Management Science and Engineering of China, Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, Editorial Advisory Board Member of Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, and Senior Associate Editor of Digital Transportation and Safety. Prof. Chen has published 1 book, 3 book chapters, over 110 peer-review international journal papers on Nature Sustainability, Cell Press journal Patterns, Cell Press partner journal The Innovation, Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part B, etc. In 2022, he was ranked in the list of World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University. He received the Science and Technology Innovation Youth Award of China Communications and Transportation Association, Science and Technology Award of China Intelligent Transportation Systems Association, Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award of IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society, and Best Paper Awards at seven international conferences.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Jintao Ke at Tel.: 2857-8556
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024
New evolutionary algorithms to solve the competitive maximal covering location problem
Professor Abdullah Konak
Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Berks, USA
28 July 2023 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 28 July 2023 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This presentation introduces two evolutionary algorithms called the Game-Theoretic Genetic Algorithm (GTGA) and Regret-Based Nash Equilibrium Sorting Genetic Algorithm (RNESGA) for analyzing combinatorial optimization game theory problems where it is computationally infeasible to enumerate all decision options of the players involved in the game. Although evolutionary algorithms are widely used to solve combinatorial optimization programs, their applications to game theory have been limited to specific types of games. The GTGA and RNESGA can solve different types of game theory problems using multiple populations and alternating fitness evaluation methods. We will demonstrate how these algorithms can be applied to solve various versions of the Competitive Maximal Covering Location Problem as well as other game theory problems such as Cournot's Model, Pricing Games, Numerical game, Hotelling Game, etc. Computational experiments demonstrate their performance in terms of converging equilibria in Nash and Stackelberg games.
SPEAKER
Dr. Abdullah Konak is a Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University, Berks. Dr. Konak also teaches graduate courses in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations program at the College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State World Campus. Dr. Konak’s primary research focuses on modeling, analyzing, and optimizing complex systems using computational intelligence combined with probability, statistics, data sciences, and operations research. His research also involves active learning, entrepreneurship education, and the innovation mindset. Dr. Konak published numerous academic papers on a broad range of topics, including network design, system reliability, sustainability, cybersecurity, facilities design, green logistics, production management, and predictive analytics. Dr. Konak held visiting positions at Lehigh University and Cornell University, as well as at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he taught engineering innovation for over a decade. He has been a principal investigator in sponsored projects from the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, and Venture Well. He is a member of INFORMS, IISE, and ASEE.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor W.Y. Szeto at Tel.: 2857-8552
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024
Planning of substitute bus service for metro disruption management
Dr. Shuyang Zhang
School of Transportation and Logistics Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, China
3 July 2023 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 3 July 2023 (Monday)
Time : 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Often serving as the backbone for public transport in metropolitan areas, any major disruption in the metro system will have a severe impact, affecting tens of thousands of passengers. Even for the most reliable metro systems, such as the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) in Hong Kong, on average there are hundreds of service disruptions every year, with some lasting for a few hours. It is, therefore, imperative to develop contingency plans for disruption management. This is particularly important for metro systems running on single tracks, without parallel lines, wherein any rail blockage would require Substitute Bus (SB) for bridging the disrupted railway sections. This study will address three important issues in the development of SB contingency plans for metro system disruption management. The first issue regards the initiation time for SB service. As the duration of a metro disruption varies and cannot be predicted perfectly ahead of time, the response timing is critical. Initiating SB service too early would confuse passengers and have cost implications; initiating too late, on the other hand, would exacerbate the problem as the unsatisfied demand accumulates. The second one pertains to the routings of SB service and the fleet sizes upon their initiation. The analysis should consider demand redistribution due to the disruption, which introduces uncertainty to the problem. Two types of SB services to cater for the affected demand are proposed: regular SB service and flexible SB service. The third concern regards the negotiation between the metro company and the bus company to put together of a fleet to serve as SB. The analysis will focus on developing cost-effective portfolios to supply the needed SB fleet. We will use Hong Kong and Shanghai case studies to demonstrate the modeling framework. This research will open up theoretically interesting and practically important topics to enhance the SB service for metro system disruption management.
SPEAKER
Dr. ZHANG Shuyang was born in Wuhan, Hubei, China in 1988. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in transportation engineering from Tongji University, Shanghai, China, in 2010 and 2013, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in civil engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China, in 2018. From 2018 to 2019, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Since 2020, he has been an Associate Professor with the School of Transportation and Logistics Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology. His research interests include public transit operations, bus bunching control, and substitute bus service design after metro disruptions. His research work has been published in various journals such as Transportation Research Part B, Transportation Research Part C, Transport Reviews, etc.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Jintao Ke at Tel.: 2857-8556
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024
An aggregate matching and pick-up model for mobility-on-demand services
Dr. Xinwei Li
School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, China
3 July 2023 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 3 July 2023 (Monday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This research presents an Aggregate Matching and Pick-up (AMP) model to delineate the matching and pick-up processes in mobility-on-demand (MoD) service markets by explicitly considering the matching mechanisms in terms of matching intervals and matching radii. With passenger demand, vehicle fleet size and matching strategies as inputs, the AMP model can well approximate drivers’ idle time, passengers’ waiting time for matching and pick-up by considering batch matching in a stationary state. Properties of the AMP model are then analyzed, including the relationship between passengers’ waiting time and drivers’ idle time, and their changes with market thickness which is measured in terms of the passenger arrival rate (demand) and the number of active vehicles in service (supply). The model can also unify several prevailing inductive and deductive matching models used in the literature and spell out their specific application scopes. In particular, when the matching radius is sufficiently small, the model reduces to a Cobb-Douglas type matching model for street-hailing taxi markets, in which the matching rate depends on the pool sizes of waiting passengers and idle vehicles. With a zero matching interval and a large matching radius, the model reduces to Castillo model based on an instant matching mechanism, or a bottleneck type queuing model, in which passengers’ matching time is derived from a deterministic queue at a bottleneck with the arrival rate of idle vehicles as its capacity and waiting passengers as its customers. When both the matching interval and matching radius are relatively large, the model also reduces to the bottleneck type queuing model. The performance of the proposed AMP model is verified with simulation experiments.
SPEAKER
Dr. LI Xinwei is an Assistant Professor in the School of Economics and Management at Beihang University, China. She received her Ph.D. from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2018, and B.S. from University of Science and Technology of China in 2013. Dr Li’s research interest is in the area of traffic dynamics, traffic economics and shared mobility services. Her research work has been published in various world-leading SCI journals such as Transportation Research Part B, Transportation Research Part C, Transportation Research Part D, Transportation Research Part E, etc. Dr. Li’s research has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Jintao Ke at Tel.: 2857-8556
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024
Does bike sharing increase house prices? Evidence from micro-level data and the impact of COVID-19
Professor Anming Zhang
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada
6 February 2023 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 February 2023 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3598 (Civil Engineering Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
With unique datasets, this study investigates the effects of dockless bike sharing on house prices. We find that in neighborhoods relatively far from subway stations, house prices increase with the usage intensity of shared bikes. This indicates a positive value of bike sharing as a complement to the subway network. Meanwhile, shared bike usage intensity also has a negative impact on house prices. The negative effect is mitigated for luxury neighborhoods and neighborhoods near City Management Teams, suggesting that the negative effect is related to bike misplacement. Since the breakout of COVID-19, both the positive and negative price impacts have become more evident. This is consistent with the fact that the user base of shared bikes, which allow for social distancing in an open space, has increased during the pandemic. This may enhance people’s confidence in the long survival of the bike sharing industry.
SPEAKER
Anming Zhang is a Full Professor in Operations and Logistics and holds Vancouver International Airport Authority Chair Professor in Air Transportation at Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC). He served as the Head of the Operations and Logistics Division, Sauder School of Business (2003-2005), and as the Director of UBC’s Centre for Transport Studies (2003-2004). He is the President of the World Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) and was, in 2020, the President of Transportation and Public Utilities Group (TPUG) of American Economic Association. Prof. Zhang has published widely in the areas of transportation, logistics, industrial organization, and Chinese economy. He is the Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part A, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Economics and Management, and is in the editorial boards of a number of other journals. Prof. Zhang is the recipient of the "Yokohama Special Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher" awarded at the 7th World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) in Sydney, Australia in 1995, and of the "WCTR-Society Prize", awarded to the overall best paper of the 8th WCTR in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1998. Currently, he is also in the Executive Committee of WCTR.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Disruption management in railway networks
Professor Francesco Corman
Institute of Transport Planning and Systems, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
16 September 2019 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 16 September 2019 (Monday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : LT-14 Yeung Kin Man Acad Bldg, City University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
A major problem of public transport, and railways in particular, is to improve quality of operations by updating an offline timetable to the ever changing delays situation, in order to improve performance of the transport system. In railway systems, this relates to reduce train delays by reordering retiming or rerouting trains, and/or change connection plans and route advised to passengers, to improve their travel time. Key point of research is the interaction between the problem (of the infrastructure manager) to reschedule trains, and the problem (of the travellers) to find the optimal route in the network. In fact, changing passenger flows, respectively delaying trains and/or dropping passenger connections, varies the setting under which the two decision makers respectively interact. The interaction of the two decisions makers is mediated by the information one decision maker has about the other, and the service which is offered/used. We report different methods to address this dilemma, by agent-based models, or living labs.
SPEAKER
Francesco Corman holds the chair of Transport Systems at the Institute of Transport Planning and Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. He has a PhD in Transport Sciences from TU Delft, the Netherlands, on operations research techniques for real-time railway traffic control. He has academic experience at KU Leuven, Belgium and TU Delft as research associate in transportation and logistics. Main research interests are in the field of railway traffic control and management to reduce delays for the system and its users. This is achieved based on quantitative methods and operations research to transport sciences, especially on the operational perspective, public transport, railways and logistics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Andy Chow at Tel.: 3442-2155
The growing nexus between computational data science and transportation science: the excitement and the challenges
Professor Chandra R. Bhat
University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Joe J. King Endowed Chair Professor in Engineering, Director, D-STOP USDOT Tier 1 Center*, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas, USA; and Visiting Chair Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
5 August 2019 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 5 August 2019 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y306, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This presentation will focus on a new data science landscape in which a whole host of smart equipment can act as sensors - legacy roadway systems, smart phones and GPS systems, and smart cars themselves. The key issue is how to deal with such voluminous and diverse amounts of incoming data per unit of time, and translate them into usable information for near-real time operations purposes or for longer-term planning purposes. This is a challenge, given the low latency and data reliability required to translate data into actionable intelligence, especially for such safety applications as collision avoidance. In addition, computational data science to translate data into information requires the ability to deal with data that may be from multiple sources, highly noisy, heterogeneous, and high-dimensional with complex interdependencies. On the last of these, the joint modeling of data with mixed types of dependent variables (including ordered-response or ordinal variables, unordered-response or nominal variables, count variables, and continuous variables) is a tricky problem. The presentation will discuss the exciting possibilities, some enquiry and computational data science pathways forward in terms of methods, and the research challenges in the emerging landscape of data science applications for the transportation field. This will include a discussion of the activities being undertaken as part of the U.S.DOT-funded Tier 1 Center at UT-Austin on "Data-Supported Transportation Planning and Operations" (D-STOP).
SPEAKER
Prof. Chandra R. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental aspects of transportation, planning implications of connected and automated smart transportation systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics. He is a recipient of many awards, including the 2017 Council of University Transportation Center (CUTC) Lifetime Achievement Award in Transportation Research and Education, the 2015 ASCE Frank Masters Award, and the 2013 German Humboldt Award. He was listed in 2017 as one of the top ten transportation thought leaders in academia by the Eno Foundation. He is also a top-cited transportation engineering researcher (web of science h-index of 50), and was listed in the most cited researchers in civil engineering by ShanghaiRanking's global ranking of academic subjects 2016 by Elsevier. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Research - Part B.
*D-STOP is the Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning Center at the University of Texas at Austin
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Tiffany Szeto at Email: tiffany.szeto@polyu.edu.hk
Modelling choice with several choice heuristics in the population: theoretical and empirical identification
Professor Juan de Dios Ortuzar
Department of Transport Engineering and Logistics, Institute in Complex Engineering Systems, BRT+ Centre of Excellence, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile
23 May 2019 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 23 May 2019 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room N002, G/F, Block N, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Choice processes may follow alternative paradigms. The most popular one, for many decades, has been utility maximizing; however, it is clear that in some choice situations (i.e. when individuals face too many alternatives) this paradigm is not sensible and alternative ones, such as elimination by aspects and satisficing may be more adequate. In this presentation we consider the possibility that the above mechanisms may co-exist in a given population. The increase in data sources, mathematical tools and computational power have allowed to examine this problem. Preliminary results have shown that (latent class) specifications including various choice heuristics in a single discrete choice model, are subject to identifiability issues. To analyse this problem formally, we first develop a theoretical framework to understand both theoretical and empirical identifiability in multiple heuristic models and how it relates to the various heuristics used. The theoretical framework enables us to hypothesise the degree of identifiability of the various choice heuristics. Then we analyse the empirical identifiability of models of this type using a synthetic population based on a realistic context. We conclude by showing that - in principle - it is possible to estimate sophisticated class membership functions and choice heuristics. Identifiability is possible even if the same variables affect the selection of the heuristics and the choice sensitivities. However, for the model to be identifiable, the choice heuristics must differ significantly in their outcome. Finally, for each choice heuristic tested, we studied the sample size required to identify the complete model.
SPEAKER
Prof. Juan de Dios Ortuzar got his PhD from Leeds University in 1980, became Full Professor at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in 1986 and Emeritus in 2017. He was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa (Universidad de Cantabria, Spain) in 2018, the Life Achievement Award (International Association for Travel Behaviour Research) in 2012 and the Humboldt Research Award (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) in 2010. Prof. Ortuzar pioneered the development of discrete choice modelling techniques and their application to determine willingness-to-pay for reducing externalities (accidents, noise and pollution). The valuation methodologies developed with his research team have been applied in Australia, Colombia, Germany, Norway and Spain. Founding member of the Institute in Complex Engineering Systems (2007); of the Chilean team leading the Centre of Excellence BRT + (funded by the Volvo Research & Educational Foundations), with MIT, Sydney University, University of Pretoria and EMBARQ (2010), and of the Centre for Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS) at PUC (2012). He also led the interdisciplinary project Understanding Wine Preferences with the Centre for Aromas and Flavours at PUC and the participation of the Beijing Agricultural University. He has formed several generations of professionals and specialists (including 15 PhD and 45 MSc) with a profound service vocation, who work in academia, government and professional practice in Chile, Latin America and Europe. He has published over 180 papers in archival journals and book chapters. Co-author of Modelling Transport, a book published by Wiley reflecting the state-of-practice in this discipline, which has sold over 20,000 copies and is now in its fourth edition. Finally, he is currently Co-Editor in Chief of Transportation Research A and member of the editorial board of several international journals.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie F.Y. Lam at Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Predicting for the adaptive transport system
Professor Francisco Camara Pereira
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
9 April 2019 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 April 2019 (Tuesday)
Time : 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
It is not uncommon that traffic prediction tools and research report very high accuracy. However, the very few such tools that exist in the market seem not to be performing as well as people would like, even though their accuracy may in fact correspond to the announced. There is a paradox in the field: traffic prediction is not difficult most of the time (the routine conditions), but sometimes it becomes extremely hard (the non-recurrent events), which is often when it is needed! In fact, our transport system, and in fact, the Smart City as a whole, is moving to a paradigm where supply can adapt much faster to demand than before, and this brings new challenges to predictability. It becomes less acceptable to fail! This presentation will focus on ongoing and past work from DTU, MIT, CISUC and Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) related to treatment of non-recurrent events in traffic, and its interaction with system optimization.
SPEAKER
Francisco Camara Pereira is a Professor in the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where he leads the Machine Learning for Smart Mobility group (MLSM). His research is about the methodological combination of Machine Learning and Transport Research, and some applications include demand modeling, traffic prediction, data collection, or anomaly detection. He is Marie Curie fellow, and has published over 50 articles in both Machine Learning and Transport Research fields. Before joining DTU, he was Senior Research Scientist with SMART/MIT (2011-2015) and assistant professor in university of Coimbra (2005-2015).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. W.Y. Szeto at Tel.: 2857-8552
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
The role of information in smart transport
Professor Hai L. Vu
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Australia
29 March 2019 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 March 2019 (Friday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-32C, Haking Wong Building G/F - JLG03, James Hsioung Lee Science Building,
The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) or Smart Transport is an emerging solution underpinned by the advancements of information and communication technologies to address the challenges posed by the rapid grow of human population and their mobility needs in an increasing number of mega cities around the globe. In the future, ITS will evolve as a system-based demand-response solution that provides mobility as a service while optimize the entire transportation system based on its ability to access and analyse the vast amount of data and information in real-time. Such a solution relies on the smart use of information by both the user and mobility provider, and we expect that the real-time information will have a positive and crucial role in this approach. In this talk, I will explore the role of the real-time information in the context of the user's route guidance and highlight some insights in regard to the value of this information in the future connected world.
SPEAKER
Hai L. Vu received the B.Sc./M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary, in 1994 and 1999, respectively. After five years at the University of Melbourne, and eleven years at Swinburne University of Technology, he joined Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) in 2016 where he currently is Professor of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) in the Department of Civil Engineering. He is a recipient of the 2012 prestigious research awards, the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship as well as the Victoria Fellowship Award for his research and leadership in ITS. Prof Vu has authored or coauthored over 180 scientific journals and conference papers where his research interests include modelling, performance analysis and design of complex networks, stochastic optimization and control with applications to connected autonomous vehicles and intelligent transportation. More info can be found at https://www.monash.edu/engineering/lehaivu
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Travel modeling under emerging communications-and-mobility technologies
Professor Yupo Chan
Department of System Engineering, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA
21 March 2019 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 21 March 2019 (Thursday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In recent years, one has witnessed rapid advances in communications and mobility technologies. These include breakthroughs in information and communications technology (ICT) on the one hand, and connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) on the other. We will review and track the evolution of these advances. Most importantly, we wish to map out the corresponding implications for travel modeling-and-simulation. The discussions will be carried out in two book chapters. The Part-I chapter will paint a plausible projection of how the travel modeling community will respond to ICT and CAVs as we see it today. The projection is based on existing data and observations, thus lending some credibility to the conjecture. In contrast to the Part-I chapter which takes the short-term view, the Part-II chapter is much more speculative, as we dive into the unknowns of the future. The unknowns pertain particularly to the alternate future scenarios and how stakeholders respond under these scenarios, representing the most tenuous aspect of analysis. Aimed at stimulating more thoughtful discussions on "visioning," this chapter offers solid guidelines to deal with what is coming and to deal with uncertainties that are yet to come.
SPEAKER
Dr. Yupo Chan received all his degrees from MIT. After 28 years of post-doctoral experience, he became the Founding Chair of the Dept. of Systems Engineering at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Before UA Little Rock, Yupo worked at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Washington State University, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Pennsylvania State University, and Kates, Peat & Marwick. He was a Congressional Fellow in the Office of Technology Assessment in Washington, DC. Dr. Chan's training and research include transportation systems, telecommunications, networks and combinatorial optimization, multi-criteria decision-making and spatial-temporal information. He has published numerous books and monographs, including Location Theory and Decision Analysis; Location - Second Edition, Transportation, & Land-Use (Second Edition under preparation); Data Engineering: (co-editors J. Talburt, and T. Talley).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Autonomous driving, future transport and the simulation studies
Professor Jianping Wu
School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, China; Director of Tsinghua University - University of Cambridge - Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Future Transport Research
14 March 2019 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 March 2019 (Thursday)
Time : 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
According to McKinsey's 2017 forecast, in the next five years, SAE 4-class autonomous vehicles may appear, and it takes about 10 years to achieve SAE 5-level fully automatic driving. In the era of autonomous driving full implementation, our roads may no longer be congested, our roads may be much safer than today, and people's lifestyles and travel behaviors will change dramatically. However, on the road to autonomous driving and future transport system, we will face many challenges. One of the key challenges is that from all human driving traffic system to all autonomous driving system there is a long period time when the roads will have mixed traffic of human driving and autonomous driving. How do autonomous driving vehicles interact with human driving vehicles to ensure a safe and efficient transport system? How do our road systems and transportation systems change to accommodate these changes? Many of these issues will need extensive research and investigation, and microscopic traffic simulation has shown as a powerful tool for such studies.
SPEAKER
Jianping Wu, PhD and Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at Tsinghua University, China, Director of Tsinghua University - University of Cambridge - Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Future Transport Research, the "Cheung Kong Scholar" Professor, and the National "Thousand Talents" Expert. Main research interests: i) Smart city and smart transport, ii) Traffic modeling and simulation, and iii) Sustainable transport system. He has been the main investigator for over 50 research projects and authored and co-authored over 300 papers in international journals and conferences. Other main activities include Member of WFEO (World Federation of Engineering Organizations) Environment and Engineering Committee, Fellow of IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology, the UK), Associate Editor to IET ITS Journal, Executive Director of China Association of City Studies, Executive Director of China Association of Simulation, Smart Airport Advisor to Civil Aviation Administration of Ministry of Transport, China, and Transport Adviser to Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanning and Haikou municipal governments.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Managing drone swarms for urban and emergency response operations
Professor Amelia Regan
Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences University of California at Irvine, USA
26 February 2019 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 26 February 2019 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The rise of Big Data analytics and urban informatics has led to increasing interest in gathering useful real time data in urban systems. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are a technology that is gathering momentum as a viable mobile sensor for both routine data collection and emergency response operations. Managing groups of UAVs, or drones, presents a host of challenges related to balancing energy and data storage. This talk begins with a presentation of our earlier work developing a middleware solution to managing drone swarms for urban sensing. It then provides a preview of our ongoing work which is motivated by recent natural disasters and wildfires, which we believe present a more realistic framework for deployment of these swarms. While deploying drone swarms for emergency response can avoid some of the air traffic control issues which will prevent near term large scale deployment in urban areas, emergency response operations have their own air traffic needs (for air tankers and helicopters for example) which will require careful coordination with and between public agencies. This work was done in collaboration with several other researchers but the key contributor is Prof. Di Wu of Hunan University (UCI CS PhD, 2013).
SPEAKER
Prof. Amelia Regan is a Professor of Computer Science and Transportation Systems Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests include dynamic and stochastic network optimization, optimal contracting, logistics systems, sensor and vehicular networks, connected and automated vehicles, pedestrian and cyclist safety, and mitigation of environmental impacts of transportation systems. Her research has been supported by various sources including the National Science Foundation, the Transportation Research Board and JB Hunt Transport, and has been published in over 140 peer reviewed articles. Her PhD students have taken faculty jobs in Civil Engineering, Logistics, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Management, Marketing and Computer Science in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and China as well as development and consulting positions in Technology and Logistics and Supply Chain Management. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Regan later earned an MS in Applied Mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University, and MSE and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Tiffany Szeto at Email: tiffany.szeto@polyu.edu.hk
The role of childhood context and experience in shaping activity-travel choices in adulthood
Professor Chandra R. Bhat
University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Joe J. King Endowed Chair Professor in Engineering Director, D-STOP USDOT Tier 1 Center*, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas, USA; and Visiting Chair Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
12 February 2019 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 February 2019 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
To what extent do experiences in childhood and parental influences shape mobility
choices and behaviors in adulthood? This is the central question that this research
seeks to answer through an analysis of a unique survey data set that includes variables
describing a number of contextual factors from the individual's childhood. The study
presents a joint bivariate ordered probit model of vehicle ownership and transit usage
in adulthood as a function of childhood influences and experiences, while controlling
for other socio-economic and demographic variables. The study uses the 2014 Who's
On Board Mobility Attitudes Survey (WOBMAS) data set. The results show that
childhood experience (both direct and parental influence) variables are significant in
explaining both vehicle ownership and transit use propensity - thus confirming the
hypothesis that choices in adulthood are shaped, at least in part, by opportunities,
experiences, and influences accumulated in childhood. However, when comparing the
size effect of childhood experience on current adult vehicle ownership and transit-use
behavior (relative to the effects of current adult sociodemographics and built
environment variables), we found the former to be very small relative the latter. In
general, based on this study's findings, it is rather uncertain whether interventions in
childhood (directly or through parents) would be able to bring about significant shifts
in choices later in life. What appears to have happened historically, based on the
evidence gathered in this study, is that effects of childhood experiences and especially
parental influences fade with age - and it is the prevailing socio-economic
characteristics and built environment attributes that shape choices in adulthood.
This study is a unique examination of the influence of childhood experiences on adult
travel behavior that controls for other demographic and transportation-related/built
environment effects. Future research can shed additional light on the influence of
childhood experiences through a more extensive capture of childhood experiences in
activity-travel surveys as well as through a better representation of the built
environment context in the analysis. Examining the relevance of early experiences
also opens the door to further generation or cohort specific differences in mobility, as
well as a disentangling of true "cultural" parenting practice variations across
generations from a simple "distance from childhood" fading effect. The availability of
surveyed responses at multiple stages of life, including dynamic demographics and
attitudes such as income or changing values should be pursued for further behavior
analysis and forecasting.
*D-STOP is the Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning Center at the University of Texas at Austin
** Paper is jointly authored with Kamryn Long, Denise Capasso da Silva, Felipe F. Dias, Sara Khoeini, Aarti C.
Bhat and Ram M. Pendyala, Prof. Bhat's PhD student
SPEAKER
Prof. Chandra R. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental aspects of transportation, planning implications of connected and automated smart transportation systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics. He is a recipient of many awards, including the 2017 Council of University Transportation Center (CUTC) Lifetime Achievement Award in Transportation Research and Education, the 2015 ASCE Frank Masters Award, and the 2013 German Humboldt Award. He was listed in 2017 as one of the top ten transportation thought leaders in academia by the Eno Foundation. He is also a top-cited transportation engineering researcher (web of science h-index of 50), and was listed in the most cited researchers in civil engineering by ShanghaiRanking's global ranking of academic subjects 2016 by Elsevier. He is the the Editor-in- Chief of Transportation Research - Part B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Tiffany Szeto at Email: tiffany.szeto@polyu.edu.hk
A frequency based transit assignment model that includes online information and capacity constraints
Professor Shlomo Bekhor
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
12 February 2019 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 February 2019 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Transit assignment plays a key role in the planning and management of transit networks. This paper proposes a frequency based transit assignment model that includes online information and accounts for strict capacity constraints. A heuristic is proposed to solve the problem, which first applies an unconstrained transit assignment procedure and then handles only the over-loaded transit links, re-assigning the surplus passengers. An efficient procedure is developed, which requires very short running times compared to existing transit assignment models. The model considers two cases of occupancy information: (1) passengers are informed of the vehicle occupancy, and may change their route selection accordingly, (2) passengers have no occupancy information and in cases their boarding is denied, they are enforced to choose later departing alternative. The inclusion of capacity constraints increases the total travel time compared to the unconstrained model. It was also found that prior knowledge of the occupancy condition substantially reduces the additional travel time. This result emphasizes the potential benefits of providing occupancy information to the passengers.
SPEAKER
Shlomo Bekhor is Professor in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion, and currently the Head of the Transportation and Geo-Information Division. He has a B.Sc. in Aeronautical Engineering from ITA - Aeronautical Institute of Technology, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. His M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Transportation Engineering were obtained at the Technion. He spent a two-year Post-Doc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He teaches and conducts research in transportation planning and network equilibrium models, and has special interest in route choice modeling. He has also participated in several consulting projects related to transportation demand forecasting. He has published more than 80 papers in refereed journals and presented more than 100 papers in international conferences. He has participated in several projects funded by the European Commission: CyberCars, CyberMove, CityMobil, CATS, 2MOVE2, SOLUTIONS.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Tiffany Szeto at Email: tiffany.szeto@polyu.edu.hk
Converting multiple types of trains into a standard capacity unit using base train equivalents model
Professor Yung-Cheng (Rex) Lai
Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
29 January 2019 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 January 2019 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Determining the required capacity upgrades to accommodate future demand is a critical process in assisting public and private financing of capacity investments. A conventional railway system usually has multiple types of trains with various service patterns operating on the same line. These different types of trains can exert substantially different capacity impact, and can cause serious operational conflicts. In the past, rail line capacity is commonly defined as the maximum number of trains that can be operated on a section of track within a given time period. However, a specific unit (trains/hour or trains/day) does not reflect the heterogeneity of train types. According to the concept of Base Train Equivalent (BTE) and Base Train Unit (BTU), this study developed headway-based models to determine BTE for transforming different train types into a standard unit (i.e., BTU). An approximate method for lines with three and more types of trains was also proposed to compute BTEs for non-base trains. Results from the case studies demonstrate that this method enables the standardization of rail capacity unit, facilitates assessment of the impact from heterogeneous trains, and allows comparison and evaluation of the capacity measurements from different lines and systems.
SPEAKER
Prof. Yung-Cheng Lai, also go by Rex, is a Professor in the Railway Technology Research Center and Department of Civil Engineering at National Taiwan University. He is also the Associate Editor for the Journal of Rail Transport Planning and Management, and Chairman of the Academic Committee for the Railway Engineering Society of Taiwan (RESOT). He is currently on the Board of Directors for both the Chinese Institute of Transportation (CIT) and the Railway Engineering Society of Taiwan (RESOT). His main research interests include railway operation management, capacity planning, and railway safety. His professional services and performance were recognized with the "Distinguished Young Transportation Professional Award" from the Chinese Institute of Transportation, and the "Young Railway Operations Research Award" from the International Association of Railway Operations Research in 2013. In 2014, Prof. Lai was also presented with the "Ta-You Wu Memorial Award" (the most prestigious research award for young researchers in Taiwan) from the Ministry of Science and Technology. He received his Bachelor Degree at National Taiwan University in 2002, Master and PhD from the Railroad Engineering Program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004, and 2008, respectively. He also served as the Chairman of Railroad Operating Technologies Committee at US Transportation Research Board (TRB) from 2010 to 2016.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Tiffany Szeto at Tel: 3400-3969, Fax: 2334-6389, Email: tiffany.szeto@polyu.edu.hk
Regulating transportation network companies: should Uber and Lyft set their own rules
Dr. Sen Li
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA
25 January 2019 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 January 2019 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Civil Engineering Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
We consider the problem of regulating transportation network companies (TNC), such as Uber, Lyft and Didi. We focus on two types of regulatory policies: (a) a floor on driver wage; (b) a cap on total number of drivers. The impacts of these policies are analyzed using a queuing theoretic economic model. Our model captures the stochastic dynamics of the marketplace, the pricing of the platform, and the incentives of passengers and drivers. We show that a wage floor on driver earnings will push TNCs to hire more drivers, and passengers will enjoy faster and cheaper rides. In contrast to traditional labor market theory, our study suggests that imposing a wage floor for drivers will benefit both drivers and passengers, promoting the efficiency of the entire ride-hailing system. We prove that this counter-intuitive phenomenon is universal for a large regime of model parameters, and we show that it is mainly because the quality of service (passenger pickup time) improves with the number of drivers. Aside from wage floor, the impact of capping policy is also studied. We show that capping the number of vehicles will hurt drivers, since the platform reaps all the benefits of limiting the supply. We will also discuss variants of our model, with a focus on platform subsidy, platform competition, and autonomous vehicles.
SPEAKER
Dr. Sen Li is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of California, Berkeley. He received B.S. from Zhejiang University, and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Previously, Dr. Li was an intern at Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory, and a visiting student at Harvard University. Dr. Li's research lies in the intersection of control, optimization and game theory with applications in large-scale cyber-physical systems. He is particularly interested in renewable energy integration and intelligent transportation systems. He is a finalist of Best Student Paper Award at 2018 European Control Conference.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
The characteristics entropy model
Professor Mogens Fosgerau
Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
25 January 2019 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 January 2019 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Civil Engineering Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
This paper introduces the characteristics entropy discrete choice model. It has a foundation as a model of rational inattention in which the cost of information reflects similarity of choice alternatives in a space of characteristics. The substitutability between choice alternatives is controlled by this similarity and dissimilar alternatives may be complements. Application to individual-level discrete choice data is demonstrated, along with computationally efficient methods for maximum likelihood estimation.
SPEAKER
Mogens is a professor of economics at the University of Copenhagen. He holds an ERC Advanced grant on Generalized Entropy Models and is chief editor (joint with Erik Verhoef) of Economics of Transportation. He has published in transportation, economics, econometrics, mathematics, and physics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Resilience of our transportation systems in an intelligent and connected world
Professor Elise Miller-Hooks
Sid & Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University, USA
24 October 2018 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 24 October 2018 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Secure and functioning transportation systems are of paramount importance to society. To ensure that effective services can be provided in a disaster's aftermath enabling society to recover, governmental agencies and private entities charged with designing, constructing, managing and operating these systems must invest in measures that prevent or mitigate the effects of disaster incidents and disruptions. Transportation networks are interconnected with other critical lifelines, such as power and water supply. Together, these lifelines support societal activities occuring within building facilities related by a common function, e.g. health care. Oftentimes, the abilities of system users, e.g. transit riders, play an important role in the services they experience. Thus, both the behavior of technical components and how the system enables its varying users to adapt are crucial. As our infrastructure systems become increasingly connected and intelligent, and new mobility options emerge, new hazards will arise as concerns and new notions of resilience will be needed. This talk will describe developed mathematical approaches for quantifying and maximizing the resilience level of these surface transportation systems and the societal functions they support both in the context of our current environment and in a developing intelligent and connected world.
SPEAKER
Prof. Miller-Hooks holds the Bill and Eleanor Hazel Endowed Chair in Infrastructure Engineering at George Mason University. She served as Program Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation Civil Infrastructure Systems Program, lead Program Officer for Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP), and a cognizant program officer on an initial smart cities initiative. She served on the faculties of the University of Maryland, Penn State and Duke University. She received her Ph.D. (1997) from the University of Texas - Austin. She has authored over 150 articles and reports and 230 conference presentations and invited or keynote lectures. She serves on the editorial boards of Transportation Science, Operations Research, Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems and Transportation Research - Part B, and is Chair of the TRB Transportation Network Modeling Committee, founding Co-Chair of the TRB Task Force on Emergency Evacuation, and past President of the INFORMS Transportation Science and Logistics Society.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
New opportunities in traffic safety analytics using advanced quantitative methods and big data
Dr Kun Xie
Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering University of Canterbury, New Zealand
12 October 2018 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 October 2018 (Friday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Traffic safety issues are gaining increasing attention. It becomes essential to leverage novel methodologies and emerging datasets to obtain innovative solutions to safety issues. Quantitative methods have been used in the last few decades to explore safety-related data and to provide critical inferences to essential tasks of road safety management such as investigation of risk factors, beforeafter safety evaluation and hotspot identification. There have been steady improvements in quantitative methodologies over time (e.g., Bayesian methods and Markov models), which can help discover new knowledge from data available. In the era of big data, a massive amount of data has been digitized and available at a larger scale. Meanwhile, emerging data sources such as connected vehicles, traffic cameras, smartphones and social media can be leveraged to extract rich information for decision-makings. This talk will discuss new opportunities in traffic safety analytics with the advances in quantitative methods and large-scale datasets.
SPEAKER
Dr Xie is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at University of Canterbury (UC). He received his PhD degree in Transportation Planning and Engineering from New York University (NYU). Prior to joining UC, he worked as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) at NYU. His research areas include traffic safety, emergency management, connected vehicles, smart sensing, and urban informatics. He is passionate about using statistical models and machine learning algorithms to explore innovative solutions to transportation issues. He has received IEEE ITSS Best Dissertation Award, CUTC Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award and Transportation Research Board (TRB) Best Paper Award for his research outcomes.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Tony Sze at Tel.: 2766-6062
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Research on autonomous and connected vehicles at Purdue University
Professor Samuel Labi
Division of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA
27 September 2018 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 27 September 2018 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
As the society and its needs evolve, and opportunities are made increasingly available through technological advancements, it is incumbent upon engineers to develop systems and operational policies to facilitate social and economic development. One emergent context of this challenge is that of autonomous and connected vehicles (CAV). As the society continues to yearn for safer, faster, and more convenient transport, increasing technological capabilities in vehicle autonomy and connectedness open up new frontiers towards addressing these needs. Since 2007, Purdue University's Centre For Next-Generation Transportation Systems (NEXTRANS) has carried out a multidisciplinary program of transportation research. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a US$2.4M grant to the University of Michigan, Purdue University, and other partners who created the Centre for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT). CCAT is advancing research in the field of transportation safety and mobility via CAV and connected infrastructure. In his presentation, Prof. Labi will discuss the Centre's mission, its 5 focus areas, and the 6 categories of the research focus area. Finally, he will discuss opportunities for CAV and other research collaboration with universities in Hong Kong..
SPEAKER
Prof. Samuel Labi, PhD 2001 Purdue, is a Professor at Purdue University's School of Civil Engineering. He is also the Director of Purdue's Next Generation Transportation Systems Center (NEXTRANS) and Associate Director of the University Transportation Center for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAT). He has published over 100 scientific articles and 2 textbooks. Prof. Labi serves as Editorial Board Member for American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Journals of Risk and Uncertainty and the Journal of Infrastructure Systems. He is the Chair of ASCE's Committee on Planning, Economics And Finance, secretary of TRB's Committee On Asset Management, and member of the ASCE Committees for Advanced Technologies and Infrastructure Systems. His major research awards include ASCE's Frank Masters Award (2014) for outstanding and innovative work in advancing the area of transportation systems, and the Transportation Research Board's K.B. Woods (2008) and D. Grant Mickel (2018) awards for outstanding journal papers in design/construction and operations & maintenance, respectively..
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Modeling individuals' willingness to share trips with strangers in an autonomous vehicle future
Professor Chandra R. Bhat
Director, Center for Transportation Research; University Distinguished Teaching Professor; Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
10 August 2018 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 10 August 2018 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z206, 2/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The potential of dynamic ridesharing as a Mobility-as-a-Service centerpiece in
cities that are not dense enough for viable and effective public transit systems is
being extensively studied by transportation supply researchers. With the era of
Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) quickly approaching, dynamic ridesharing
services could have an important role in increasing vehicle occupancy, reducing
vehicle miles traveled, and improving traffic conditions. However, the extent
to which these potentials can be achieved depends on consumers’ disposition to
sharing rides. From a travel behavior perspective, two essential elements to the
adoption of shared rides are individuals' acceptance of increased travel times
associated with pick-up/drop-off of other passengers and their comfort levels
with sharing the same vehicle with strangers. The current study develops the
notion of willingness to share (WTS), which represents the money value
attributed by an individual to traveling alone compared to riding with strangers,
to investigate the adoption of shared rides. Using a multivariate analysis
approach, we examine current choices and future intentions regarding the use of
shared AV rides and estimate individuals' WTS as well as their values of travel
time for two distinct trip purposes. Results show that users are less sensitive to
the presence of strangers when in a commute trip compared to a leisure-activity
trip. We also observe that the travel time added to the trip to serve other
passengers may be a greater barrier to the use of shared services compared to
the presence of strangers. However, the potential to use travel time
productively may help overcome this barrier, especially for high-income
individuals and those with graduate degrees.
* co-author: Patricia Lavieri, Prof. Bhat's PhD student
SPEAKER
Prof. Chandra R. Bhat is the Director of the Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning (D-STOP) Tier 1 USDOT University Transportation Center and the Joe J. King Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has a joint appointment between the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) and the Department of Economics. Prof. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental aspects of transportation, planning implications of Connected and Automated Smart Transportation Systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics. He is a topcited transportation researcher in the world and his students have won many national and international awards for their MS theses and PhD dissertations. Last year, he received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement in Transportation Research and Education Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Demand prediction for new transport modes: utilizing initial user records
Professor Jan-Dirk Schmocker
Department of Urban Management, Kyoto University, Japan
8 August 2018 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 August 2018 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Rm 5620 (Lifts 31/32), Academic Building, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Understanding and forecasting demand adoption and diffusion towards newly established transportation systems is challenging and even more so if the system itself is new to the target population such as is the case for the fast growing shared transport systems that are being established in many cities. This talk will first discuss and classify some of the challenges and illustrate that in some cases these have led to vast overestimation of demand in the initial years of service. After the general introduction the focus will be on demand prediction of station-based shared transport schemes. Two aspects required for demand predication will be distinguished: For one the sign-up/initial usage and secondly the usage pattern changes of users over time: For the "sign-up" problem, a methodological framework based on a modified innovation diffusion model is developed. The objective is to be able to forecast the number of new adopters and the potential market, even if stations are added to the system. Potential users are divided into two types: Fast and Hesitant adopters. The different naming compared to standard diffusion models will be explained. The adoption model of the fast adopters is integrated with an information diffusion model to capture the initial changes. The diffusion model for the hesitant-adopters considers both a follower effect and a constant effect. Further, to estimate spatial differences in adoption rates interconnectedness and "synergy" of stations is considered. To predict changes in usage patterns over time, in particular that existing users get used to the scheme and gradually increase usage, Markov Chain models are suggested. The talk will discuss time homogeneity issues and seasonality effects. An approach with and without latent variables is used and illustrated with bicycle sharing and car sharing data from Japan.
SPEAKER
Jan-Dirk Schmocker is an Associate Professor within the School of Global Engineering and the Department of Urban Management at Kyoto University. He initially studied at the Technical University Berlin and then graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2000 with distinction. He joined Imperial College London in 2002 where he worked on several projects including metro benchmarking as well as adequate transport provision for older people. In June 2004 the university awarded him funding for the completion of his PhD which has the title "Dynamic capacity-constrained transit assignment". In 2007 Jan-Dirk left Imperial College London, taking up a visiting position at Tokyo Institute of Technology before moving to Kyoto in 2010. His main research topic is modelling of passenger behaviour in networks including aspects such as fare structures, crowding, bunching and real-time information. Jan-Dirk's current research interests further look at long-term demand adaptation to transport infrastructure investments, technological advances and trends such as "shared mobility". Last year he edited a book titled "Public Transport Planning with Smart Card Data". Recently he also obtained funding for a larger project on tourist flow estimation and tourist evacuation. Jan-Dirk is on the editorial board of several journals including Transportation Research Part B, Transportation, Transportmetrica B and Journal of Transport and Land-Use. He is Associate Editor of Journal of Intelligent Transport Systems. Within Kyoto University he has been appointed as member of the International Strategy Advisory Board.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Designing and testing theory based road safety messages
Dr Richard Tay
Vice Chancellor Senior Research Fellow in the School of Business IT & Logistics, RMIT University, Australia
4 July 2018 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 4 July 2018 (Wednesday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Road safety education campaigns had been widely used in many jurisdictions to raise public awareness of traffic safety issues, modify drivers' behaviours and improve safety. Despite their prevalence, relatively few studies had been conducted to examine their efficacies and few messages were designed using behaviour change theories. In this research program, we developed several key message characteristics from well-established psychology, health and communications models, including perceived severity of threat shown, response efficacy, self-efficacy, cost and benefit of preventive strategies, realism and credibility. These constructs were used to design and test several different road safety communications and messages. We found that the key message characteristics were positively correlated with self-reported changes in behavioural intentions using road user survey from several different countries.
SPEAKER
Dr Richard Tay is currently the Vice Chancellor Senior Research Fellow in the School of Business IT & Logistics at RMIT University in Australia. He was the Chair in Road Safety Management in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at La Trobe University, the AMA Chair in Road Safety in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary in Canada and the Associate Professor in Road Safety in the School of Psychology at Queensland University of Technology. He has published extensively in road safety and currently serves on the editorial board of several journals, including Accident Analysis and Prevention, Journal of Transportation Safety and Security, Journal of Advanced Transportation, International Journal of Transportation, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Urban, Planning and Transportation Research, Journal of the Australian College of Road Safety, and Analytic Methods in Accident Research. He has completed many research and consultancy projects for businesses, not-for-profit organisations and government agencies. He has been invited to serve on many technical committees, expert panels, advisory boards and task forces on transportation policy and road safety in Australia and around the world. He has also been invited to speak at and chair technical sessions at many transportation and safety conferences around the world. He has also been invited regularly comment on road safety issues by the New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, London Times, Los Angeles Weekly, as well as news media in Singapore, UK, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Canada, USA, New Zealand & Korea.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Emerging research in infrastructure systems in the United States
Professor Cynthia Chen
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Washington, USA
19 June 2018 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 19 June 2018 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This talk will be divided into two parts. In the first part, I will discuss some emerging research interests within and outside the foundation, in particular, relating to sustainability and resilience research in infrastructure systems. In the second part, I will present some of my own research, from human mobility analysis to cascading failures in multiple networks.
SPEAKER
Prof. Cynthia Chen is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle (UW), USA. At UW, she directs the THINK (Transportation-Human Interactionand- Network Knowledge) lab (http://depts.washington.edu/thinklab) where she and her students study the sustainability and resilience of a city through the lens of human beings’ interacting with the physical infrastructures and the built environment. Since June 2017, she has also been serving as the Program Director of the Civil Infrastructure Systems (CIS) program (https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13352&org=ENG& from=home) in the Division of Civil, Mechanical & Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) at the National Science Foundation. The work at her THINK lab is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on the latest methods and ideas in disciplines from social and natural sciences to engineering. Prof. Chen graduated from University of California, Davis with a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2001. Prof. Chen has served on a variety of TRB (Transportation Research Board) committees including Travel Behavior and Values, Travel Survey committee, and most recently transportation network modeling committee. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dtaR0JYAAAAJ) and her work has been supported by many federal and local agencies. She is an Associate Director of the USDOT - supported TOMNET (Teaching Old Models New Tricks) center (http://www.tomnet-utc.org/) and an Associate Editor for Transportation (https://link.springer.com/journal/11116).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Monitoring and modelling urban traffic based on macroscopic fundamental diagrams
Professor Ludovic Leclercq
Professor in Traffic Flow Theory, IFSTTAR, Univ. Lyon, Lyon, France
5 June 2018 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 5 June 2018 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 1511 (via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
This talk focuses on monitoring and modelling traffic dynamics at large-scale city scale based on the Macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD). The first part is about the concept of MFD itself and the presentation of existing estimation methods using on different data sources. The second part is about modelling traffic dynamics by partitioning a city in multiple aggregate reservoirs. In particular, a recent trip-based approach is presented: within a road network that defines an urban area all vehicle speeds are driven by a simple behavioral rule, the MFD, while each vehicle travel distances are individualized. This formulation overcomes some limitations of the classical accumulation-based MFD model for simulation purpose. A simple and very efficient event-based numerical scheme for the trip-based approach is developed for the single reservoir problem. This scheme can be extended to tackle the multi-reservoir problem by properly defining how boundary conditions should be applied at the reservoir perimeters. This modelling framework is illustrated by addressing the problem of dynamic on-street parking search considering parking occupancy. The last part of this talk presents a new data-driven approach to capture urban traffic dynamics at large-scale. 3D speed maps that provide a quick overview of the daily traffic congestion patterns are derived from clustering link speed information. It is shown that, surprisingly, a very few consensual patterns are sufficient to capture the day-to-day congestion variability at large urban scale. This approach paves the way for very efficient real-time travel time estimation methods. An example is provided based on data collected in the city of Amsterdam.
SPEAKER
Dr. Ludovic Leclercq is a Professor at IFSTTAR (The French Institute of Science and Technology devoted to Transport, Planning and Networks) and is affiliated to the University of Lyon. He received his engineering and master degrees in Civil Engineering in 1998, his PhD in 2002 and his habilitation thesis (HDR) in 2009. He is currently deputy director of the LICIT laboratory and head of a research group about traffic modeling and analysis. He served as scientific councilor for IFSTTAR in the field of "Analysis and innovation for sustainable and responsible transport and mobility" between 2009 and 2015. His research interests correspond to multiscale and multimodal dynamic traffic modeling and the related environmental externalities. Smart cities, mobility as a service, sustainable and reliable transportation systems are some of the applications his researches are targeting. He is a member of the editorial board of Transportation Research part B, CACAIE, and the Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, the committee "Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics" of the TRB, the international advisory committee of ISTTT and is associate editor of Transportmetrica B and the Journal of Advanced Transportation. He has co-authored 56 publications in top peer-reviewed journals, has supervised 7 PhD and is currently supervising 6 PhD students. In 2015, he was awarded the most prestigious research grant in Europe, i.e. an ERC consolidator grant in Social Science and Humanities.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Two tough nuts
Professor Richard Arnott
Department of Economics, University of California, Riverside, USA
16 March 2018 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 16 March 2018 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Civil Engineering Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
In the talk I shall discuss the state of research on two fundamental problems in the economic theory of transportation. The first is the spatial dynamics of metropolitan traffic congestion. Taking as given the spatial distribution of trips over the metropolitan area, the transportation system, the congestion technology, and scheduling preferences, what are the equilibrium and optimal spatial dynamics of traffic congestion? The second is "microstochasticity". An individual's trips over the day and from day to day are stochastic. With the notable exception of intersection queuing theory, most transportation theory ignores this stochasticity, likely on the implicit assumption that, by some law of large numbers, it is unimportant at the macroscopic level. But is it? If much of the time loss due to traffic congestion arises from extreme realizations of stochasticity at the microgeographic level, microstochasticity should not be ignored. Research on microstochasticity is in its infancy.
SPEAKER
Richard Arnott is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of California, Riverside. An applied microeconomic theorist, he is best known for his work in urban economic theory and in urban transportation economic theory. In recent years, he has devoted most of his research time to three topics: the interaction of downtown parking and traffic congestion in steady state, rush-hour traffic dynamics, and, in collaboration with Alex Anas, development of a computable general equilibrium model of land use, transportation, and environmental quality for the Greater Los Angeles Region. He currently serves as the economics Associate Editor of Transportation Research B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Pedestrian crossings at urban areas in the UK: are they safe?
Professor Wafaa Saleh
Professor of Transport Engineering, Transport Research Institute/School of Engineering and the Built Environment Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, UK
6 March 2018 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 March 2018 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y301, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The majority of pedestrians killed or seriously injured (KSI) occur on urban roads. About 85% of killed or seriously injured pedestrians occurred on urban roads in 2016 in the U.K. A number of factors are involved including the greater population densities, greater number of pedestrian activities and interactions with other traffic in such areas. The talk presents a study that addresses the lack of models of pedestrian unprotected mid-block crossing behaviour in the U.K. Results of modelling road crossing behaviour in the U.K. with data obtained from mid-block locations in Edinburgh using video recordings will be presented. It will also seek to characterise the different pedestrian types in terms of their risk-taking and demographic characteristics.
SPEAKER
Prof. Wafaa Saleh is a Professor of Transport engineering at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, U.K. Prof. Saleh is a Professor of Transport Engineering at the Transport Research Institute and the School of Engineering and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University (ENU), Scotland, U.K. Prof. Saleh’s research and teaching areas include transport modelling, travel demand forecasting, modelling travel behaviour, transport and the environment, transport safety, transport management in developing countries and traffic engineering. Prof. Saleh’s first degree is in Civil Engineering and her Master and PhD degrees are in Transportation Engineering and Modelling. Prof. Saleh Chairs the Travel Demand Management (TDM) Symposium and teaches on ENU’s MSc in Transport Planning and Engineering and on a number of undergraduate programmes. Prof. Saleh has just founded the TRI Transport Engineering Academy at ENU. The aim of the Academy is to set engaging and creative training facilities and capabilities to contribute to enhancing and empowering international students experience in transport engineering. The Academy encourages engineering efforts and developments in applied and basic research in different engineering and science disciplines (http://www.tri.napier.ac.uk/c/news/newsid/13076).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
A joint model of virtual and in-person out-of-home activity engagements
Professor Chandra R. Bhat
Director, Center for Transportation Research; University Distinguished Teaching Professor; Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
22 February 2018 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 February 2018 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In this study, we propose a conceptual and analytic framework anchored
on the concepts of physical and virtual accessibility (the "ease" with
which opportunities or activities can be reached in the physical and in the
virtual space, respectively) to investigate the rich interplay between virtual
and in-person out-of-home (or physical) activity engagements in multiple
activity purposes, while controlling for information and communication
technology (ICT) use measures, physical accessibility measures, and
demographics. Our framework considers that activity-travel choices are
consequences of individual, household, and work characteristics that are
mediated by virtual accessibility and physical accessibility. As part of our
analysis, we also analyze activity chaining characteristics during travel to
study any fragmentation impacts caused by ICT use on activity
engagement and scheduling. We use data from the 2011 and 2012
National Travel Survey in Great Britain to jointly model multiple activity
and travel outcomes. Our results provide important insights for social
welfare, work-life balance, and equity policies, and suggest that decisions
regarding virtual activity participations and in-person out-of-home activity
participations are determined as a package. Ignoring this package nature
of choices can lead to misleading inferences about the effects of virtual
activity participations on in-person out-of-home activity participations.
* Research undertaken jointly with Patricia S. Lavieri and Qichun Dai
SPEAKER
Prof. Chandra R. Bhat is the Director of the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) and the Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has a joint appointment between the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) and the Department of Economics. Prof. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental aspects of transportation, planning implications of connected and automated smart transportation systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics. He is a recipient of many awards, including the 2015 ASCE Frank Masters Award and the 2013 German Humboldt Award. He was recently listed as the top ten transportation thought leaders in academia by the Eno Foundation. He is also a top-cited transportation engineering researcher.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Traffic flow characteristics with cooperative adaptive cruise control: a microscopic simulation study
Professor Yibing Wang
Zhejiang University, China
29 January 2018 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 January 2018 (Monday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Traffic flow effects of cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) have not been well understood, though such understanding is essential for a majority of forthcoming research and applications concerning connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) as well as the CAV implication for future traffic management and control. This work aims to explore the impacts of CACC on traffic flow efficiency based on in-depth microscopic simulation studies using an enhanced version of AIMSUN. First, the Gipps car-following and Gipps lane-changing models used by default in AIMSUN were replaced or enhanced by us with some more advanced car following and lane changing models to strengthen the capability of the simulation system in realistically reproducing capacity drop phenomena and capturing traffic merging processes. Second, a simulation platform was established using this enhanced AIMSUN and calibrated with respect to a 10-km Dutch freeway stretch that includes multiple bottlenecks involving recurrent congestion. Third, we explored on this simulation platform the impacts of CACC on traffic flow mixed with manually driven vehicles and CACC equipped vehicles, in consideration of CACC market penetration rates. The study results suggest that the impacts of CACC are quite positive.
SPEAKER
Prof. Yibing Wang received his Ph.D. degree in Control Theory and Applications from Tsinghua University, China in 1998. He was a Senior Researcher with the Dynamic Systems & Simulation Laboratory, Department of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, Greece, from 1999 to 2007. He was a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Australia from 2007 to 2013. He was elected by the Zhejiang QianRen Program in China in 2012, and joined Zhejiang University, China, as a Full Professor in 2013. His research interests include traffic flow modeling, freeway traffic surveillance and control, urban traffic signal control, connected & autonomous vehicles. His research has been financially supported by the European Commission, the Australian Research Council, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Prof. Wang is a Senior Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, and an Editor for Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies. He is a member of the Traffic Flow Theory Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the US National Academy, and a member of the IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Technical Committee on Transportation Systems. He was a member of the Advisory Committee of the European Project NEARCTIS (Network of Excellence for Advanced Road Cooperative Traffic management in the Information Society, 2009-2013). He was a Program Co-Chair of the 17th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Qingdao, China, 2014), Program Chair of the 13th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Madeira Island, Portugal, 2010), and a vice program chair of the 9th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Toronto, Canada, 2006).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
ITS for crowds
Professor Serge Hoogendoorn
Delft University of Technology, The Netherland
29 January 2018 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 January 2018 (Monday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In this Seminar, we will provide an overview of some recent developments in the field of crowd monitoring, modelling and management. We will illustrate these by showing various projects that we are involved in, including project like SmartStation, and the different events organised in and around the city of Amsterdam (including the Europride, SAIL, etc.). Next to explaining the motivations for developing such systems, we will discuss the different components of the system and the methods and technology involved in these. We focus on advanced data collection techniques, the use of social media data, data fusion and the advanced real-time modelling required for this. In particular, we will discuss the development of new simulation techniques that allow for fast prediction of pedestrian traffic flow operations. We will illustrate the applicability of these systems by discussing several case studies.
SPEAKER
Since over fifteen years, Prof. dr. Serge Hoogendoorn has aspired to provide contributions in the fields of pedestrian and vehicular flow modelling, with special attention to data collection using innovative experimental and empirical methods. His current research focusses on furthering theories and methods to pedestrian and bicycle traffic and transport, involving advanced data collection, fusion, modelling, simulation, and active mode traffic management. Prof. Hoogendoorn is Full Professor Traffic Operations & Management (since 2009) and Distinguished Professor Smart Urban Mobility (since 2016). He holds a part-time chair at Monash University of Technology (Melbourne), and holds honorary professorships at South-East University (Nanjing) and at Swinburne University (Melbourne). He is a member of the highly esteemed International Advisory Committee of the ISTTT, and of several committees of the US National Academies Transportation Research Board (one of which he is leading). As a result of his work, he is often asked for professional advice. As such, he has been involved in the design assessment of the future Al Mataf mosque in Mecca, the center point of the annual Muslim pilgrimage (2 mln/year), the Hajj. He participates in the AMS (Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Metropolitan Solutions; collaboration of TUD, TNO, WUR and MIT), in which he acts as the PI Urban Mobility. Prof. Hoogendoorn has (co-) authored over 300 scientific publications.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Methods and applications for dynamic transit assignment
Professor Mark Hickman
School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
13 December 2017 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 13 December 2017 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, Block Z, 4/F, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
A growing field of research over the last 20 years has been investigating descriptive models of transit path choices, based on variations in services by time of day. This may reflect changes in frequencies during the day, differences in crowding during the day, or services that adhere closely to a fixed timetable. The applications of these models may be considerable, especially when determining services for the peak periods, for the shoulders of the peak period, and for off-peak periods. Models that can capture variations in public transport demand across these periods may assist planners in better matching service to meet these needs. With this as motivation, I will discuss some of the existing models and methods that can be used for time-dependent (or dynamic) transit assignment, describing their advantages and limitations. I also will discuss one approach to an open-source transit assignment tool, called the Flexible Assignment and Simulation Tool for Transit and Intermodal Passengers (FAST-TrIPs), that is currently being implemented for large-scale transit networks in the USA. FAST-TrIPs involves both methods for path building and path choice set generation, while also capturing passenger path preferences. Some of the practical issues in model development, calibration, and computation will also be discussed.
SPEAKER
Prof. Mark Hickman is the Transport Academic Partnership (TAP) Professor of Transport Engineering within the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland. He is also the Director of the Centre for Transport Strategy within the School of Civil Engineering. Prof. Hickman has held previous positions at the University of Arizona, the Texas A&M University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Prof. Hickman teaches and conducts research in public transit planning and operations, travel demand modelling, traffic engineering and roadway design, and remote sensing applications in transport. He has more than 50 journal publications and more than 100 refereed conference publications in these areas. Prof. Hickman also serves as an Associate Editor for three journals in the areas of public transport and transport systems.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Anthony Chen at Tel.: 3400-8327
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Regulating drink driving to protect all road users
Professor Richard Allsop
Centre for Transport Studies, University College London, UK; Board Member, European Transport Safety Council
7 December 2017 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 7 December 2017 (Thursday)
Time : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : Room Y302, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Excerpts from the presenter's European Transport Safety Lecture in Brussels in October 2016 will be presented as starting points for discussion. The Lecture was intended to provide an overview of how the challenge of drink driving is being addressed in the European context, in which availability and use of alcohol is widespread and socially accepted, but a majority of people regards driving after drinking as socially unacceptable. In Europe, the proportion of driving at high alcohol levels is small, but about 25% or road deaths are estimated to be alcohol-related. Evidence of how drink driving contributes to risk on the road is discussed in terms of the effect of alcohol on a driver's risk of collision and how much driving takes place at different alcohol levels. Quantifying the challenge requires definition of which road deaths are drink-related and this can make comparison between areas difficult. But some European countries can be compared in terms of progress in reducing drink driving. Regulation by setting a limit on alcohol in the blood above which it is illegal to drive implies deciding what the limit should be and enabling people to understand what the limit means for them. Enforcement of the limit should both deter people from breaking it and detect those who do so. Those detected breaking the limit and convicted of doing so are still around afterwards, so we need to think how best to deal with them by punishment and rehabilitation. Technology in the form of the alcohol interlock device can help but how it can help needs to be understood. Progress in addressing the challenge can be summarised in terms of how far we have come and where to go from here. It emerged clearly in discussion after the lecture in Brussels that in trying to regulate drink driving in Europe we are impinging on an important element of many people's day-to-day social lives – so we have to gain people’s acceptance of measures we take.
SPEAKER
Prof. Richard Allsop is Emeritus Professor of Transport Studies at UCL, having been Professor since 1976 and Director between then and 1997 of what is now the Centre for Transport Studies. After graduating with a first in Mathematics from Cambridge, he joined the Road Research Laboratory. He became a Research Fellow at UCL in 1967 and Lecturer in 1970. Supervised by Prof. Reuben Smeed, he completed an influential PhD on mathematical optimisation in traffic signal control. From 1973 to 1976, he was the first Director of the Transport Operations Research Group at Newcastle University, where he is Visiting Professor. He has contributed widely to transport research, training and advisory work. From 1981 to 1996, he was Convenor of the International Advisory Committee of the ISTTT. Since the early 1980s, he is active in what is now the CIHT. Since the early 1990s, he has been in active contact with colleagues in Hong Kong. Since becoming Emeritus in 2005, he remains active in road safety research and policy, being a Director of the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety until 2015 and a special advisor since then. He is on the board of the European Transport Safety Council and advises its Europe-wide road safety benchmarking programme PIN, which he led for its first nine years from 2006. For a decade until 2015, he contributed to developing the Transport Planning Professional qualification. He holds the DSc degree, was honoured by the queen in 1997 for services to traffic management and road safety, and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and an Honorary Professor in Krakow and in Moscow. He holds the Highways and Transportation Award, a Prince Michael Road Safety Award, and a Lifetime Award from the TRL Academy.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
The old, the new and the missing in pavement asset management
Professor Ralph Haas
Norman W. McLeod Engineering Professor/Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada
1 December 2017 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 1 December 2017 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Z414, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Professor Ralph Haas' more than five decades in pavement and infrastructure assets development and management as an educator, researcher and practitioner have given him the opportunity to participate in many advancements. These have been widespread and range from institutional to technology driven, with the players ranging from public agencies to consultants, manufacturers and contractors to academia. Professor Haas' presentation identifies the key milestones that have led to the current state of practice, followed by the need to adapt to a rapidly changing world of automation including connected vehicles and UAV's, as well as the need to incorporate safety, knowledge, innovations, resource conservation and environmental stewardship as quantifiable assets in pavement and infrastructure assets management.
SPEAKER
Dr. Ralph Haas is the Norman W. McLeod Engineering Professor and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo. The author or co-author of 15 books and 500 technical papers in pavement and infrastructure management. He is past Chair of the Pavement Management Committees of both TAC and TRB, a Founder and Board Member of the TAC Foundation, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Institute of Canada, ASCE and CSCE. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, recipient of TRB's Roy W. Crum Award in 2014 for Outstanding Achievement in Transportation Research, named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Alberta and in 2014 the University of Waterloo officially named "The Ralph Haas Infrastructure and Sensing Analysis Laboratory" in his honour.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Z. Leng at Tel.: 2766-6007
Please reserve your seat with Dr. Yuan Zhang at Email: yuan.yz.zhang@polyu.edu.hk.
Railway traffic management and control
Dr Ronghui Liu
Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK
16 November 2017 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 16 November 2017 (Thursday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The rail industry has traditionally been very conservative: with safety as its ultimate priority. Most of the railway systems are still running on the so-called 'fixed-block' system, relying on inefficient lineside signalling to control the safe separations of trains. The development of advanced train control and communication systems, such as the European Rail Traffic Control (ETCS) system, paves the way for moving towards the 'moving-block' rail system and calls for new train control and management strategies for such moving-block rail system. This talk presents some of the recent developments carried out by the rail operations research at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) of University of Leeds, in the area of optimal train control and in the dealing with abnormal weather in train timetable scheduling.
SPEAKER
Dr Ronghui Liu is an Associate Professor and the Director of International Activities at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS), University of Leeds, UK. She received her BSc from Peking University and PhD from Cambridge University. Before joining ITS Leeds, she was a Research Fellow at University College London, and while at ITS, she was seconded to head the Transport Modelling Division at TRL, UK in 2005. She served as an Associate Editor for journal IEEE Transaction on Intelligent Transportation Systems, and Member of Editorial Board of IET Journal of Intelligent Transport. Her research areas span a number of themes in the field of transport studies: in vehicle dynamics and traffic microsimulaton model developments; in traffic control theory and algorithms; in travel behaviour and Intelligent mobility; in stochastic models and reliability analysis; in public transport operations and controls; in timetabling and schedule coordination; and in train control and railway traffic management systems. She is particularly interested in the interrelationships between these themes, and methodologies for estimation, design and evaluation of their network-wide effects.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
How many cars are too many? An update
Professor Kay W. Axhausen
Professor of Transport Planning, Director of the Transport Planning group, Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT), ETH Zurich, Switzerland
26 October 2017 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Logistics & Transportation Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
Date : 26 October 2017 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y302, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The interaction between cars, busses/trams in the limited road space of a city creates the congestion we experience daily. Given the high cost and long-time horizons of urban capacity expansion then raises the question of how many cars an urban area should accommodate to achieve a certain speed level. The Seminar will present new results in our attempt to build an overall optimisation model addressing the issue given as controls the user fees/taxes and the network capacities. The focus will be on recent results for macroscopic (network) fundamental diagrams from cities worldwide, while also introducing the overall framework of the model. Special attention will be given to multi-modal fundamental diagrams. The Seminar will close with an outlook on the missing gaps and the approaches chosen for them.
SPEAKER
Prof. Kay W. Axhausen is Professor of Transport Planning at the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich. Before he worked at the Leopold-Franzens Universitat, Innsbruck, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, he has been involved in the measurement and modelling of travel behaviour for the past 30 years contributing especially to the literature on stated preferences, micro-simulation of travel behaviour, valuation of travel time and its components, parking behaviour, activity scheduling and travel diary data collection. Current work focuses on the agent-based micro-simulation toolkit MATSim (see www.matsim.org). He was the Chair of the International Association of Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR) and is Editor-In-Chief of Transportation and earlier of DISp, both ISI indexed journals. A full CV with a list of recent publications can be found at http://www.ivt.ethz.ch/people/axhausen/cv_kwa.pdf.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Traffic signal optimization with crowdsourcing vehicle trajectory data
Professor Henry Liu
Chief Scientist, DIDI Smart Transportation, China, and Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
24 October 2017 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Logistics & Transportation Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
Date : 24 October 2017 (Tuesday)
Time : 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In the current practice, traffic signal system performance measurement and parameter optimization requires either manually collected data or data from infrastructure-based sensors, both of which are costly. With increasingly available data from mobile sensors, the reliance on infrastructure-based vehicle detectors will be reduced and the next generation traffic control systems will potentially be detector-less. DIDI is the world’s largest mobility service platform with more than 20 million orders daily. DIDI vehicles can be seen as floating cars as they report their location to the central server at a second-by-second frequency. Based on its massive vehicle trajectory data and its cloud computing platform, DIDI has developed a suite of traffic signal optimization algorithms, which have been implemented in 8 cities in China. This talk will discuss current progress and future plans of DIDI's smart traffic signal project.
SPEAKER
Dr. Henry Liu is currently the Chief Scientist on Smart Transportation of DIDI Chuxing in China. He is also a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and directs the USDOT Region 5 University Transportation Center. Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2000 and his Bachelor degree in Automotive Engineering from Tsinghua University (China) in 1993. Dr. Liu's research interests focus on traffic network monitoring, modeling, and control, including traffic flow modeling and simulation, traffic signal operations, network traffic assignment, and mobility and safety applications with connected and automated vehicles. On these topics, he has published more than 80 refereed journal papers. Dr. Liu is the managing editor of Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems and an associate editor of Transportation Research Part C.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Advancing transportation safety and sustainability using big data and machine learning
Professor Liping Fu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada
17 October 2017 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 17 October 2017 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y512, 5/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Transportation systems around the world continue to face significant challenges such as persistent safety problems, rapidly rising traffic congestion, and deteriorating air quality. These challenges can be potentially addressed using the latest developments in information technologies and increasing availability of Big Data. Big Data presents a unique opportunity to apply massive volumes of data from multiple sources for timelier optimization of transportation services and network capacity, while improving the safety and experience of travelers. However, before these potentials can be fully realized, many technical challenges must first be addressed including: the incompleteness and heterogeneity of available data, responsiveness and timeliness of decisionmaking and information provision, and consideration of complex traveler behavior and responses. In this talk, I will provide an update on our recent work in this topic with a specific focus on managing and controlling transportation systems for maximum safety, efficiency, and sustainability. Specifically, I will present some progress of our research on two research topics: 1) signal control optimization using travel time data, and 2) transportation safety studies using deep learning.
SPEAKER
Prof. Liping Fu is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Innovative Transportation System Solutions (iTSS) Lab at the University of Waterloo. He is a Fellow of Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and the past Chair of Transportation of Division of CSCE. Prof. Fu received Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)'s 2011 Academic Merit Award sponsored by Transport Canada for his long-term contribution to the advancement of the academic field and to the development of tomorrow's transportation leaders. Prof. Fu's research interest specifically focuses on evaluation and optimisation of large, complex traffic and transportation service systems where uncertainty and dynamics play a major role, and on the development of decision support tools for use in managing these systems. He has a long track record of research contributions to the areas of intelligent transportation systems, public transit, road safety, and winter road maintenance. Prof. Fu holds several international patent and software copyrights. Currently, Prof. Fu is leading a number of projects funded by NSERC, Transport Canada, Ministry of Transportation Ontario, City of Toronto, Region of Waterloo, Go Transit, and many industrial partners. He has served on numerous technical committees of various professional organizations, including Transportation Research Board’s Committee, Editorial Advisory Board of the journal of Transportation Research, Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada, Canadian Urban Transit Association, and Institute of Transportation Engineers.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Economics of auto license plate rationing
Professor Zhi-Chun Li
Huazhong University of Science & Technology, China
25 August 2017 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 August 2017 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Conference Room of Dept of Civil & Envir Engrg, lift 27 & 28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
This paper provides an economic analysis of three alternative auto license plate rationing schemes, which include lottery, auction and their hybrid scheme. We assume that the income of urban residents follows a uniform distribution. Expected social cost minimization models are proposed for determining the optimal auto quota for the rationing schemes and the optimal proportion allocated to the lottery and auction in the hybrid scheme. The solution properties of the proposed models are analytically explored, and the comparisons among these schemes are made. Equity issue caused by the rationing schemes is also addressed. For model illustration, a case study for Beijing is conducted. The results show that the equity has an important effect on the solutions of the rationing schemes. When the equity effect is trivial, the auction is most efficient and the lottery is most inefficient in terms of expected social cost. When the equity effect must be considered, each scheme may be the best one under a certain condition, and the optimal quota with equity consideration is less than that without equity consideration.
SPEAKER
Dr. Li is a professor of Transport Operations and Urban Economics at the Huazhong University of Science & Technology, China. He was awarded as Cheung Kong (Changjiang) Scholar from Ministry of Education China (2016) and Distinguished Young Researcher from NSFC (2015), respectively. He obtained his PhD degree in Transportation Operations from Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics in 2006. Between 2006 and 2011, he worked as a Research Associate and a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests include travel behavior modeling, travel demand management, and transportation and urban economics. He is a recipient of the 2008 National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award of China, and of the 2009 New Century Excellent Talents in University of China, Ministry of Education of China. He is also a recipient of the 2009 HKSTS (Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies) Outstanding Dissertation Paper Award and Gordon Newell Memorial Prize. He has published about 40 SCI/SSCI journal papers in such journals as Transportation Research Part A, B, D, E, Transportation, Transportation Research Record, European Journal of Operational Research, Networks and Spatial Economics, Annals of Operations Research, Papers in Regional Science, and Regional Science and Urban Economics. He is currently editorial advisory board members of Transportation Research Part B, Transport Policy, Journal of Advanced transportation, and International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, and an Associate Editor of Transportmetrica B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Miss Cheryl Tang at Tel.: 2358-8848
A new spatial multvariate model for the analysis of pedestrian injury counts by severity level
Professor Chandra R. Bhat
Director, Center for Transportation Research; University Distinguished Teaching Professor; Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
15 August 2017 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Logistics & Transportation Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
Date : 15 August 2017 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y302, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This paper contributes to the pedestrian crash literature by formulating a macro-level
(i.e. census tract level as opposed to roadway street segment level) multivariate model
to jointly analyze the count of pedestrians involved in traffic crashes by different injury
severity levels. Our model, unlike many other macro-level pedestrian injury studies in
the literature, explicitly acknowledges that risk factors for different types of pedestrian
injuries can be very different, as well as accounts for unobserved heterogeneity in the
risk factor effects. We also recognize the multivariate nature of the injury counts by
injury severity level within each census tract (as opposed to independently modeling the
count of pedestrian injuries by severity level). To our knowledge, this is the first time
that such a general spatial multivariate model has been formulated. For estimation, we
use a composite marginal likelihood (CML) inference approach that is simple to
implement and is based on evaluating lower-dimensional marginal probability
expressions.
The data for our analysis is drawn from a 2009 pedestrian crash database from the
Manhattan region of New York City. Several groups of census tract-based risk factors
are considered in the empirical analysis based on earlier research, including (1) sociodemographic
characteristics, (2) land-use and road network characteristics, (3) activity
intensity characteristics, and (4) commute mode shares and transit supply
characteristics. The results reinforce the need for studying pedestrian injuries by
severity level, and accommodating unobserved heterogeneity, multivariateness, and
spatial dependence. In particular, the determinants of different levels of injury severity
do vary, as do the intensity of exogenous variables. The economic and societal cost of
crashes vary substantially based on the nature and extent of injuries sustained, and so it
is imperative to consider injury counts by severity level. The empirical analysis sheds
light on possible engineering as well as behavioral countermeasures to reduce the
number of pedestrian-vehicle crashes and the severity of these crashes.
* co-authors: Sebastian Astroza and Patricia Lavieri,
Prof. Bhat’s PhD students
SPEAKER
Prof. Chandra R. Bhat is the Director of the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) and the Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has a joint appointment between the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) and the Department of Economics. Prof. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental aspects of transportation, planning implications of connected and automated smart transportation systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics. He is a recipient of many awards, including the 2015 ASCE Frank Masters Award and the 2013 German Humboldt Award. He was recently listed as the top ten transportation thought leaders in academia by the Eno Foundation. He is also a top-cited transportation engineering researcher.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Dynamic facility layout problem - a matheuristic approach
Professor Sadan Kulturel-Konak
Professor of Management Information Systems & Director of the Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
8 July 2017 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 July 2017 (Saturday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The Dynamic Facility Layout Problem (DFLP) is to decide the locations of departments in a facility where there are multiple planning periods and the interdepartmental material flows change over the planning periods. The main challenge in the DFLP is that there are two conflicting objectives of the problem: minimizing the material handling cost and the rearrangement cost. In addition to these two costs, we also consider the cost of changing overall structure of the layout over the planning horizon. Therefore, we model and solve the unequal area DFLP using a zone-based structure where the dimensions of the departments are decision variables and the departments are assigned to flexible zones with a pre-structured positioning. A zone-based block layout inherently includes aisle structures that can easily be adapted to the material handling system in use. This is particularly important in the DFLP because the changes in a block layout from one period to the next may require structural modifications in the material handling system, which in turn may be very costly or even impossible to implement practically. In this seminar, first, modelling and solution approaches to the DFLP were reviewed. Then, the modelling approach that was proposed will be defined. Finally, a novel matheuristic, which combines concepts from Simulated Annealing, Variable Neighborhood Search, and Mixed Integer Programming, to solve the formulated problem with promising results will be discussed.
SPEAKER
Sadan Kulturel-Konak is a Professor of Management Information Systems and the director of the Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center at Penn State Berks. She received her degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Operations Research; B.S. from Gazi University, Turkey, M.S. from Middle East Technical University, Turkey and from the University of Pittsburgh, USA and Ph.D. from Auburn University, USA. Her research interests are in modeling and optimization of complex systems and robustness under uncertainty with applications to facility layout, reliability, and scheduling. She has published her research in numerous journals including IIE Transactions, OR Letters, INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS Transactions on Education, International Journal of Production Research, European Journal of Operational Research, and Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing Computers. She is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). She is currently the chair of the ASEE Middle Atlantic Section. She has been a principle investigator in sponsored projects from National Science Foundation (NSF) and VentureWell. sadan@psu.edu.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Lessons learned from spatiotemporal studies of freeway carpool lanes
Professor Michael Cassidy
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA
3 July 2017 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechninc University
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechninc University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 3 July 2017 (Monday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Y302, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The presentation explores how the segregation of distinct vehicle classes on a roadway can improve travel conditions for all of the classes. Insights come using freeway carpool lanes as case studies. Spatiotemporal study of real sites shows (i) how the activation of a continuous-access carpool lane triggers reductions in vehicle lane-changing maneuvers, and (ii) how the reduced lane-changing can "smooth" and increase bottleneck discharge flows in a freeway's regular lanes. Theoretical analysis predicts that, thanks to this smoothing effect, even underused carpool lanes can diminish both the people-hours and the vehicle-hours traveled on a freeway. Relevance to bus lanes is briefly discussed. Further insights come via critiques of certain practices that degrade the effectiveness of carpool lanes. Spatiotemporal traffic data reveal that a policy aimed at improving carpool-lane speeds has backfired, owing to a friction effect. The policy mandates the eviction of select fuel-efficient hybrid-electric vehicles from carpool lanes. These evictions have caused queues to expand in regular lanes during the rush. And these expanded queues, in turn, slow vehicles in the adjacent carpool lanes. Spatiotemporal data further show that efforts to combat the friction effect by deploying limited-access carpool lanes can also backfire, because the designs for these lanes are prone to creating bottlenecks.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael Cassidy performed his graduate studies in transportation engineering at UC Berkeley and then taught for 3½ years at Purdue University. He joined the Berkeley faculty in 1994 where he is now the Robert Horonjeff Professor in Civil Engineering, and Director of the University of California Center on Economic Competiveness in Transportation. He is an Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part B. His professional affiliations also include memberships in the International Advisory Committee of the ISTTT, and the Managed Lanes Committee of TRB.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Weihua Gu at Email: weihua.gu@polyu.edu.hk
Equilibrium in the bottleneck model with large and small users
Professor Robin Lindsey
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
22 May 2017 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechninc University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 May 2017 (Monday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room Y305, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In most of the literature on traffic congestion, it is assumed that users are
"small" in the sense that each one controls a negligible fraction of total
traffic. Yet large users are often present. They include major interurban
freight shippers, urban goods delivery companies, and postal services.
Furthermore, major employers such as government departments and large
corporations can add substantially to traffic on certain roads at peak times.
Large users have an incentive to internalize the congestion delays their own
vehicles impose on each other, and this may affect their travel-related
decisions including when to depart.
Using the Bottleneck Model, Silva et al. (2016)* have shown that, with
large users, a pure strategy Nash equilibrium (PSNE) in departure times
may not exist. They restrict attention to two large users controlling
identical vehicles with linear trip-timing preferences. In this study, we
extend consideration to settings with both large and small users and more
general preferences. We show that PSNE can be restored when the model
is generalized in any one of three ways: (1) when vehicles differ in their
preferred arrival times, (2) when large users are constrained in the rate at
which their vehicle fleets can depart, and (3) when large users have
altruistic preferences (i.e., they attach some weight to the trip costs of other
users). We also show that self-internalization of congestion can make a
large user worse off, other users worse off, and users in aggregate worse
off. Thus, paradoxically, self-internalization can be counterproductive.
* Silva, H., R. Lindsey, A. de Palma and V. van den Berg (2016), On the
Existence and Uniqueness of Equilibrium in the Bottleneck Model with
Atomic Users, Transportation Science, Published online in Articles in
Advance on 11 August 2016. Research undertaken jointly with Andre de Palma and Hugo Silva.
SPEAKER
Professor Robin Lindsey holds the CN Chair in Transportation and International Logistics at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia. His research interests include traffic congestion, road pricing, financing transportation infrastructure, urban public transportation and advanced traveler information systems. He is one of the pioneers in development of the Bottleneck Model of trip-timing decisions and congestion. He has also worked on topics related to industrial organization including private toll roads, retail market competition, price discrimination and predatory pricing. Professor Lindsey is a founding Board Member and Past President of the International Transportation Economics Association (http://www.iteaweb.org), and an Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part B and Transportmetrica A: Transport Science.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
How connected vehicles can increase throughput and decrease delay on urban roads
Professor Pravin Varaiya
Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, and Visiting Professor of the Institute for Advanced Study at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
19 January 2017 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 19 January 2017 (Thursday)
Time : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : Room 5560 (Lift 27 & 28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Intersections are the bottlenecks of the urban road system because an intersection's capacity is only a fraction of the vehicle flows that the roads connecting to the intersection can carry. The saturation flow rate, and hence the intersection's capacity, can be doubled if vehicles can cross intersections in platoons rather than one by one as they do today. Platoon formation is enabled by connected vehicle technology. Doubling the saturation flow rate has dramatic mobility benefits: the throughput of the road system can be doubled, or vehicle queues and delay at intersections can be halved. These predictions draw on an analysis of a queuing model of a signalized network with fixed time control and they are validated in a micro-simulation of a small urban network with 16 intersections and 73 links.
SPEAKER
Pravin Varaiya is a Professor of the Graduate School in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology since 2010. He has co-authored four books and 350+ articles. His current research is devoted to electric energy systems and transportation networks. Varaiya has held a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Miller Research Professorship. He has received three honorary doctorates, the Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award, the Field Medal and Bode Lecture Prize of the IEEE Control Systems Society, and the Outstanding Researcher Award from the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society. He is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of IFAC, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Integrating advanced discrete choice models into (mixed) integer linear optimization
Professor Michel Bierlaire
School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
3 January 2017 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechninc University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 3 January 2017 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Discrete choice models provide a disaggregate and behaviorally consistent representation of the demand, characterized by the combination of the choices of all users of a system. With the availability of the so called “big data” and the personalization of services thanks to the pervasiveness of smartphones, the need to account for a disaggregate representation of demand in optimization is more and more critical. However, from a mathematical point of view, these models are probabilistic, non linear and non convex. Therefore, their integration in (mixed) integer linear optimization used extensively in operations research is not straightforward. This seminar will introduce the subject and emphasize the challenges and opportunities of combining the two methodologies. Some recent research results obtained at the EPFL will be presented.
SPEAKER
Belgian, born in 1967, Prof. Michel Bierlaire holds a PhD in Mathematical Sciences from the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium (University of Namur). Between 1995 and 1998, he was Research Associate and Project Manager at the Intelligent Transportation Systems Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Ma, USA). Between 1998 and 2006, he was a junior faculty in the Operations Research group ROSO within the Institute of Mathematics at EPFL. In 2006, he was appointed Associate Professor in the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering at EPFL, where he became the Director of the Transport and Mobility laboratory. Since 2009, he is the Director of TraCE, the Transportation Center, and the director of Doctoral Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering at EPFL. In 2012, he was appointed Full Professor at EPFL. His main expertise is in the design, development and applications of models and algorithms for the design, analysis and management of transportation systems. Namely, he has been active in demand modeling (discrete choice models, estimation of origin-destination matrices), operations research (scheduling, assignment, etc.) and Dynamic Traffic Management Systems. As of May 2016, he has published 95 papers in international journals (including Transportation Research Part B, the transportation journal with the highest impact factor), 3 books, 34 book chapters, 161 articles in conference proceedings, 140 technical reports, and has given 173 scientific seminars. His ISI h-index is 21. His Google Scholar h-index is 44. He is the founder, organizer and lecturer of the EPFL Advanced Continuing Education Course "iscrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Demand and Market Shares". He is the founder and the chairman of hEART: the European Association for Research in Transportation. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics. He is an Associate Editor of Operations Research and of the Journal of Choice Modelling. He is the editor of two special issues for the journal Transportation Research Part C. He has been member of the Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) of Transportation Research Part B since 1995, of Transportation Research Part C since January 1, 2006, and of the journal "European Transport" since 2005.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Traffic signal control with connected and automated vehicles
Professor Henry Liu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
16 December 2016 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechninc University
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechninc University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 16 December 2016 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : PQ304, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Traditionally traffic signal systems are designed in such a way that different time slots are allocated to conflicting traffic streams in order to ensure vehicle safety. In the future, such design constraints may be relaxed with connected and automated vehicle (CAV) streams because crash avoidance can be achieved through distributed control of vehicle trajectories, therefore traditional traffic signals may no longer be needed. Although the duration of the transitional period from the state-of-the-practice with very low percentage of CAVs to the future "signal-free" state is uncertain, it is important for both traffic management agencies and traffic control industry to understand what might be happening during the transitional process and how we can better prepare and facilitate the transition. In this talk, we will discuss the opportunities and challenges for traffic control systems with varying percentage of connected and automated vehicles. In particular, we will present our findings using the massive data set collected from the Safety Pilot Model Deployment project and Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment, both supported by USDOT.
SPEAKER
Dr. Henry Liu is currently a Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is also a Research Professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Liu was an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2000 and his Bachelor degree in Automotive Engineering from Tsinghua University (China) in 1993. Dr. Liu's research focuses on traffic network monitoring, modeling, and control, including traffic flow modeling and simulation, traffic signal operations, network traffic assignment, and mobility applications with connected and automated vehicles. Dr. Liu is a managing editor of Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems and an associate editor of Transportation Research Part C. He is also on the editorial board of Transportation Research Part B, Network and Spatial Economics, Transportmetrica Part B, and IET Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Weihua Gu at E-mail: weihua.gu@polyu.edu.hk
Infrastructure adaptation planning for autonomous vehicles
Professor Yafeng Yin
Professor, Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, USA
9 December 2016 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 December 2016 (Friday)
Time : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28) Conference Room of Dept of CE, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to offer extraordinary improvements to both the safety and efficiency of existing mobility systems. Although it will be many years before a widespread adoption of the technology, recent developments suggest that AVs are on the horizon. In this talk, we advocate the need for infrastructure adaptation planning for AVs. Before manual driving can be completely phased out (or criminalized, as some have predicted), the traffic stream on a road network will still be heterogeneous, with both conventional vehicles and AVs. It is critical for transportation infrastructure to gradually evolve to adapt to and further promote the deployment of the AV technology. This talk will discuss two specific applications in the above infrastructure adaptation planning process, i.e., optimal design of AV lanes and AV zones in general networks.
SPEAKER
Dr. Yafeng Yin is a Professor at Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering and the Director of Transportation Research Center, University of Florida. Starting in January 2017, he will be a Professor at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan. Dr. Yin works in the area of transportation systems analysis and modeling, and has published over 90 refereed papers in leading academic journals. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies and serves on the editorial boards for another four transportation journals such as Transportation Research Part B: Methodological. He is a member of Transportation Network Modeling Committee and International Cooperation Committee of Transportation Research Board. He is also the Immediate Past President of Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA) whose members are Chinese professionals and students working or studying overseas in the tra! nsportation or related fields. Dr. Yin was one of the five recipients of the 2012 Doctoral Mentoring Award from University of Florida in recognition of his outstanding graduate student advising and mentoring. He also won the 2016 Stella Dafermos Best Paper Award and the Ryuichi Kitamura Paper Award, Transportation Research Board. Dr. Yin received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 2002, his master's and bachelor's degrees from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 1996 and 1994 respectively. Prior to his current appointment at the University of Florida, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at University of California at Berkeley between 2002 and 2005. Between 1996 and 1999, he was a lecturer at Tsinghua University.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Miss Cheryl Tang at Tel.: 2358-8848
On optimisation of public transport for emergency planning
Dr. Marc Goerigk
Lancaster University, UK
23 November 2016 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 23 November 2016 (Wednesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Conference Room of Dept of Civil & Envir Engrg, lift 27 & 28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Thinking of an emergency evacuation, pictures that first come to our mind may be cars stuck in long queues, or masses of pedestrians. However, public transport plays its important, but relatively little known part in emergency planning. In this talk I first give a brief overview of the current state of the field. I then discuss evacuation planning models with bus transport, beginning with a very basic approach, and further extending it to also include location planning aspects and uncertainty.
SPEAKER
Marc Goerigk is a Lecturer in the Department of Management Science at Lancaster University. He studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Gottingen, where he also completed his PhD in applied mathematics in 2012. He then worked as a Post-Doc at the University of Kaiserslautern. His research interests include robust optimisation, disaster management and public transportation problems.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Miss Cheryl Tang at Tel.: 2358-8848
Low cost technology for data collection in transportation management
Dr. Luis Amador
Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering Concordia University, Canada
18 November 2016 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 18 November 2016 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z506, 5/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Data collection is an expensive task that requires costly equipment and years of work necessary to implement a transportation management system. Current management systems ignore users' comfort and concentrate on the condition of the railways or the roads. Lateral movement of transit vehicles is an important element that should be added into the management of transportation infrastructure. In addition, air quality and noise (among other variables) also plays an important role in travellers comfort and influence their choice of public transportation over automobiles. This presentation addresses the use of accelerometers for pavement condition assessment as a proxy for international roughness index and of lateral accelerations to riders comfort. Additionally, it proposes the use of low cost sensors embedded into a small device to assess comfort elements from transit' riders perspective: air quality, noise, temperature, humidity and lighting. Two case studies are used to present the findings of this outgoing research projects: Testing results conducted in Ecuador for the use of smart phones to evaluate pavement roughness are shown. Air quality and noise are used to compare several transit vehicles and routes in the city of Montreal to their counterparts in London and Dominican Republic.
SPEAKER
Dr. Amador, is an Associate Professor at Concordia University where he has lectured since 2010. He is an expert in Road Management Systems including analytical tools for decision making and performance prediction. He received the best paper award at the ASCE TDI congress in 2011 for his philosophical perspective on advancing Transportation Asset management by linking it to spatial economic land use and transport models. His paper on coordination for a corridor approach received runner-up distinction at the 59th North America regional science annual meeting (2012). He is also the recipient of the Nason prize 2007-2008 for best paper in Transportation policy. Dr. Amador has developed novel concepts for asset management such as: (1) the apparent age method; capable of developing a performance curve from two condition surveys, (2) the inverted Markov chain; capable of capturing treatment effectiveness, (3) a paretoperformance- based multi-criteria optimization to select among competing alternatives at multi-objective acrossasset optimization, (4) the method of tactical coordination, capable of generating coordinated programs of works by clustering compatible interventions and (5) incorporated environmental impact of treatments into the decision making tools such that selected treatments are those not only most cost effective but also less pollutant.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Z. Leng at Tel.: 2766-6007
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. R.J Cao at Email: ruijun.c.cao@connect.polyu.hk
Does telecommuting reduce travel, or not? Accounting for self-selection using the UK National Travel Survey
Professor Patricia L. Mokhtarian
Susan G. and Christopher D. Pappas Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
15 November 2016 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 15 November 2016 (Tuesday)
Time : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Several recent studies of the relationship between telecommuting and travel behavior have found that telecommuting is associated with more travel rather than less. My co-author, Gouri Mishra, and I suspect that one reason for this outcome may be inadequate controls for self-selection. By that we mean that those who choose to adopt telecommuting may differ in important (and largely unobserved) ways from nontelecommuters -- even before starting to telecommute -- and that it is those differences, rather than telecommuting per se, that lead to the observed travel differences. To test this conjecture, we estimate the effect of telecommuting on travel behavior (specifically, annual commute, non-work and total travel) for full-time employed respondents with a fixed work location outside home, using data from the annual UK National Travel Surveys for the years 2009 to 2013. To address selection bias, we used the two-stage predictor substitution (2SPS) and Control Function (CF) approaches. Our best models indicate that telecommuting adoption has a substitution effect on annualized travel, in contrast to other recent studies. Estimated effects for commute travel are substantial, statistically significant, and relatively precise. Estimates for non-work travel, although negative in sign, are both closer to zero (and hence less substantial), and not significant (with large standard errors). This suggests that the effect of telecommuting on non-work travel is highly variable, with both substitution and complementarity effects in play albeit in different proportions for different people.
SPEAKER
Prof. Patricia L. Mokhtarian is the Susan G. and Christopher D. Pappas Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She joined Georgia Tech in August 2013, after 23 years at the University of California, Davis. Prior to that, she spent nine years in regional planning and consulting in Southern California. Prof. Mokhtarian has authored or co-authored more than 200 refereed journal articles, technical reports, and other publications. She is the current Chair of the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research, is an editor of the journal Transportation, and serves on the editorial boards of six other transportation journals, including the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation and Travel Behaviour and Society.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Modeling individual preferences for ownership: and sharing of autonomous vehicle technologies
Professor Chandra R. Bhat
Director, Center for Transportation Research; University Distinguished Teaching Professor; Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
14 November 2016 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 November 2016 (Monday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
There is considerable interest in modeling and forecasting the impacts of
autonomous vehicles on travel behavior and transportation network
performance. But a critical precursor issue for accurately quantifying
the transportation impacts of AV technologies is how these vehicles
might be adopted and used in the marketplace. In an autonomous
vehicle future, individuals may privately own such vehicles, or use
mobility-on-demand services provided by transportation network
companies that operate shared autonomous vehicle fleets, or adopt a
combination of these two. This presentation presents a comprehensive
model system of autonomous vehicle adoption and use using data
collected as part of the Puget Sound Regional Travel Study in the US
state of Washington. Results show that lifestyle factors play an important
role in shaping autonomous vehicle usage. Younger urban residents who
are more educated and tech-savvy are more likely to be early adopters of
autonomous vehicle technologies, favoring a sharing-based service
model over private ownership. Models such as that presented in this
paper can be used to predict adoption of autonomous vehicle
technologies, which will in turn help forecast autonomous vehicle
impacts under alternative future scenarios.
* Research undertaken jointly with Patricia S. Lavieri, Venu M.
Garikapati, Ram M. Pendyala, Sebastian Astroza, and Felipe F. Dias
SPEAKER
Prof. Chandra R. Bhat is the Director of the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) and the Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has a joint appointment between the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) and the Department of Economics. Prof. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental aspects of transportation, planning implications of connected and automated smart transportation systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics. He is a recipient of many awards, including the 2015 ASCE Frank Masters Award and the 2013 German Humboldt Award. He was recently listed as the top ten transportation thought leaders in academia by the Eno Foundation. He is also a top-cited transportation engineering researcher.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
On The probabilistic and physical consistency of random variables and models in civil engineering
Professor Enrique Castillo
University of Cantabria, Spain
10 November 2016 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 10 November 2016 (Thursday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Civil Common, via lifts 27/ 28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
In this paper we deal with the probability and physical consistency of random variables and models used in civil engineering. We analyze and discuss the conditions for a model to be consistent from two different points of view: probabilistic and physical (dimensional analysis). The first leads us to the concept of probabilistically consistent models, which arises when the joint distributions of all variables are required. This implies that relations among the variables must be respected by densities and resulting moments. In particular the most common linear, product and quotient relations, which are physically justified, must be especially considered. Similarly, stability with respect to minimum or maximum operations and consistency with respect to extremes (maxima and minima) arises in practice. From the dimensional analysis point of view, some models are demonstrated to be inconsistent. In particular, log-normal and chi-squared models are shown to be non-adequate for location or location-scale variables. The problem of building compatible models based on conditional distributions and regression functions is analyzed too. It is shown that incompatible models can be easily obtained if a consistency analysis is not performed. All these and other problems are discussed and some models in the literature are analyzed from these two points of view. When some families fail to satisfy the desired properties, alternative models are provided. Finally, some simple examples and conclusions are given to summarize the analysis.
SPEAKER
Dr Enrique Castillo was born in Spain and studied Civil Engineering at the Polytechnical University of Madrid, and Mathematics at the Complutensis University of Madrid. He got two Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University (1972) and the Polytechnical University of Madrid (1973). He has participated in more than 40 research projects and has authored 14 books in English and 15 in Spanish. He has presented 165 publications in Congresses and 249 papers published in 107 different journals. He has delivered talks, seminars and courses in 22 universities in Spain and 21 foreign universities. He has directed 39 Ph. D. theses (26 in Engineering, 9 in Mathematics, 2 in Informatics, 1 in Medicine, 1 in Economics) and has been Editor, Associated Editor and referee for more than 40 international journals, and advisor of 8 institutions or editorial companies. He is a Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences. He has been honored with the National prize in Engineering Research and with the Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Universities of Oviedo and Castilla-La Mancha. His main fields of research are: Extreme value distributions, optimization and operations research, functional equations, artificial intelligence and Bayesian networks, modeling of Engineering problems, functional networks, traffic engineering and innovative railway solutions including high speed lines and reliability analysis.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Miss Cheryl Tang at Tel.: 2358-8848
Thinking about autonomous vehicles: business models and demand growth
Professor Kay W. Axhausen
Professor of Transport Planning, Director of the Transport Planning Group, Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT), ETH Zurich, Switzerland
17 October 2016 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 17 October 2016 (Monday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y302, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Fully Autonomous Vehicles (AV) are probably still 30 to 40 years into the future, but they already cast a shadow on long term investment plans given that they promise substantial new capacity and safety gains. Their expected arrival casts a particularly long shadow on the local public transport and taxi industries, which are already in flux through the arrival of new brokers, such as Uber, Lyft, bla-bla-cars, and new supply from car sharing firn, such as DriveNow, Car-to-Go, ZipCars and others, or shared-ride firms, such as Bridje. The seminar will discuss the challenges for the different market participants and their regulators, as transport systems will arise for which every kilometre travelled can be traced and charged. This will force the regulators to think anew about the cost allocation, including for the direct costs for the infrastructures, but also for the externalities created. It will also force the regulators to think anew about how to charge and finance the transport for those without the means to travel. The standard European method of subsidised flat rate monthly tickets might not be appropriate anymore. Autonomous Vehicles could bring a substantial increase in accessibility and with it a surge in travel demand, comparable with the experience of the motorway systems of the postwar period. In addition, the empty kilometres driven to parking spaces or on errands could add a substantial load to the networks. Replacing existing public transport supply with smaller AVs will add further traffic. The seminar will present some very initial results on these changes using Switzerland as an example.
SPEAKER
Prof. Kay W. Axhausen is Professor of Transport Planning at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich. Before he worked at the Leopold- Franzens Universität, Innsbruck, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, he has been involved in the measurement and modelling of travel behaviour for the past 30 years contributing especially to the literature on stated preferences, micro-simulation of travel behaviour, valuation of travel time and its components, parking behaviour, activity scheduling and travel diary data collection. Current work focuses on the agent-based micro-simulation toolkit MATSim (see www.matsim.org) He was the Chair of the International Association of Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR) and is Editor-In- Chief of Transportation and earlier of DISp, both ISI indexed journals. A full cv with a list of recent publications can be found at http://www.ivt.ethz.ch/people/axhausen/cv_kwa.pdf.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
A general-equilibrium analysis of airport pricing, capacity and regulation
Professor Anming Zhang
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
22 September 2016 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 September 2016 (Thursday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Using a general-equilibrium model that includes consumers, airlines, and an airport with both aeronautical service and non-aeronautical service, we examine airport's decisions on its aeronautical charge and capacity, as well as the size of its non-aeronautical service. In contrast to the existing literature, we formally model an airport's non-aeronautical service by taking into account the endogenous determination of the size of the airport's non-aeronautical service. First, we characterize the results for welfare maximization, and find that the self-financing property does not hold. Apart from carriers' market power as a source for the failure of the self-financing property; we identify the presence of non-aeronautical service as a new source. We further show that the common practice of cross-subsidizing from the non-aeronautical to aeronautical services is incompatible with welfare maximization, because welfare maximization requires exact self-financing within the non-aeronautical sector. Second, we derive the results for profit maximization by a monopolistic airport, and demonstrate that the imposition of two taxes, one on the airport's aeronautical service and the other on its capacity investment, can recover the welfare-maximization results. Third, we analyze the two types of regulation, single-till and dual-till regulations, which are often used in practice, and show that dual-till regulation yields higher welfare than single-till regulation, as long as the profit from non-aeronautical service is positive. This result is in contrast to the prevailing wisdom in the literature, which in general favors single-till regulation.
SPEAKER
Anming Zhang is a Full Professor in Operations and Logistics and holds Vancouver International Airport Authority Chair Professor in Air Transportation at Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC). He served as the Chair of the Operations and Logistics Division, Sauder School of Business (2003-2005), and as the Director of UBC's Centre for Transport Studies (2003-2004). He has been the Vice President (Academic & Program) for the World Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) since 2006. Dr. Zhang is the recipient of the "Yokohama Special Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher" awarded at the 7th World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) in Sydney, Australia in 1995, and of the "WCTR-Society Prize", awarded to the overall best paper of the 8th WCTR in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1998. In June 2014, he won the "Best Overall Paper Prize" at the ITEA (International Transport Economics Association) Conference on Transportation Economics, Toulouse School of Economics, France. Dr. Zhang has published over 140 refereed journal papers in the areas of transportation, logistics, industrial organization, and trade policy. He has co-authored two recent books: Globalization and Strategic Alliances: The Case of the Airline Industry, 2000, Pergamon Press, Oxford; and Air Cargo in Mainland China and Hong Kong, 2004, Ashgate, London (Chinese editions published both in Hong Kong and Mainland China).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Public transport network connectivity: modelling, challenges and prospects for 2050
Professor Avishai (Avi) Ceder
Professor Chair in Transportation, University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
29 August 2016 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 August 2016 (Monday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y305, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this presentation is to review urban transportation likely to be offered in 20-30 years, as the year 2050 approaches. Trip-making behavior has already changed considerably as lifestyles change and it will continue to change in the future. This presentation emphasizes thinking profoundly of the possibilities, rather than predicting them. It will be shown that solutions for the future must be based on public transport (PT) modes of travel, regardless of whether they are metro, bus, light rail, tram, Uber or Lyft service, an ordinary taxi, personal-rapid transit or any other PT-based future mode. Challenges will be presented as to how to measure, detect weaknesses, and optimize well-connected routes that will offer commuters to access the complete PT network by making transfers efficiently to move hopefully seamlessly.
SPEAKER
Prof. Avishai (Avi) Ceder received B.Sc. (1971) at the Technion, Faculty of Industrial and Management Engineering, M.Sc. (1972) and Ph.D. (1975) on the subject of Transportation with emphasis on Operations Research and Human Factors, at the University of California at Berkeley, USA. In 2007, he arrived to the University of Auckland; he is the Founder and was the Director, until 2014, of the Transportation Research Centre (TRC). Prof. Ceder was Head of the Transportation Engineering and Geo-Information Department at the Technion, the Chief Scientist at the Israel Ministry of Transport from 1994 to 1997, and the Israel delegate to the Transport Program of the European Community. Prof. Ceder is a member of various international symposia and workshops (e.g. ISTTT, CASPT), and recently published the book: Ceder, A. (2016), Public Transit Planning and Operation: Modeling, Practice and Behavior, Second Edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA, which is translated to Chinese and Korean.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Transport safety: A risk management perspective
Professor Alan Nicholson
Professor of Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
11 August 2016 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 August 2016 (Thursday)
Time : 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
During the last fifty years, there have been increasingly frequent references to 'risk' in the transport safety literature. This has paralleled the growth in interest in 'risk management', which is now a major area of activity in both the private and public sectors in many countries, and is the subject of an International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) risk management standard, which sets out the principles of risk management and guidelines for the application of risk management. There have been numerous techniques developed for use in risk assessment, and Professor Nicholson will discuss how these, and the ISO principles of risk management, could be applied in the transport safety area, to improve transport safety. He will also describe the results of some studies undertaken at the University of Canterbury into the use of risk assessment techniques for addressing road safety issues.
SPEAKER
Professor Alan Nicholson is Professor of Transport Engineering in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury, and was Head of Department from 2005 to 2009. He holds BE (Hons), ME and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering and an MSc degree in Transportation and Traffic Planning. He was an adviser on traffic research to the NZ National Roads Board (1981-1990), Transit NZ (1991-1996), Transfund NZ (1996-2004) and Land Transport NZ (2005- 2009). He has been an expert adviser on transport safety research for research councils/organisations in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Israel, and has refereed papers for over 15 international journals. He has been a Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers NZ since 2000, and was National Chairman of its Transportation Group from 2003 to 2006. Since 2013, he has been a Member of the Education Advisory Board of the Institute of Risk Management, London, UK.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
The heterogeneous green vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time-varying traffic congestion
Professor Abdullah Konak
Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University Berks
11 July 2016 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 July 2016 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Climate scientists undoubtedly point out that the concentration of greenhouse gases such as CO2 in the atmosphere is the primary cause of global warming. Transportation is one of the economic sectors that emit significant amount of greenhouse gases, e.g., accounting for 27% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in 2013. The green vehicle routing and scheduling problem (GVRSP) aims to minimize green-house gas emissions in logistics systems through better planning of deliveries/pickups made by a fleet of vehicles. We define a new mixed integer liner programming (MIP) model which considers heterogeneous vehicles, time-varying traffic congestion, customer/vehicle time window constraints, the impact of vehicle loads on emissions, and vehicle capacity/range constraints in the GVRSP. The proposed model allows vehicles to make stops on arcs, which is shown to reduce emissions up to additional 8% on simulated data. A hybrid algorithm of MIP and iterated neighborhood search is proposed to solve the problem.
SPEAKER
Abdullah Konak is a Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University Berks. Dr. Konak received his degrees in Industrial Engineering, B.S. from Yildiz Technical University, Turkey, M.S. from Bradley University, and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Konak’s current research interest is in the application of Operations Research techniques to complex problems, including such topics as network design, network reliability, facilities design, green logistics, and data mining. Dr. Konak has published papers in journals such as IIE Transactions, Operations Research Letters, Informs Journal on Computing, IEEE Transactions on Reliability, International Journal of Production Research, and Production Economics. He has been a principle investigator in sponsored projects from the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Labor, and Venture Well. He is a member of IIE, IEEE, and INFORMS.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Use of Bluetooth and Wifi for measuring vehicles and people movements
Professor Edward Chung
School of Civil Engineering and Built Environments, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
6 June 2016 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 June 2016 (Monday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, 4/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Most new vehicles have Bluetooth capability and all smartphones have Wifi and Bluetooth capabilities with unique MAC addresses. Scanning these Bluetooth and Wifi enabled devices would generate massive amount of anonymous MAC address data for monitoring vehicle and people movements. In Brisbane, over 900 Bluetooth scanners are installed at signalised intersections and motorways to scan Bluetooth MAC address. This network of scanners enables travel time of the transport system to be measured in real time. This new data source is also useful for other information such as duration spent at different locations and origin and destination of trips. This presentation will show some of the applications of the Bluetooth data and results from Wifi experiments for monitoring pedestrian and space utilisation.
SPEAKER
Professor Edward Chung is a Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems and the Inaugural Director of the Smart Transport Research Centre at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. He has many years of experience as an engineer and an experienced academic and researcher working both nationally and internationally. He is also a Visiting Professor at the ITS Centre, the University of Tokyo, Japan. Prof. Chung holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with Honours, and a PhD from Monash University, Australia.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Network user equilibrium problem for the mixed battery electric and gasoline vehicles subject to battery swapping stations and road grades constraints
Professor Qiang Meng
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
29 April 2016 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 April 2016 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
The battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have become one of the promising ways to achieve urban sustainable development. With governments in many countries offering various incentives to promote the adoption of BEVs, more and more network users may take BEVs for their daily trips. This study aims to investigate the user equilibrium (UE) problem for the mixed BEVs and traditional gasoline vehicles (GVs) subject to battery swapping stations and road grades constraints. A convex programming model for the UE problem is first formulated under the assumption that the electricity consumption rate of BEVs is flow-independent. An efficient Frank-Wolfe (F-W) algorithmic scheme incorporating with an improved pseudo-polynomial time multi-label method is designed to solve the model. By relaxing the flow-independent electricity consumption rate assumption, a new set of inequalities are developed to describe the UE conditions. Numerical experiments are finally conducted to evaluate the proposed models and algorithms.
SPEAKER
Dr. Qiang Meng is a Full Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at National University of Singapore (NUS). He received his PhD from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2000. His research focuses on transportation network modeling and optimization, shipping and intermodal freight transportation network analysis, and quantitative risk assessment of transport operations. He has published more than 130 articles in leading transportation and logistics journals. He is an Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part B, Journal of Transportation Engineering (ASCE) and Transportation Research Part E. He has clinched a number of research awards and prizes, including Dean's Chair in Faculty of Engineering at NUS in 2015, the 13th World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) Society Prize for the best paper (2013), Best Paper Award for Methodological Development in the 9th EASTS (East Asia Society for Transportation Studies) International Conference (2011), Best Paper Award of AHB40 - Highway Capacity and Quality of Service Committee - in the 90th TRB Annual Meeting (2011) and Singapore MOT (Ministry of Transportation) Minister’s Innovation Award 2009.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Social interactions in an integrated model of residential choice and activity-travel choices
Professor Chandra Bhat
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, USA
26 April 2016 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 26 April 2016 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
We propose and develop an econometric framework for incorporating social dependence in integrated model systems of latent variables and multidimensional mixed data outcomes. The framework combines the Generalized Heterogeneous Data Model (GHDM) with a spatial/social formulation to parsimoniously introduce spatial/social dependencies through latent constructs. To our knowledge, this is the first such model formulation in the econometric literature. The resulting model is estimated using the maximum approximate composite marginal likelihood (MACML) inference approach, which is easy to implement, requires no simulation, and involve only univariate and bivariate cumulative normal distribution function evaluations. Monte Carlo simulation experiments on synthetic data demonstrate the effectiveness of the MACML approach in recovering parameters from spatially dependent datasets. The applicability of the spatial GHDM framework is demonstrated through an empirical analysis of spatial dependencies in a multidimensional mixed data bundle comprising a variety of household choices - household commute distance, residential location (density) choice, vehicle ownership, parents' commute mode choice, and children’s school mode choice - along with other measurement variables for two latent constructs - parent's safety concerns about children walking/biking to school and active lifestyle propensity.
SPEAKER
Dr. Chandra R. Bhat is the Director of the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) and the Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has a joint appointment between the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) and the Department of Economics. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental aspects of transportation, planning implications of connected and automated smart transportation systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
An update on the measurement and valuation of travel time reliability
Professor Michael Taylor
Emeritus Professor of Transport Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia (UniSA), Australia
22 March, 2016 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 March, 2016 (Tuesday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z414, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In November 2015, the OECD staged an international workshop to define the state of
the art in the measurement and valuation of travel time reliability, as part of
its R&D on the full and proper inclusion of reliability as an independent
factor in transport project evaluation. This seminar will present the summary
results of the workshop and describe some of the latest related research on
travel time reliability. Inclusion of the costs of travel time variability in
transport project evaluation requires:
Particular topics to be included in the seminar are: (1) a summary of the current
theoretical developments on the valuation of reliability, (2) an outline of new
methods for the inclusion of a reliability metric as an output from travel demand
models thus enabling a reliability factor to be included in project evaluation,
and (3) the introduction of a potential new method for applying Fosgerau's
reliability index as the factor responsive to the shape of the travel
time distribution best suited for inclusion in cost-benefit analysis.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael Taylor is Emeritus Professor of Transport Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environments at the University of South Australia (UniSA). He retired from his substantive position as Director of the Barbara Hardy Research Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies in 2012. Previously he was Reader in Transport Engineering at Monash University. In 2012-2014, he helped establish the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, as its Program Leader for 'Low carbon precincts'. His current research interests include travel time reliability, transport network vulnerability, sustainable transport and low carbon mobility, and climate change adaptation for transport infrastructure. Professor Taylor gained his PhD at Monash University. He is the author of many papers and books, including Understanding Traffic Systems, published in 2000. He is currently an Editor of Transportmetrica A and a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Advanced Transportation and Road and Transport Research. Professor Taylor is a Chartered Professional Engineer and a Fellow of Engineers Australia, the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics, and the Institute of Transportation Engineers. In 2014, he was awarded the Engineers Australia Transport Medal for outstanding individual contributions to transport in Australia.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Properties of rubberized asphalt and the status of use in the United States
Professor Serji Amirkhanian
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama, USA
3 March, 2016 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 3 March, 2016 (Thursday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Z504, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The use of crumb rubber in asphalt binders has been increasing in many parts of the world. In the United States, several states have been using rubberized asphalt binders for decades. In this seminar, the use of scrap tire rubber in asphalt pavement technologies will be discussed. The cost-effectiveness in terms of pavement life extension and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) will also be presented. The presentation will address the techniques and the processes of using rubberized asphalts in pavement preservation and rehabilitation over the traditional asphalt binders. There are many techniques used to produce these binders and mixtures. Various types of rubberized pavement strategies will be presented and compared to traditional pavement strategies. Several case studies in the United States and overseas will be discussed.
SPEAKER
Prof. Amirkhanian was the Mays Professor of Transportation and the Director of the Asphalt Rubber Technology Services in the Department of Civil Engineering at Clemson University until June of 2010, before he started his academic activities around the world and initiated his international consulting activities. He is now a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, a Professor of Civil Engineering at Wuhan University of Technology, an Adjunct Faculty at IIT Madras (India), and the Co-Director of the International Recycled Rubber Products Initiative at University of Nevada Las Vegas. The total dollar amount of his research contracts and teaching the DOT certification courses has exceeded US$ 22 million. His research has resulted in over 110 refereed journal papers and over 150 conference papers and research reports. He has also published two book chapters in addition of presenting over 300 presentations in the US and around the world.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Dr. Z. Leng/Dr. W.T. Hung at Tel.: 2766-6007/2766-6044
Please reserve your seat with
Mr. H.Y. Yu: at Email: huayang.yu@connect.polyu.hk.
How much is too much for tolled road users: toll saturation and the implications for car commuting value of travel time savings?
Professor David A. Hensher
Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, The University of Sydney NSW Australia
15 January, 2016 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 15 January, 2016 (Friday)
Time : 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : CPD2.58, Central Podium Levels, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The current practice of forecasting the demand for new tolled roads typically assumes that car users are prepared to pay a higher toll for a shorter journey, and they will keep doing so as long as the toll cost is not higher than their current value of travel time savings. Practice ignores the possibility that there could be a point when motorists stop driving on toll roads due to a toll budget constraint. The unconstrained toll budget assumption may be valid in networks where the addition of a new toll road does not result in a binding budget constraint that car users may have for using toll roads (although it could also be invoked for existing tolled routes through a reduction in use of a tolled route). In a road network like Sydney which offers a growing number of (linked) tolled roads, the binding budget constraint may be invoked, and hence including additional toll links might in turn reduce the car users’ willingness to pay for toll roads to save the same amount of travel time. When this occurs, car users are said to reach a toll saturation point (or threshold) and begin to consider avoiding one or more toll roads. Whilst toll saturation has important implications for demand forecasting and planning of toll roads, this type of behaviour has not been explored in the literature. We investigate the influence that increasing toll outlays has on preferences of car commuters to use one or more tolled roads as the number of tolled roads increases. The Sydney metropolitan area offers a unique laboratory to test this phenomenon, with nine tolled roads currently in place and another five in planning. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the value of travel time savings decreases as a consequence of toll saturation.
SPEAKER
David Hensher is Professor of Management, and Founding Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS): The Australian Key Centre of Teaching and Research in Transport Management at The University of Sydney. David is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA), Recipient of the 2009 IATBR (International Association of Travel Behaviour Research) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his long-standing and exceptional contribution to IATBR as well as to the wider travel behaviour community. Recipient of the 2006 Engineers Australia Transport Medal for lifelong contribution to transportation, recipient of the 2009 Bus NSW (Bus and Coach Association) Outstanding Contribution to Industry Award, and Recipient of the 2012 best paper released by the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME). David is also the recipient of the Smart 2013 Premier Award for Excellence in Supply Chain Management, and recipient of the 2014 Institute of Transportation Engineers (Australia and New Zealand) Transport Profession Award. Member of Singapore Land Transport Authority International Advisory Panel (Chaired by Minister of Transport), and Past President of the International Association of Travel Behaviour Research. David is the Co-Founder of The International Conference in Competition and Ownership of Land Passenger Transport (the Thredbo Series), now in its 23rd year. David is on the editorial boards of 10 of the leading transport journals and Area Editor of Transport Reviews. He is also series and volume editor of a handbook series "Handbooks in Transport”. He has published extensively (over 570 papers) in the leading international transport journals and key journals in economics as well as 12 books. He has over 28,800 citations of his contributions in Google scholar. David has advised numerous government industry agencies, with a recent appointment to Infrastructure Australia's reference panel on public transport, and is called upon regularly by the media for commentary. Most recent roles include expert adviser to WestConnex (a 33 km toll road in planning in Sydney), the expert adviser to the Singapore update of economic parameters (with Aecom), and adviser to Deloittes on congestion intervention strategies (for AustRoads). More information is available at http://sydney.edu.au/business/itls/staff/davidh.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Becky P.Y. Loo at Tel.: 3917-7024
Please reserve your seat with
Mr Kevin Leung at Tel.: 3917-7114, Fax: 2559-8994 or Email: hkits@hku.hk
Intelligent technology for smart taxi service: an enterprise design for taxi fleet operation
Professor Agachai Sumalee
Vice President and Director of Smart City Research Center, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand
12 January, 2016 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 January, 2016 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y301, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The Smart Taxi system described in this Seminar is based on the real-world deployment of the system in Bangkok with a fleet of 550 taxis. All taxis belong to the company and the drivers are full-time employee of the company receiving the salary and performance bonus. To allow for such an enterprise management a system to monitor, operate, and manage taxi, earning, driver, schedule, and customer request is required. This Seminar will describe in detail the concept of Smart Taxi which is designed to allow for this enterprise management. The system allows for the dynamic pair of drivers for the shift based upon the driver’s preferred location as well as current vehicle’s position. The overall concept of enterprise management for taxi fleet will also be explained with the motivation behind the design and implementation. Each taxi is equipped with a vehicle gateway which collects all engine and vehicle data on the real time basis and transfer back to the back office system. The back office system runs two algorithms for determining job assignment and shift assignment. The vehicle gateway also runs an algorithm for hub assignment and task assignment. The system allows the transaction of meter data to back office for financial control and accepts passenger request through mobile phone application and call center. The Seminar will describe the overall concept design from the service perspective to the detail of the software architecture as well as hardware integration. The ability of the system to carry out "business intelligence analysis" to optimize the operation and service will also be illustrated. The Seminar will also discuss the key issues in developing a successful taxi technology solution for the practical environment as well as the challenges lie ahead for the wider deployment of such system.
SPEAKER
Professor Agachai Sumalee (www.agachai-sumalee.com) holds BEng in Civil Engineering (King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, KMITL), MSc (Eng) and PhD in Transportation Planning and Engineering (ITS, Leeds University). He was previously Senior Research Fellow at University of Leeds, Associate Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Visiting Professor at University of Tokyo. He is currently Vice President of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang and the Director of Smart City Research Center at KMITL. His research areas are intelligent transport system (ITS), network modelling, transport economics, and transport policy. Professor Sumalee has published more than 100 journal papers in top peer-reviewed journals. He received several prizes and awards including the 2014 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education ("ASPIRE") awarded by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Hans Jurgen Ewers Prize for outstanding research in infrastructure economics, Annual best paper award by Hong Kong Institute of Engineer, the Smeed Prize, and twice outstanding paper awards at the EASTS conferences in Fukuoka and Bangkok. He is currently the Editor in Chief of SCI journal Transpormetrica B: Transport Dynamics, Associate Editor of Networks and Spatial Economics, and Editorial Board Member of Transportation Research Part B, Transportation, Journal of Advanced Transportation, Transportmetrica. He is the developer of various ITS solutions including All-Thai-Taxi system, ITS system of Expressway Authority of Thailand, ITS Application System of Motorway (Department of Highway), and Lane Control System of Motorway (Department of Highway).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
A proactive traffic management system without special physical infrastructure
Professor Pitu Mirchandani
School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, USA
17 December 2015 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 17 December 2015 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Our research team has been developing a system that does not need an extensive roadside infrastructure to proactive traffic manage traffic on the current transportation network. The main components in the system are a wireless telecommunication system that is basically equivalent to the backbone of most mobile phone systems; a virtual server that uses prediction and optimization algorithms for computing proactive traffic signal controls and other traffic management actions; and the currently available traffic signals and other wireless actuated "controls" such as highway advisory radio. This system can work in USA, Europe, Asia, or any nation where wireless telephones are available with some "smart" features. In the US, our system referred to MIDAS-CPS©, hopes to demonstrate the synergistic use of a cyber-physical infrastructure consisting of smart-phone type devices; cloud computing, wireless communication, and intelligent transportation algorithms to manage vehicles in the complex urban network - through the use of traffic controls, route advisories and road pricing/rewards – to jointly optimize drivers' mobility as well as achieve the sustainability goals of reducing energy usage and improving air quality. A key element of MIDAS© is the real-time streaming data collection and data analysis and the subsequent optimal traffic management through proactive traffic controls and advisories, predominantly using real-time optimization based on Rolling Horizon Dynamic Programming. Although drivers will not be forced to use advisories of recommended routes, it is anticipated that MIDAS would lead to lesser drive stress and improved road safety of opt-in drivers, besides the designed benefits on the environment, energy consumption, congestion mitigation, and driver mobility. This talk will only focus on overall architecture of MIDAS and on proactive traffic management component, while the sponsoring multidisciplinary NSF project is at the cutting edge in several areas: real-time image processing, real-time traffic prediction and supply/demand management, and data processing/management through cloud computing.
SPEAKER
Dr. Pitu B. Mirchandani [BS/MS degrees in Engineering, UCLA; S.M/ScD. Degrees, Operations Research, MIT] is a Professor of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). He is also a Senior Sustainability Scientist within the Global Institute of Sustainability and the Director of Advanced Transportation and Logistics Systems (ATLAS) Research Laboratory. For close to 40 years, Pitu Mirchandani has been studying relevant problems on Dynamic Stochastic Networks, with interests in models and systems for making strategic/tactical/operational decisions in dynamic and stochastic networked environments. Problems related to traffic flows on transportation networks can be typically addressed as such. Mirchandani's contributions are in: (1) Location Decision Modeling, (2) Traveler and Vehicle Routing Models, (3) Real-time Data-Driven Decision Systems, and (4) general theoretical contributions to OR modeling, methods and algorithms. He has authored/co-authored four books and approximately 200 articles. Dr. Mirchandani is a senior member of IEEE, a member of INFORMS, IIE, TRB, and a charter member of ITS-Arizona, where he was awarded the "Member of the Year" in 2007. He became a Fellow of INFORMS this year. Dr. Mirchandani has been a principal investigator on a large number of research programs. Notable recent projects are in Real-Time Proactive Traffic Management, Adaptive Ramp Metering, Evacuation Traffic Management, Remote Sensing of Transportation Flows, and Infrastructure Design and Operations of Electric and Alternative Fueled Vehicles.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
ON-TIME: A closed-loop framework for the optimal real-time management of railway traffic
Professor Ingo Hansen
Visiting professor of Beijing Jiaotong University and Southwest Jiaotong University, and President of the International Association of Railway Operations Research
9 December 2015 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 December 2015 (Wednesday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
The goals, structure and contribution of TU Delft for the recent EU Framework Research Project ONTIME (2011-2014) are outlined (http://www.ontime-project.eu). The current state-of-the-art with regard to railway traffic management in theory and practice is described. A framework of real-time intelligent decision support for traffic controllers is presented that consists of a closed-loop microscopic timetable and train operations simulator and an automatic conflict recognition and resolution tool. The performance and quality of the optimal rescheduling plans is tested and evaluated in a case study of 30 simulated randomly selected traffic disturbance scenarios on a 50 km long railway line in the Netherlands with mixed train operation. The developed ONTIME real-time rescheduling simulation tool has been demonstrated successfully on the East Coast Main Line (UK), Utrecht-Eindhoven-Nijmegen-Tilburg Dutch rail network, and the Iron Ore line in Sweden and Norway.
SPEAKER
Prof. Ingo Hansen studied Civil Engineering with mayor in Transportation at the Technical University of Hannover/Germany 1968-1974. He got his PhD in Transportation Modelling from this university in 1978 and worked as transportation consultant for planning, design, construction and operation of railway and other public transport systems in Germany and abroad from 1977 to 1994. He was full professor for Design of Transport Facilities in the Department of Transport and Planning of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at the University of Technology Delft in the Netherlands from 1994 to 2011. Since 2012 he is visiting professor at the School of Traffic and Transportation of Beijing Jiaotong University and since 2015 also at Southwest Jiaotong University. He is President of the International Association of Railway Operations Research (IAROR) since its foundation in 2005 and presided the bi-annual Conferences on Railway Operations Modelling and Analysis in Delft 2005, Hannover 2007, Zurich 2009, Rome 2011, Copenhagen 2013 and Tokyo (2015). He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management (JRTPM), member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Transportation Research Part B and frequent guest reviewer of a number of transportation journals. He co-edited the books Railway Timetable and Traffic (2008) and Railway Timetabling and Operations (2014) and (co-)authored more than 100 publications.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Road pricing: An impeccable policy - how can we sell it?
Professor Juan de Dios Ortuzar
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile
2 December, 2015 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 2 December, 2015 (Wednesday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
We argue that road pricing is sorely needed if urban congestion is to be tackled in the medium term, paving the way to sustainable cities. We discuss the main criticisms that have been raised against this policy and provide responses to all of them. Finally, we present the results of a stated preference study conducted in Santiago, Chile, designed to examine the following question: how can we "sell" road pricing better to the general public and politicians.
SPEAKER
Professor Juan de Dios Ortuzar (Civil Eng., M.Sc., Ph.D.) is based at the Department of Transport Engineering and Logistics and is key researcher of the Centre for Urban Sustainable Development (CEDEUS) at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC). He has pioneered the development of discrete choice modelling techniques and, more recently, their application to determine willingness-to-pay for reducing externalities (accidents, noise and atmospheric pollution). In 2010 he received the first PUC Engineering Prize for his outstanding academic trajectory, and also the prestigious Humboldt Research Award in Germany. He has published over 120 papers in archival journals, co-authored Modelling Transport (Wiley, 2011) a book with over 18,000 copies sold in its four editions, and also co-authored Micro-GUTS, a simulation game to train transport planners, used by more than 50 academic institutions worldwide. He is Co-Editor in Chief of Transportation Research A and also serves in the Editorial Board of several other important journals in the field. Finally, he has managed large urban transport projects in Latin America and Europe, in particular, the design and implementation work for the largest metropolitan O-D surveys in Chile (Santiago 1991, 33,000 households; Santiago 2001-2007, 30,000 households) and, more recently, the Bogota 2011 O-D survey involving over 15,000 households.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
A dynamic spatial price equilibrium model of integrated urban production-transportation operations considering freight delivery tours
Dr. Jose Holguin-Veras
William H. Hart Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Director of the Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
10 November 2015 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 10 November 2015 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Urban freight demand is fundamentally different to passenger demand. Among other major differences, freight activity is a reflection of a market competition process, freight traffic typically takes places as long delivery tours where most vehicles make deliveries and pickups at multiple locations, the system is profoundly heterogeneous, and there are complex interactions among the participating agents, among many other differences. None of these complexities exist in the passenger case. In this talk, Professor Holguin-Veras will discuss in detail a dynamic Spatial Price Equilibrium (SPE) that was developed by his team. This SPE model specifically considers urban freight tours and the dynamics of competition for integrated production-distribution competition. The formulation developed is a general form of the classic Samuelson 1952 model.
SPEAKER
Dr. Jose Holguin-Veras, is the William H. Hart Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Director of the Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is the recipient of a number of national awards, including the 2013 White House Transportation Champion of Change Award, the Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award in 1996 and the National Science Foundation's CAREER Award, for his contributions to freight transportation modeling and economics. His research interests are in the areas of: freight transportation modeling and economics, transportation planning, and humanitarian logistics. He is a member of numerous technical committees at the key professional organizations, and referee for the major professional journals. He is President of the Scientific Committee of the Pan-American Conference of Transportation and Traffic Engineering and Logistics, Elected Member of the Council for the Association for European Transport, and member of the Scientific Committee of the World Conference of Transport Research. He received his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in 1996. He is the recipient of the 2013 White House Champion of Change Award.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Adapting to climate change: An approach for the planning and management of transport infrastructure
Professor Michael Taylor
Emeritus Professor of Transport Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia (UniSA), Australia
8 September, 2015 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 September, 2015 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y508, 5/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Climate change poses a significant risk to infrastructure and its owners, managers and long-term operators and users. There is a need for research into the likely impacts of climate change on infrastructure and the built environment, to establish the categories of infrastructure and facilities most at risk, and outline the opportunities for adaptation responses. In particular, transport infrastructure is of concern. Environmental conditions are one of the key determinants for the design life and maintenance required for road pavements. This study investigates how climate change can impact road pavement design life and the required maintenance regimes required to maximise the pavement life. Recent research is reviewed on how climate change is being considered in infrastructure related policies and literature, with a focus on road pavements. A pavement degradation model which includes the Thornthwaite Moisture Index climate indicator is developed, and used to investigate the potential impacts of climate change on the design life and maintenance requirements along a real life case study corridor in South Australia. The model is suitable for policy analysis and management systems planning. The presentation will also discuss the implications for management and maintenance of this infrastructure, and the associated impacts for transport policy makers.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael Taylor is Emeritus Professor of Transport Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environments at the University of South Australia (UniSA). He retired from his substantive position as Director of the Barbara Hardy Research Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies in 2012. Previously he was Reader in Transport Engineering at Monash University. In 2012-2014 he helped establish the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, as its Program Leader for 'Low carbon precincts'. His most recent research interests include transport network reliability and vulnerability, sustainable transport and low carbon mobility, and climate change adaptation for transport infrastructure. Professor Taylor gained his PhD at Monash University. He is the author of many papers and books, including Understanding Traffic Systems, published in 2000. He is currently an Editor of Transportmetrica A and a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Advanced Transportation and Road and Transport Research. Professor Taylor is a Chartered Professional Engineer and a Fellow of Engineers Australia, the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics, and the Institute of Transportation Engineers. In 2014 he was awarded the Engineers Australia Transport Medal for outstanding individual contributions to transport in Australia.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Hub airport congestion pricing: Discriminatory passenger charges
Professor Anming Zhang
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
21 May, 2015 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 21 May, 2015 (Thursday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Airport pricing in a congested hub-spoke network is investigated. The hub airport levies a per-flight charge on its carriers and discriminatory per-passenger charges on the local and connecting passengers. We characterize the socially optimal airport charges, and provide explanations for why some hub airports charge a connecting passenger lower than a local passenger, even though the connecting passenger contributes a relatively higher runway congestion at the hub. Our main results are: 1) congestion tolls are not needed if the negative congestion-delay effect is more or less offset by the positive schedule-delay effect, independent of airline market structure; 2) the optimal per-connecting passenger charge should be lower (higher, respectively) than the per-local passenger charge when the per-flight charge is large (small, respectively); 4) the optimal charges should levy double delay costs on the connecting passengers, which may lead to a higher per-connecting passenger charge than a per-local passenger charge; 3) generally, the optimal outcome cannot be achieved when the hub airport only levies aircraft-based, per-flight charges on carriers; and 5) the profit-maximizing hub airport can charge a connecting passenger lower than a local passenger.
SPEAKER
Professor Anming Zhang is a Full Professor in Operations and Logistics and holds Vancouver International Airport Authority Chair Professor in Air Transportation at Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC). He served as the Chair of the Operations and Logistics Division, Sauder School of Business (2003-2005), and as the Director of UBC's Centre for Transport Studies (2003-2004). He has been the Vice President (Academic & Program) for the World Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) since 2006. Dr. Zhang is the recipient of the "Yokohama Special Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher" awarded at the 7th World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) in Sydney, Australia in 1995, and of the "WCTR-Society Prize", awarded to the overall best paper of the 8th WCTR in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1998. In June 2014, he won the "Best Overall Paper Prize" at the ITEA (International Transport Economics Association) Conference on Transportation Economics, Toulouse School of Economics, France. Professor Zhang has published over 110 refereed journal papers in the areas of transportation, logistics, industrial organization and trade policy. He has co-authored two recent books: Globalization and Strategic Alliances: The Case of the Airline Industry, 2000, Pergamon Press, Oxford; and Air Cargo in Mainland China and Hong Kong, 2004, Ashgate, London (Chinese editions published both in Hong Kong and Mainland China).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
eTours: Reducing congestion by smarter scheduling
Professor Michael G.H. Bell
Professor of Ports and Maritime Logistics, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, Business School, University of Sydney, Australia
20 May, 2015 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Logistics and Transportation Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 20 May, 2015 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room HJ302, 3/F, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Road congestion in metropolitan areas adds to costs by increasing delay, unreliability, inventory and the number of vehicles needed to perform the freight task. A major contributor to congestion are light commercial vehicles (LCVs), typically operated by small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs often operate small fleets of vehicles during working hours. As logistics is generally not their core activity, they do not invest in routing and scheduling software. A recent submission to the Premier’s Innovation Initiative in New South Wales, Australia, proposes a freely available, easy to use, web-based tour planner (eTours) to assist SMEs improve their tours of pickups, deliveries or calls informed by the current state of the metropolitan road network. This seminar will present the eTours concept, explain how it works, identify the long list of potential users, and show how it will help SMEs improve their productivity, shrink their fleets, reduce their costs, and contribute less to congestion, noise and emissions. It is argued that scheduling trips away from congestion is likely to meet with greater user acceptance than routing trips away from congestion. It will also be shown how innovative services making use of the eTours online database can further reduce congestion, yield additional benefits and promote the sharing economy.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael Bell is the Foundation Professor of Ports and Maritime Logistics in the Institute of Transport and Logistics, Business School, the University of Sydney, Australia. Prior to this, he was for 10 years the Professor of Transport Operations at Imperial College London, UK and for the final 5 years at Imperial the Founding Director of the Port Operations Research and Technology Centre (PORTeC). He graduated from Cambridge University, U.K. with a BA in Economics and obtained an MSc in Transportation and a PhD on Freight Distribution from University of Leeds, UK. Before arriving at Imperial College London, he worked as a Research Associate at University College London, UK, as an Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany, and as a Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, Australia, where he was promoted to a Readership and then a Personal Professorship. His research and teaching interests span ports and maritime logistics, transport network modelling, traffic engineering, and intelligent transport systems. He is the author of many papers, a number of books (including Transportation Network Analysis, published in 1997), was for 17 years an Associate Editor of Transportation Research B, the leading transport theory journal, and is currently an Associate Editor of Transportmetrica A and Maritime Policy & Management.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Overcoming estimation issues with advanced models in large scale applications through indirect inference
Professor Stephane Hess
Professor of Choice Modelling, Institute for Transport Studies; Director of the Choice Modelling Centre, University of Leeds, UK; and Honorary Professor in Choice Modelling, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney, Australia; Affiliated Professor of Demand Analysis, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
14 November, 2014 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 November, 2014 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y512, 5/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The field of choice modelling has seen many exciting developments in the last couple of decades, primarily in the form of models allowing for complex correlations structures between alternatives and flexible variations in sensitivities across decision makers. While the added computational burden of these models is a nuisance in academic work, it has severely limited the appeal and use of such models in large scale applied work, where the number of alternatives and attributes tends to be much larger. As an example, many models of joint mode and destination choice have tens of thousands of alternatives, and dozens of parameters. This is very different from most academic studies, and makes the estimation of even Multinomial and Nested Logit time consuming. With the benefits of advanced models potentially being even more important in the complex decision processes studied in applied work, this presentation looks at the use of a technique recently introduced into transport research for such cases. The method, known as indirect inference, relies on understanding the relationship between the parameters of simple and complex models for a given dataset and thus being able to "predict" the parameters of advanced model structures without actually estimating them on the data. The presentation illustrates the potential benefits of this technique in two separate applications, the use of a cross-nested logit model for joint mode and destination choice, and the use of a random regret minimisation model for station choice.
SPEAKER
Prof. Stephane Hess is Professor of Choice Modelling in the Institute for Transport Studies and Director of the Choice Modelling Centre at the University of Leeds, U.K. He is also Honorary Professor in Choice Modelling in the Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia, and Affiliated Professor in Demand Analysis at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He also holds a director position at RSG, a leading North American consultancy company. His area of work is the analysis of human decision using advanced discrete choice models, and he is active in the fields of transport, health and environmental economics. Prof. Hess has made contributions to the state of the art in the specification, estimation and interpretation of such models, notably in a valuation of travel time savings context, while also publishing widely on the benefits of advanced structures in actual large-scale transport analyses, for example in the context of air travel behaviour research. His contributions have been recognised by a number of major awards. He is also the Founding Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Choice Modelling, the Founder and Steering Committee Chair of the International Choice Modelling Conference, and the Co-chair for the 14th International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research, to be held in London in 2015. He is an Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part E, and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of two other leading journals: Transportation Research Part B and Transportation.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Airport congestion pricing: The role of terminal congestion and concessions
Professor Anming Zhang
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
8 November, 2014 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 November, 2014 (Saturday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
The existing literature on airport congestion literature focuses on runway congestion. The present paper develops a framework that incorporates both the runway congestion and terminal congestion, adopting a deterministic bottleneck model to describe the terminal congestion. We find that the comparison between first-best fare charged on business and leisure passengers depends on their relative cost between early schedule delay and waiting, as well as the dwell time of the passengers arriving at the point of time which sets the two types of passengers apart. Furthermore, if increasing the charge reduces the number of business passengers, the passenger type with higher relative schedule delay costs will be over-charged relative to the uninternalized terminal cost imposed on other passengers, while the other type under-charged. However, if increasing the charge raises the number of business passengers, such a comparison depends also on the difference in the relative schedule delay costs between the two types of passengers. In particular, when the relative schedule delay cost is higher for business passengers, all passengers will be under-charged. When the relative schedule delay cost is higher for leisure passengers, all passengers will pay more than the uninternalized terminal cost they bring about from travelling.
SPEAKER
Anming Zhang is a Full Professor in Operations and Logistics and holds Vancouver International Airport Authority Chair Professor in Air Transportation at Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC). He served as the Chair of the Operations and Logistics Division, Sauder School of Business (2003-2005), and as the Director of UBC's Centre for Transport Studies (2003-2004). He has been the Vice President (Academic & Program) for the World Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) since 2006. Dr. Zhang is the recipient of the "Yokohama Special Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher" awarded at the 7th World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) in Sydney, Australia in 1995, and is the recipient of the "WCTR-Society Prize", awarded to the overall best paper of the 8th WCTR in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1998. Dr. Zhang has published over 100 refereed journal papers in the areas of transportation, logistics, industrial organization and trade policy. He has co-authored two recent books: Globalization and Strategic Alliances: The Case of the Airline Industry, 2000, Pergamon Press, Oxford; and Air Cargo in Mainland China and Hong Kong, 2004, Ashgate, London (Chinese editions published both in Hong Kong and Mainland China). Dr. Zhang has been a consultant to organizations in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Korea, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, U.S. and Canada. Together with his colleagues, he has recently completed a research project entitiled "Towards Estimating the Social and Enviornmental Costs of Transportation in Canada." This is an input to Transport Canada's ongoing effort to estimate the full costs of all transportation modes including automobile, rail, air and shipping.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Network modelling for road closure assessment
Dr. James Luk
Chief Scientist, Network Operations, Australian Road Research Board (ARRB Group), Victoria, Australia
23 October, 2014 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 23 October, 2014 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The economic cost of road closures due to roadworks is seldom carried out in a formal manner, and often ignored. Knowing the traffic impact and economic cost is useful for a road agency to negotiate with construction contractors on the scheduling of road closures. The traffic impact due to diverted traffic on the adjacent network can be readily simulated and analysed using a network model. However, network modelling is time consuming and requires expertise and reasonable input data that a road agency may not have. The state road agency (VicRoads) in Melbourne invited ARRB to develop a generalised model that is easy to use and can provide a reasonable level of accuracy. The contents of this presentation are as follows: use of the UK TRANSYT software for this freeway closure study, development of a generalised model for road closure assessment, and calibration, validation and application of the model.
SPEAKER
Dr James Luk completed his undergraduate studies with the Chinese University of HK and then continued his postgraduate studies in Australia. After a few years in the industry, he joined the Australian Road Research Board in Melbourne and has been involved in intelligent transport system research and teaching for more than 30 years. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong in January-June 2013.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Bella Tseng at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: pltseng@hku.hk
Public transport planning in Italy: Some experiences in ITS context
Professor Agostino Nuzzolo
Department of Enterprise Engineering, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy
3 October, 2014 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Logistics and Transportation Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 3 October, 2014 (Friday)
Time : 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : Room M1603, 16/F, Li Ka Shing Tower (Block M), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Making public transit more attractive, faster and more efficient is a key role for increasing modal shift from private to public transport. Transit agencies are called to the hard tasks of planning and managing transit networks (that are increasingly complex and integrated) to satisfy the growing needs of travellers. Besides, the founding of Public Transport is dramatically going down in the last decades in Italy and now the challenge for city administrators and transit operators is to design efficient urban and regional systems with a quite satisfactory quality of service. In recent years, the evolution of information technology and telematics have allowed the development of support systems that help transit agencies in order to develop an advanced public transportation system through Advanced Transit Operations Control Systems - ATOCS and Advanced Transit Traveller Information Systems - ATTIS. Nowadays, bi-directional communication among travellers and info centres (crowdsourcing), and transit network "big data" collecting and processing seem to be two new factors that can improve the methods and the tools for transit operations control and traveller info, that in turn will improve service efficiency and quality. In this speech, the evolution of Public Transport in ITS context, in particular in Italy, is described and analysed, considering the future perspectives and challenges for transit agencies and travellers. Connected to new methods and tools development, there are several methodological research issues and challenges, that are analysed over the lecture.
SPEAKER
Prof. Agostino Nuzzolo is full professor of Transportation at
"Tor Vergata" University of Rome, Department of Enterprise
Engineering, and the past President of the Italian Academic
Society of Transports (SIDT). He taught for several years at
Summer Courses on Advanced Transportation Network
Modelling at MIT (Boston). His research activity is relative
to the theory of transportation systems and its application in
analysis, modelling and planning. The main research areas
are: Traveler behaviour models for ITS and ICT, Demand
and Supply models for urban freight transport and city
logistics, Assignment models for transit networks, Land use
and transport interaction models, Simulation models for road
accidents, DSS for strategic and tactical transportation
planning. He is author of several books, among them some on
the innovative schedule-based dynamic approach to transit
networks, and of more than 200 papers.
Prof. Nuzzolo also operates as consultant in the fields of the
analysis and design of transportation systems, with attention
to both environmental and territorial aspects as well as to the
socio-economic and safety impacts. Main activity sectors are:
- Planning, design and construction supervision of transport
infrastructures;
- Intelligent Transportation Systems;
- Feasibility studies of transport systems;
- Traffic Plans, Road Safety Audit, Mobility Plans and
Transport Planning at different spatial scales;
- Surveys on mobility and traffic;
- Environmental analysis;
- Economic and financial analysis;
- Design and implementation of Decision Support Systems
(DSS) for strategic planning and operations;
- Simulation models of passenger and freight transport
systems;
- Training courses on transport theoretical and applied
research.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Some innovative solutions for high speed railway lines
Professor Enrique Castillo
Department of Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences, School of Civil Engineering, University of Cantabria, Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering, Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, Santander, Spain
22 August, 2014 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 August, 2014 (Friday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3588 (Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
In this seminar we describe two innovative solutions for high speed railway lines: the first is the alternate double-single track (ADST) lines, which allows reducing the construction and maintenance costs in 40% without a significative amount of travel time for not very high traffic densities. The idea consists in building single track in very costly areas (tunnels and viaducts) and double track in cheap areas (open zones) and adjusting the time scedules for trains to cross in double track segments. The optimization problem suggested and an example of the Palencia-Santander line is given in detail. The second innovation refers to a risk analysis model that permits evaluating how the risk of accident increases when travel progresses and several possible causes (human error in signals or speed control, rolling stock or infrastructure failures, embankments, over and under-passes, track differential settlements, etc.) are faced with and how this is reduced when using supervising tools such as ERTMS, LZB, ASFA, etc. A Markov-Bayesian powerful model that combines continuous time models and a series of connected Bayesian networks permits quantifying the continuous and discrete (discontinuous) increases of the probability os failure with running length and then identifying the points or segments where some action to improve safety is required.
SPEAKER
Enrique Castillo was born in Spain and studied Civil Engineering at the Polytechnical University of Madrid, and Mathematics at the Complutensis University of Madrid. He got two Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University (1972) and the Polytechnical University of Madrid (1973). He has participated in more than 40 research projects and has authored 14 books in English and 15 in Spanish. He has presented 165 publications in Congresses and 249 papers published in 107 different journals. He has delivered talks, seminars and courses in 22 universities in Spain and 21 foreign universities. He has directed 39 Ph. D. theses (26 in Engineering, 9 in Mathematics, 2 in Informatics, 1 in Medicine, 1 in Economics) and has been Editor, Associated Editor and referee for more than 40 international journals, and advisor of 8 institutions or editorial companies. He is a Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences. He has been honored with the National prize in Engineering Research and with the Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Universities of Oviedo and Castilla-La Mancha. His main fields of research are: Extreme value distributions, optimization and operations research, functional equations, artificial intelligence and Bayesian networks, modeling of Engineering problems, functional networks, traffic engineering and innovative railway solutions including high speed lines and reliability analysis.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Entropy weighted average method for the determination of single representative path flow solution for the static user equilibrium traffic assignment problem
Dr. Srinivas Peeta
Professor of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA
25 July, 2014 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 July, 2014 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Static user equilibrium traffic assignment is a widely used planning tool for predicting flows in road transportation networks. The formulation for the static user equilibrium traffic assignment problem (UETAP) under some simplifying assumptions has a unique solution in terms of link flows but not in terms of path flows. The associated solution algorithms can illustrate large variations in terms of path flows. Many transportation planning and management applications entail the need for path flows. Examples of such applications include optimal location of refueling stations, select zone analysis, subarea analysis, impact fee assessment, estimation of spatial distribution of exhaust fume emissions from cold start, and analysis of the spatial equity issues of tolled links. The non-uniqueness of the path flow solution of the UETAP leads to the problem of generating a meaningful path flow solution for practice using some additional conditions. Past studies have sought to determine a unique path flow solution using the maximum entropy concept. This talk proposes an alternate approach to determine a single representative path flow solution that represents the entropy-weighted average of the UETAP path flow solution space. It has the minimum expected Euclidean distance from all other path flow solution vectors of the UETAP. The mathematical model of proposed entropy-weighted average method is formulated using insights from statistical thermodynamics, and its solution stability is proved. The model is easy to interpret and generalizes the proportionality condition of Bar-Gera and Boyce (1999). Results of numerical experiments using networks of different sizes suggest that the path flow solutions for the UETAP using the proposed method are about identical to those obtained using the maximum entropy approach. The entropy-weighted average method requires low computational effort and is easier to implement, and can therefore serve as a potential alternative to the maximum entropy approach for practice.
SPEAKER
Dr. Srinivas Peeta is a Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University and the Director of the NEXTRANS Center, the USDOT's Region 5 Regional University Transportation Center. He received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and University of Texas at Austin, respectively. He was the immediate past Chair of the TRB Committee on Transportation Network Modeling. He has authored about 230 technical publications, and has presented over 340 invited, keynote and international conference talks/seminars in several countries. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals including Transportation Research - Part B, Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems, the KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, and Transportmetrica B: Transport Dynamics. He is the Area Editor for Transport Telematics for the journal Networks and Spatial Economics. He has received more than US $30 million in sponsored research funding. Some of his awards include the INFORMS Best Dissertation Award (1994), the NSF CAREER Award (1997), Wansik Excellence in Research Award (2004), the Exceptional Paper Award from TRB’s Traffic Signal Systems Committee (2007), Purdue’s Seed for Success Award (2007-2013), AATT Best Paper Award (2008), the ASCE Walter Huber Research Award (2009), Visiting Distinguished Scholar, Taiwan (2009), UniSA Distinguished Researcher Award, Australia (2010), Purdue College of Engineering Mentoring Award (2012), and the TRB Blue Ribbon Committee Award (2013) as the chair of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee. Five dissertations supervised by Dr. Peeta received best dissertation awards from organizations such as the Council of University Transportation Centers and the International Association for Travel Behavior Research. His research interests are multidisciplinary and broadly span transportation and infrastructure systems.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Economics of crowding in public transport
Professor Robin Lindsey
CN Chair in Transportation and International Logistics, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada
25 July, 2014 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 July, 2014 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Many public transport systems are crowded at peak times and recent studies have found that disutility from crowding can be quite high. This paper develops a model of a transit service with a fixed headway between a single origin and destination. Users have a common preferred arrival time at the destination and cannot arrive late. They incur costs from arriving early and crowding, and have to choose which train to take. We derive user equilibrium for a uniform fare regime. We then solve the system optimum and the time-varying fare schedule that supports it. We also solve for optimal train capacity and the optimal number of runs for the two fare regimes - first with inelastic demand and then elastic demand. We conclude by considering variants of the model including multiple departure stations and an extended service in which trains are run regardless of cost as long as any travelers prefer to use them. The focus throughout is on the economic insights of public transport crowding and differences from the bottleneck model where congestion takes the form of queuing rather than crowding.
SPEAKER
Robin Lindsey holds the CN Chair in Transportation and International Logistics at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia. His research interests include road pricing, traffic congestion models, financing roads, urban public transportation, and advanced traveler information systems. He is a founding board member and Vice President of the International Transportation Economics Association (http://www.iteaweb.org), an Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part B and Transportmetrica, and a member of the editorial boards of Economics of Transportation, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Journal of Urban Economics, and Transport Policy. He is also coeditor with Andre de Palma, Emile Quinet and Roger Vickerman of Handbook in Transport Economics published in 2011 by Edward Elgar.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Green vehicle routing and scheduling problem
Professor Abdullah Konak
Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University Berks, USA
24 July, 2014 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Logistics and Transportation Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 24 July, 2014 (Thursday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y306, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
It is well known fact that CO2 is the major contributor to the global warming effect of the Earth in the last Century. Transportation, after electricity generation and heating, is the second-largest contributor of CO2 emissions, representing 22% of the global CO2 emissions in 2010. Traffic congestion on urban roads is one of the main contributor to CO2 emissions. According to the International Road Transport Union, traffic congestion has increased CO2 emissions by 300% and is responsible for 100 billion liters of wasted fuel, or 250 billion tons of CO2 emissions in the United States alone. Therefore, optimizing transportation operations under traffic congestion is important to reduce fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. In this talk, Prof. Konak presents a green vehicle routing and scheduling problem (GRVSP) considering a general case of time-dependent traffic conditions with the primary objective of minimizing CO2 emissions and weighted tardiness. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is introduced to describe the GRVSPs with hierarchical objectives. Computational studies are carried out on simulated real-life situations to examine the effectiveness of the MILP model in reducing CO2 emission for heavy-duty vehicles of different gross weights. Furthermore, alternative modeling and solution approaches based on exact and heuristic methods are introduced.
SPEAKER
Prof. Abdullah Konak is a Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University Berks, U.S.A. Prof. Konak received his degrees in Industrial Engineering, B.S. from Yildiz Technical University, Turkey, M.S. from Bradley University, U.S.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A. Prof. Konak's current research interest is in the application of Operations Research techniques to complex problems, including such topics as network design, network reliability, facilities design, and data mining. Prof. Konak has published papers in journals such as IIE Transactions, Operations Research Letters, Informs Journal on Computing, IEEE Transactions on Reliability, International Journal of Production Research, and Production Economics. He has been a principle investigator in sponsored projects from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. Prof. Konak currently teaches courses on Database Management Systems, Information Security, and Technology-based Entrepreneurship. He is a member of IIE and INFORMS.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Game theoretic genetic algorithms to solve network server assignment problem considering attacks
Professor Sadan Kulturel-Konak
Visiting Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Professor, Pennsylvania State University, Berks, PA, USA
10 July, 2014 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 10 July, 2014 (Thursday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Successful operations of telecommunication networks require an uninterrupted availability of critical network services. This research addresses the server assignment problem in telecommunication networks to maximize the availability of critical services considering attacks. The problem is formulated as a bi-level optimization problem with two decision makers, the network designer and the attacker. The network designer’s objective is to maximize the availability of network services by determining the best set of nodes in which services are deployed. The attacker decision’s problem is to determine an attack strategy that results in the maximum service disruption. A Genetic Algorithm approach, called Game Theoretic GA (GTGA), is presented because the problem is solved by two players independently who interact through a payoff matrix. The convergence properties of the GTGA is studied, and its performance is benchmarked to a bilevel GA in extensive computational studies.
SPEAKER
Sadan Kulturel‐Konak is a Professor of Management Information Systems and the coordinator of Engineering Entrepreneurship at Penn State Berks. She received her degrees in Industrial Engineering; B.S. from Gazi University, Turkey in 1993, M.S. from Middle East Technical University, Turkey in 1996 and from the University of Pittsburgh in 1999, and Ph.D. from Auburn University in 2002. Her research interests are in modeling and optimization of complex systems and robustness under uncertainty with applications to facility layout, reliability, and scheduling. She has published her research in numerous journals including IIE Transactions, OR Letters, INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS Transactions on Education, International Journal of Production Research, European Journal of Operational Research, and Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing Computers. She is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). She is currently the president of INFORMS Transportation Science Logistics (TSL) Society- Facility Logistics Special Interest Group. She has been a principle investigator in sponsored projects from National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Christina Leung at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: yuetming@hku.hk
Embracing a possible paradigm shift in traffic data acquisition
Professor Wei-Hua Lin
Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering, The University of Arizona, USA
9 June, 2014 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 June, 2014 (Monday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y302, 3/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The integration of internet and mobile phones has opened the door to a new wave of utilizing private vehicles as probes not only for conducting performance evaluation or generating traffic information but for traffic control as well, gradually replacing the role of traffic surveillance systems as the dominant source of traffic data. To prepare for such a paradigm shift, one needs to overcome some key institutional barriers, in particular, the privacy issue. A Highway Voting System (HVS) is proposed to address this issue in which drivers provide link- and/or path-based vehicle data to the traffic management system in the form of "votes" in order to receive favorable service from traffic control. The proposed HVS offers a platform that links data from individual vehicles directly with traffic control. In the system, traffic control responds to voting vehicles in a way similar to the current system responding to prioritized vehicles and providing the requested services accordingly. We show that the proposed "voting" system can effectively resolve the privacy issue which often hampers traffic engineers from getting detailed data from drivers. Strategies to entice drivers into "voting" so as to increase the market penetration level under all traffic conditions are discussed. Examples are given to demonstrate the impact of the proposed system on algorithm development and traffic control.
SPEAKER
Prof. Lin received a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering of The University of Arizona, U.S.A. Prior to joining The University of Arizona, he has worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the PATH program of the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests are optimization in logistics, transportation network analysis and intelligent transportation systems. He is currently a member of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee of Transportation Research Board, National Research Council of U.S.A. He serves as the Paper Review Chair of the Committee. He is also an Associate Editor of IEEE ITS Transactions and two other journals.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Pricing of parking games with atomic players
Dr. Yafeng Yin
Civil and Coastal Engineering, Director, Transportation Research Center University of Florida, USA
26 May, 2014 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 26 May, 2014 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y512, 5/F, Block Y, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This talk considers a parking competition game where a finite number of drivers from different origins compete for a finite number of parking spaces located at various places to minimize their own parking costs. If one driver reaches a desired vacant parking space before another driver, he or she will occupy the space and the other driver will have to search elsewhere. A system of nonlinear equations is first proposed to describe the equilibrium state of this atomic parking competition game, and then optimal pricing schemes are discussed, which steer the parking competition to a system optimum assignment of parking spaces. These schemes are characterized by a union of polyhedrons. Given that the equilibrium state of the parking competition is not unique, a valid toll vector is further introduced to ensure that the parking competition outcome will always be system optimum. A sufficient condition is provided for the existence of such a valid toll vector. Lastly, a robust pricing scheme is sought to minimize the worst-case equilibrium cost.
SPEAKER
Dr. Yafeng Yin is an Associate Professor at Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering and the Director of Transportation Research Center, University of Florida. He works in the areas of transportation systems analysis and modeling, and has published over 70 refereed papers in leading academic journals. He is an Associate Editor for Transportation Research Part C, and Journal of Advanced Transportation, an Area Editor for Journal of Transportation Safety and Security, and serves on the editorial boards of Transportation Research Part B, ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, and Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems. He is also a member of Transportation Network Modeling Committee of Transportation Research Board. Dr. Yin received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 2002, his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 1996 and 1994 respectively. Prior to his current appointment at the University of Florida, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at University of California at Berkeley, U.S.A between 2002 and 2005. Between 1996 and 1999, he was a lecturer at Tsinghua University.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
A real-time signal control model using the continuum approximation of interrupted flows at signalized intersections
Professor Hongchao Liu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas Tech University, USA
12 May, 2014 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 May, 2014 (Monday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
According to Texas Transportation Institute's 2012 Urban Mobility Report, in 2011, congestion caused urban American travelers extra 5.5 billion hours and 2.9 billion gallons of fuel at a total cost of $121 billion. Congestion at signalized intersections, though not precisely calculated, is believed to be a major contributor. With the recent advance in vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) and infrastructure to vehicle (I2V) communication technologies, application of real-time signal control systems at large network scale is becoming practical. This study presents a novel approach for optimal control of signalized intersections with enhanced computational efficiency. It is unique in two ways. First, it models signalized intersections as common freeway bottlenecks by an approximation method in which interrupted flows are presented by continuum flows. Both traffic arrivals and departures are presented by continuous functions as if there were no interruptions from traffic signals. The use of continuum approximations makes it easy to apply differential calculus in optimization and extend the analysis to the network scale. Secondly, a reverse causal-effect scheme is developed in a dynamic linear programming approach to maximize the total vehicular output from the intersections. The optimized departure flow rates (the effect) are then converted to signal timing parameters (the cause) that can be readily implemented in a real-time system. The models are developed at both single intersection and network levels with focus on oversaturated intersections.
SPEAKER
Hongchao Liu is Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Director of Transtech Research Laboratory at Texas Tech University. He received his PhD from the University of Tokyo in Transportation System Engineering in 2000. Prior to joining the faculty of Texas Tech in 2004, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. His research has been focused on traffic operation and control, traffic flow theory, and intelligent transportation systems with focus on map-matching and application of GIS and advanced vehicle location technologies in transportation. His recent research is focused on data-driven traffic models and advanced analytic methods for the analysis of large transportation data.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Toward more sustainable cities: optimal surveillance, design and management of urban transportation networks
Dr. Yanfeng Ouyang
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
14 April, 2014 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 April, 2014 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y306, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Rapid advances of information technologies and systems analysis methods hold the promise to integrate complex physical infrastructures into a networked cyber-physical system that supports the development of sustainable future cities. As part of these efforts, surveillance sensors are widely deployed in urban systems to obtain relevant information that forms the basis for effective planning, management and control. For example, traffic sensors (e.g., induction loops, cameras, and radio frequency transponders) are deployed to monitor multi-modal transportation networks. The surveillance effectiveness depends not only on the installation location but also on the health of the sensors--sensor disruptions that compromise surveillance benefits have been repeatedly observed. We use traffic network surveillance as an example to show how reliable sensor location models can be developed to optimize surveillance effectiveness when sensors are subject to site-dependent probabilistic disruptions. A general effectiveness measure is proposed to encompass a range of surveillance needs in current transportation engineering practice. The problem is formulated into a compact mathematical program, and we develop a variety of solution algorithms. Numerical case studies are conducted to test the performance of the proposed algorithms and draw managerial insights on how different parameter settings (e.g., failure probability and spatial heterogeneity) affect overall surveillance effectiveness. The proposed modeling framework is general and can be extended to many other application contexts such as infrastructure health monitoring and environment condition surveillance.
SPEAKER
Dr. Ouyang is Associate Professor and the Paul F. Kent Endowed Faculty Scholar of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the UIUC, U.S.A. He received his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 2005. His research interest mainly lies in the areas of transportation and logistics systems, urban infrastructure systems, traffic flow theory and operations, renewable energy, sensor, and agricultural systems. He currently serves as a Department Editor of IIE Transactions (Focused Issue on Operations Engineering and Analytics), an Associate Editor of Transportmetrica B, and he is on the editorial advisory board of Transportation Research Part B and the ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems. He received the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2008, the Xerox Award for Faculty Research from UIUC in 2010, and the Gordon F. Newell Award from the University of California at Berkeley in 2005. In the past eight years at Illinois, he has appeared on the list of "Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students" eight times.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Theoretical advances of transportation safety planning
Professor Helai Huang
Professor and Director of Urban Transport Research Center, Assistant Dean, School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Central South University, China
21 March, 2014 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 21 March, 2014 (Friday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Part I: Overview of methodological development of TSP
Road safety is increasingly considered as a necessary component in the transportation
planning process. Safety measures should be incorporated into transportation planning
since the way the planning process is performed, including design, construction,
operation and maintenance, significantly affects traffic safety. In the past decade,
considerable efforts have been made to explore various safety conscious planning
approaches to form the next generation method, i.e. Transportation Safety Planning.
This presentation presents an overview for state of the art and practice of
Transportation Safety Planning. A theoretical framework and a spatial analysis
approach with a four-step procedure are proposed. Case studies are employed to
illustrate the key ideas and to highlight the methodological advances. Future
research potentials on major challenges associated with this new research topic
are recommended.
Part II (Technical development): Sensitivity analysis in the context of regional
safety modeling: identifying and assessing the MAUP effects
A wide array of spatial units has been explored in current regional safety analysis.
Since traffic crashes exhibit extreme spatiotemporal heterogeneity which has
rarely been a consideration in partitioning these zoning systems, research
based on these areal units may be subjected to the modifiable areal unit problem
(MAUP). This presentation presents a sensitivity analysis to quantitatively
investigate the MAUP effect in the context of regional safety modeling.
Part III (Technical development): Bayesian spatial joint modeling of traffic
crashes on an urban road network
This study proposes a Bayesian spatial joint model of crash prediction
including both road segments and intersections located in an urban road
network, through which the spatial correlations between heterogeneous types
of entities could be considered. Compared to traditional road-entity-level
CPMs, the joint model proposed provides a new perspective at road-network
level by taking into account varied types of road entities plus their
spatial correlation within an integrated network.
SPEAKER
Dr. Helai Huang is a professor and the director of Urban Transport Research Center in School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Central South University, China. Dr. Huang holds B.E & M.S degrees from Tianjin University, China (1996-2003), a PhD degree from National University of Singapore (2003-2008), and worked as a post-doc at University of Central Florida (2008-2010). His research interests include traffic safety, transportation planning and ITS. Dr. Huang is an associate Editor of Accident Analysis and Prevention (Elsevier), an editorial board member of Analytic Method in Accident Research (Elsevier) and Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, a committee member for TRB ABJ80 Committee (Statistical Methods) and TRB ANF10 Committee (Pedestrians), and a journal reviewer for 14 SCI/SSCI-indexed international journals. Since 2004, Dr. Huang has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications including a monograph, a book chapter in the TTT book series, 28 SCI/SSCI-indexed journal articles and about 40 research papers at various international symposiums including TRB annual meetings, ISTTT, WCTR, RS4C etc. Currently, Dr. Huang is leading two research projects in the field of Transportation Safety Planning funded by the NSF of China.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Christina Leung at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: yuetming@hku.hk
Measurement and modeling of micro- and meso-scale real-world onroad vehicle activity and emissions
Professor H. Christopher Frey
Visiting Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Distinguished University Professor, North Carolina State University, USA
10 February, 2014 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 10 February, 2014 (Monday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Onroad and nonroad vehicles contribute significantly in the U.S. and other countries to emissions of pollutants such as NOx, CO, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter, and to formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone, that lead to human exposure and adverse health impacts. Portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) are used to observe in-use vehicle tailpipe emissions, thereby leading to duty cycles and associated energy usage and emissions rates that represent real-world conditions. PEMS utilization includes field study design, data collection, quality assurance, and data analysis. Over the last dozen years, field data have been collected using similar methods for a wide variety of vehicles, including cars, trucks, construction equipment, and railroad locomotives. These data have been used to support improved emission inventories, evaluate the impact of traffic control and transportation infrastructure, develop models that link transportation activity and emissions, empirically evaluate the efficacy of vehicle regulations, and inform decisions regarding fuel choices. The implications of data collection and modeling for improved decision making regarding management of vehicle emissions will be discussed.
SPEAKER
H. Christopher Frey is Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at NC State. He leads research on measurement and modeling of real-world fuel use and emissions of onroad and nonroad vehicles and on exposure and risk analysis, and has conducted research on quantification of sensitivity, uncertainty, and variability in environmental and risk models, quantification of uncertainty in emission factors and inventories, and modeling and evaluation of power generation and environmental control systems. He has published over 100 journal papers, 160 conference papers, and 60 technical reports, and has authored or co-authored 7 book chapters and 1 book. Dr. Frey is Chair of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), which advises the EPA Administrator on the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. He is a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board. He was a lead author for guidance on uncertainty in greenhouse gas emission inventories for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has also served on expert panels of the National Research Council and World Health Organization. Dr. Frey is a fellow of Air & Waste Management Association and a fellow and past president of the Society for Risk Analysis. Dr. Frey has a B.S. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia, and from Carnegie Mellon University he has a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and PhD in Engineering and Public Policy.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Christina Leung at Tel.: 2859-8024, Fax: 2559-5337 or Email: yuetming@hku.hk
Transport futures: Thinking the unthinkable
Professor David Banister
The University of Oxford, UK
17 January, 2014 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning Programme, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 17 January, 2014 (Friday)
Time : 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 2.58, 2/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus Central Podium Levels, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
It is becoming increasingly important to think about longer term possibilities and directions that are trend breaking and can help anticipate the unexpected and explicitly include uncertainty. This presentation discusses the role that different types of scenarios can play in helping derive potential transport futures - including issues of possibility, plausibility and desirability - giving examples of each. It then contextualises the scenarios, emphasising the need for the longer view, the importance of decarbonising the economy, and in engaging decisions makers at all levels in a fully participatory process to confront the need for strong action on mitigation and adaptation. This is illustrated with an example from London to demonstrate some of the recent developments and applications of these principles. Finally, some comments are made on the issues relating to improving our understanding of sustainability, and the difficulty of making radical changes to individual and societal values, and to travel behaviours, often requiring immediate and large scale actions.
SPEAKER
Professor Banister is Professor of Transport Studies at Oxford University and Director of the Transport Studies Unit. Until 2006, he was Professor of Transport Planning at University College London. He has also been Research Fellow at the Warren Centre in the University of Sydney (2001-2002) on the Sustainable Transport for a Sustainable City project, was Visiting VSB Professor at the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam (1994-1997), and Visiting Professor at the University of Bodenkultur in Vienna in 2007. He is currently the first Benelux BIVET-GIBET Transport Chair (2012-2013). His research expertise is in transport scenario building, sustainable cities, energy and environmental modelling, and he has published 23 books and over 200 academic papers on these topics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Becky Loo at Tel.: 3917-7024
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Carey Lau at Tel.: 3917-5722, Fax: 2559-8994 or Email: lauyya@hku.hk
A flow congestion model of morning rush-hour traffic dynamics
Professor Richard Arnott
University of California, Riverside, USA
17 December, 2013 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 17 December, 2013 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room ZN902, 9/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The bottleneck model of morning rush-hour traffic dynamics has proved very valuable. Because it is so simple, it has admitted numerous extensions. The basic bottleneck model and its many extensions have provided many valuable insights into metropolitan rush-hour traffic dynamics and congestion management policy. A model however is just that, a model, and necessarily overlooks many important features of the real-world phenomenon being modeled. One of the deficiencies of the bottleneck model is that it assumes away hypercongestion -- travel on the backward-sloping portion of the macroscopic fundamental diagram. But especially in the large and rapidly growing cities outside what used to be called the First World, rush-hour hypercongestion is a pervasive phenomenon. This deficiency is widely acknowledged, and indeed many urban transportation theorists have attempted to extend the bottleneck model to admit hypercongestion. But no models have really succeeded in cutting the Gordian knot, solving the delay differential equation with an endogenous delay that is intrinsic to the problem. The seminar will present work in progress on a flow congestion model of morning rush-hour traffic dynamics in an isotropic downtown area with departure masses. The point of departure is the observation that, with identical individuals, a sequence of departure masses constitutes a trip-timing equilibrium. Trip cost is trivially the same for all those traveling in a departure mass. The second departure mass departs immediately after the first departure mass arrives, and is such that trip cost is the same as for the first departure mass. The equilibrium number of departure masses is such that no driver can reduce his trip cost by departing outside a departure mass.
SPEAKER
Prof. Arnott is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of California, Riverside, U.S.A. An applied microeconomic theorist, he is best known for his work in urban economic theory and in urban transportation economic theory. In recent years, he has devoted most of his research time to three topics: the interaction of downtown parking and traffic congestion in steady state, rush-hour traffic dynamics, and, in collaboration with Alex Anas, development of a computable general equilibrium model of land use, transportation, and environmental quality for the Greater Los Angeles Region. He currently serves as the economics Associate Editor of Transportation Research B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
A structured flexible transit system for low demand areas
Dr. Yanfeng Ouyang
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
17 December, 2013 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 17 December, 2013 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room ZN902, 9/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Public transportation is often viewed as a means to address congestion in urban areas. However, it also serves another equally important societal function: providing mobility to those who lack access to alternative modes of transportation. Traditionally, public transit networks contain fixed bus routes and predetermined bus stations. Such systems are often found unaffordable and even inaccessible in areas and/or time periods with low travel demand. This talk focuses on an alternative "structured" flexible-route transit system, in which each bus is allowed to travel across a predetermined area to serve passengers, while these bus service areas collectively form a hybrid "grand" structure that resembles hub-and-spoke and grid networks. Dr. Yanfeng Ouyang and his team analyze the agency and user cost components of this proposed system in idealized square cities and seek the optimum network layout, service area of each bus, and bus headway, to minimize the total system cost. They compare the performance of the proposed transit system with that of comparable systems (e.g. fixed-route transit network and taxi service), and show how each system is advantageous under certain passenger demand levels. It is found out that under low-to-moderate demand levels, the proposed flexible-route system has the lowest system cost. At the end of the talk, some extensions of the proposed transit system will be briefly discussed.
SPEAKER
Dr. Ouyang is Associate Professor and Paul F. Kent Endowed Faculty Scholar of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), U.S.A. He also holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at UIUC. His research mainly lies in the areas of logistics systems, supply chains, multimodal transportation networks, and operations management, with applications in the contexts of renewable energy, sensing, and agricultural production. He received the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2008, the Xerox Award for Faculty Research from UIUC in 2010, and the Gordon F. Newell Award from the University of California at Berkeley in 2005. A full list of his recent publications can be found at http://web.engr.illinois.edu/~yfouyang/publication.htm.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Modelling dynamics of signal dilemma zone and dual-loop-based vehicle classification with ground-truth vehicular trajectories
Dr. Heng Wei
Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering & Construction Management, The University of Cincinnati, USA
9 December, 2013 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 December, 2013 (Monday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Civil Eng. Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Dr. Heng Wei's invented software Vehicle Video-Capture Data Collector (VEVID) enables extraction of ground-truth multiple vehicular trajectory data from video and its accuracy is satisfactorily ensured against congested traffic conditions. The trajectory data makes it possible to reveal inherencies and mechanism of signal dilemma zone dynamics and improve vehicle classification models over dual-loop sensors under congestions. In this seminar, Dr. Wei will present his innovative methods with the use of ground-truth trajectories for 1) modelling dynamics of signal dilemma zone problem by incorporating the quantified dynamics into the traditional dilemma zone model; and 2) improving dual-loop and vehicle-length based vehicle classification modeling problem. In the study of the first problem, the quantitative models for the identified contributing factors are developed and validated using separate datasets which are resulted from running VEVID. The dynamics of dilemma zone are identified pertinent to the minimum perception reaction time (PRT) and maximum acceleration and deceleration rates under various speeds. The evaluation result suggests that the renovated dynamical model estimate the dilemma zone more accurately than conventional static models. The innovation brings advancement in empirical understanding and theoretical modeling of the dilemma zone dynamics and hence provides theoretical support for developing more efficient and effective dilemma zone protection strategies in the future. In the study of the second problem, scenarios of vehicle movements over dual loops under synchronized or stop-and-go congested traffic conditions are identified by using the ground-truth trajectory data, and then the Vehicle Classification under Synchronized Traffic Model (VC-Sync model) and the Vehicle Classification under Stop-and-Go Model (VC-Stog model) are developed. The evaluation results indicate higher accuracy of length-based vehicle classifications resulting from those new models compared with the results of the convention model by using dual loop data.
SPEAKER
Dr. Heng Wei is an Associate Professor of The University of Cincinnati (UC). Since joining UC, he has secured 30 research projects from ODOT, FHWA, NSF, USDOT UTCs, EPA, and UC URC/FDC. Dr. Wei's breakthrough achievements have been reflected in microscopic traffic simulation and loop-based vehicle classification modeling, dilemma zone related safety problems, and ITS-based transportation related environment protection issues. His research has resulted in 152 peer-reviewed papers, and he is an author of one book and eight book chapters. He is a member of numerous outstanding professional committees, such as TRB Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing Applications (ABJ70), Transportation in Developing Countries (ABE90), ASCE T&DI Committee on Advanced Technology Committee and Transportation Safety and ASCE T&DI Committee on Sustainability and Environment. He is Chair of IEEE ITSS Travel Information and Traffic Management Committee and President of Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA). In addition, he has successfully organized/chaired/co-chaired 15 international professional conferences, including IEEE ITSC, programs of TRB annual/mid-year meetings, and CICTP series. He is an associate editor of the Open Journal of Civil Engineering and editorial board member of the Open Transportation Journal.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Estimating trajectories of all running vehicles by fusing detector and probe data
Professor Masao Kuwahara
Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
7 November, 2013 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date : 7 November, 2013 (Thursday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room Y502, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This study proposes a data fusion technique to estimate trajectories of all running vehicles on a signalized urban arterial as well as on an intercity motorway by fusing probe vehicle and traffic detector data. Although probe vehicle data are getting popular, their rich information on vehicle trajectories have not been fully utilized but mostly it has been reduced to link travel times. Therefore, the objective of this research is to examine a data fusion framework to reconstruct vehicle trajectories by combining traffic data from conventional traffic detectors and probe vehicle data. Proposed methodology is based on the three dimensional traffic representations which combine the kinematic wave theory developed by Lighthill, Whitham and Richards (LWR) in 1950s and the cumulative curves by Newell. Recently, Daganzo proposed an efficient calculation method based on Variational Theory (VT) to evaluate the three dimensional surface. In this study, two kinds of calculation methods are examined: (1) Daganzo's VT and (2) a modified traffic simulation method. The methods are applied to a signalized urban arterial in the centre of Tokyo, and also to an intercity motorway, Tohoku expressway. Comprehensively examination of the accuracy as well as the sensitivity with respect to the input data and the model parameters are discussed.
SPEAKER
Prof. Masao Kuwahara is a Professor at Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Japan. He graduated from Waseda University, Japan in 1977 and then worked in a construction company before acquiring his Master degree in the University of Tokyo (UT), Japan and Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. in 1985. Since then, he has 25-year experience in research and education in the University of Tokyo in which, most of the time, he was working at Institute of Industrial Science on dynamic network analysis, highway capacity, traffic signal control traffic simulation modeling, traffic data analysis, ITS, etc. In 2009, he, together with his colleagues, established Advanced Mobility Research Centre in the University of Tokyo and became the Director. In 2010, he became a Professor in Tohoku University and still keeps professor position in the University of Tokyo. He has been appointed as members of various committees of ministries, local governments and public corporations on transportation planning and traffic management. He has also been serving as an International Advisory Committee member of ISTTT as well as an editor in several international journals.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Estimating the effectivness of speed cameras
Professor Mike Maher
Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK
22 October, 2013 (Tueday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date : 22 October, 2013 (Tueday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room ZS970, 9/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Speed cameras have been in operation in the U.K. since the early 1990s and in the intervening period have generated a considerable amount of debate and controversy. The anti-camera lobby has argued that cameras are merely a device for local authorities to make money through speeding fines, and that the methodologies used to estimate the effectiveness of cameras in reducing accidents and fatalities have been flawed. Certainly the before to after comparison of accidents at camera sites is far from straightforward, being complicated not only by the random nature of the accident frequencies but also by the presence of trend and by the phenomenon of regression to the mean (RTM), brought about by the process by which camera sites are selected. Sites are selected because of a high number of accidents in the previous three year period. If trend and RTM are not allowed for, the estimated effectiveness of cameras will be exaggerated - often to a substantial degree. Previous work by the speaker has used the empirical Bayes method (EBM) to estimate the magnitude of the RTM effect and demonstrated that the camera effect could be halved (from 40% to 20%) when RTM was allowed for. However the EBM is seen by some as being too complex and opaque and, in the face of continuing controversy, in 2011 the Department requested that local authorities make available the raw data on annual numbers of accidents at all their camera sites from 1990 to 2010, so that anyone could analyse the data. Following this transparency exercise, the RAC Foundation produced, in June 2013, a report providing guidelines on how the data might be analysed. The seminar will describe the methodology and show results from its application to data from ten camera partnerships. It will also discuss the arguments that still continue and highlight the issues that remain to be resolved.
SPEAKER
Since graduating from St. John's College, Cambridge, U.K. with a first degree in Engineering (1966) and a Ph.D. in Operations Research (1970), Prof. Maher has worked in the application of mathematical and statistical modelling to transport problems. As well as working in academia at the Institute for Transport Studies at University of Leeds (ITS Leeds), U.K., the Department of Probability and Statistics at the University of Sheffield, U.K., and the Transport Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University, U.K., he has also worked for a time in the scientific civil service, at the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire, U.K. He retired from full-time work in 2007 and returned in a part-time capacity to ITS Leeds as Research Professor in the Mathematical Analysis of Transport Systems. His principal areas of research have been in route choice modelling in complex road networks, the estimation of the effectiveness of remedial traffic safety measures (e.g. speed cameras), and the use of Monte Carlo traffic simulation models for optimization. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, a Chartered Statistician, and member of the editorial advisory board for the leading international journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai Sumalee at Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
The sensitive and materially optimised road - a step into the future
Professor Bernhard Steinauer
RWTH Aachen University, Germany
3 October, 2013 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date : 3 October, 2013 (Thursday)
Time : 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Venue : Room Z4-037, 9/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The following highlights the key points of this presentation: (1) The sensitive and materially optimised road structural engineering: suitable surface layer for new construction and renovation, standardised factory production under fixed environmental conditions, rollable surface layer covering, better properties than existing road surfaces (good grip, quit), material optimisation of the compound depending on areas of use, and use of binders on a polymer basis and thus renunciation of bituminous binders. (2) The sensitive and materially optimised road functions: obstacle recognition (e.g. end of tailback), wetness recognition (to regulate safety distance), risk recognition (wrong-way driver, dangerous overtaking, blind spot), traffic situation coverage in the net, traffic control, optimisation of traffic lights (dynamic, adaptive switching), and the energy-converting road.
SPEAKER
Prof. Bernhard Steinauer is currently the Chair Holder of Road, Traffic and Tunnel Engineering and Head of Institute of Road and Traffic Engineering of RWTH Aachen University in Germany. He also serves as a Guest Professor at Southeast University in Nanjing, China. Prof. Steinauer is a world-known expert in road and pavement engineering, especially in the area of pavement surface property characterization and road safety.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Z. Leng at Tel.: 2766-6007
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Traffic flow theory and its application in real-time traffic prediction
Dr. Dong Ngoduy
EPSRC career acceleration fellow, Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK
20 August, 2013 (Tueday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date : 20 August, 2013 (Tueday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room ZS970, 9/F, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have transformed many aspects of business, society and government, from healthcare to education and the economy. ICT are now in the early stages of transforming transportation systems by integrating sensors (remote sensing and positioning), control units (traffic signals, message signs) and automatic technologies with microchips to enable them to communicate with each other through wireless technologies. In many developed countries, particularly Japan and South Korea, the deployment of ICT in Active Traffic Management programs has led to significant improvement of traffic network performance such as reduced congestion, increased traffic safety, enhanced environmental quality (e.g. reduced CO2) and a more reliable service to the road user. It is expected that in the coming 5 to 10 years, ICT will considerably progress worldwide so that intelligent equipped vehicles, in which the driving tasks are shifted from the driver to the vehicle through autonomous vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, will make up a significant share of the traffic flow. It is thus important to seek solutions for monitoring and controlling more efficiently intelligent traffic networks. The seminar will discuss two aspects. On the one hand, we will review the development of traffic flow theory and how intelligent vehicles (e.g. equipped with adaptive cruise control systems) influence the dynamics of traffic flow in freeways. On the other hand, we will discuss how a traffic model is used along with real-time data collected from multiple sources (Bluetooth, floating cars or mobile phones) to produce a real-time traffic prediction system through a Bayesian estimation framework.
SPEAKER
Dr. Dong Ngoduy gained his Ph.D. in traffic flow theory and simulation in 2006 from the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. He joined Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds as a Research Fellow in 2007 and currently is a holder of the U.K. Research Council (EPSRC) Career Acceleration Fellowship focusing on the dynamics of the intelligent traffic system. Most of his published work has concerned the analysis of traffic flow dynamics in freeway and urban networks, particularly the instabilities (e.g. the propagation of stop-and-go traffic jams) of traffic flow due to the effects of information and communication technologies (i.e. adaptive cruise control systems). More recently, his attention has been the development of real-time traffic prediction models using emerging information such as Bluetooth, floating car or mobile phone data.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai Sumalee at Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Transportation for livability by integrating vehicles, drivers & environment
Professor Asad J. Khattak
Fred N. Peebles Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
9 August, 2013 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 August, 2013 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 5583 (5th floor, via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Instantaneous driving decisions are part of incessant human behavior during driving and they are essential to traffic safety, energy consumption and tailpipe emissions. To accommodate changes of surrounding environment, drivers make instantaneous decisions, such as maintain a certain speed, accelerate, brake, maintain acceleration or deceleration, or increase the rate of acceleration or deceleration (referred to as jerk, which is the decision to change marginal rate of acceleration and deceleration). These different instantaneous decisions and their combinations result in volatility which imposes traffic safety, energy and environmental challenges. This presentation develops a framework for understanding instantaneous decisions and explores volatility in such decisions with the aim of developing a fundamental understanding of instantaneous decisions. Empirical analysis is based on a large-scale travel behavior survey database, with 51,337 trips and their associated second-by-second (total 33 million seconds) Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected in 2011 in Atlanta, GA. Measures are used to quantify volatility in instantaneous driving decisions and exploring correlates of volatility. Analysis of Variance revealed that volatility in instantaneous decisions varies significantly between groups of different gender, age, trips of varying lengths, and morning peak hours. The implications of findings are discussed.
SPEAKER
Dr. Asad J. Khattak is Fred N. Peebles Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he teaches and conducts research in transportation. He is also: 1) Editor of Science Citation Indexed Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems, with a 5-year impact factor of 1.400 in 2012. 2) Associate Editor of SCI-indexed International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, with a 5-year impact factor of 1.043 in 2011. Dr. Khattak's research focuses on various types of innovations related to 1) intelligent transportation systems (their planning/operation and behavioral impacts), 2) transportation safety, and 3) sustainable transportation. During 2006-2013, he was Frank Batten endowed chair Professor of Civil Engineering at Old Dominion University where he developed and directed ODU's transportation research initiatives and educational programs. During his tenure ODU became part of consortium that was awarded a Tier 1 national University Transportation Center (TranLIVE) in the area of sustainability and livability. Before joining Old Dominion University, Dr. Khattak was Professor of Transportation at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he developed the Carolina Transportation Program (1995-2006). Prior to that (during 1991-1995), he actively participated in developing and implementing research on advanced transportation management and information systems at the California PATH Program, University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Khattak received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University in 1988 and 1991, respectively. He has been invited internationally to work at University of Oxford in England, the French National Institute for Transport and Safety Research, known as INRETS, Ajou University in South Korea, & University of Aveiro, Portugal. Dr. Khattak has 20 years of research experience and 17 years of teaching experience in the transportation field, after completing his Ph.D. He is a recipient of the "Shining Star Award" from Old Dominion University for helping students succeed academically, professionally, and personally inside and outside the classroom setting. He is nationally recognized—a national survey of 84 US planning schools ranked him 4th in terms of faculty with the greatest number of publications He has authored/co-authored 94 scholarly journal articles and 52 technical reports to research sponsors. His research work has been presented at numerous international conferences. As a principal- or co-investigator, he has successfully obtained 47 sponsored research and educational projects totaling more than $7.6 million.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
The physical law of network flow dynamics
Professor Feng Xiao
School of Transportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, China
29 July, 2013 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date : 29 July, 2013 (Monday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room ZS970, 9/F, Core Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
A novel continuous day-to-day dynamic traffic assignment model for a general transportation network is proposed in this study. The effects of the past information on the travelers' routing behavior (hysteresis) are characterized by the second-order derivative of the path flow. Thereupon, the day-to-day dynamic takes the form of a second-order non-homogeneous ordinary differential equation with constant coefficients. We prove that the dynamical process is globally asymptotically stable at the user equilibrium. The Lyapunov function reflects the total energy contained in the transportation network, which comprises two parts, the potential energy and the kinetic energy. The potential energy is stored in the links, which is increasing with the traffic flow on that link. The kinetic energy is generated by the day-to-day swapping behavior of the travelers with the existence of hysteresis and proportional to the square of the swapping speed, which exhibits the similar form with the kinetic energy in a physical system. The potential energy and the kinetic energy are interchanging during the dynamic process, yet the system keeps losing its energy because of the travelers' prospect of future, acting like the "damping" of the system. Finally the system is at the static state with the minimum total potential energy. This study gives a new look at the network flow dynamics from the perspective of physics, which discovers that the aggregate effects of the human activity, to some extent, follow the physical principles. Numerical examples are provided in the study to illustrate the trajectory of the flow evolution under the phenomenon of hysteresis.
SPEAKER
Prof. Xiao is currently full professor of the School of Transportation & Logistics at Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), China. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Tsinghua University, China in 2001 and 2004, and his Ph.D. degree from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong in 2007. He used to be a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, U.S.A. Prof. Xiao specializes in the interdisciplinary research of transportation and economics. His principal areas of interest have been in system optimization, bi-level network modeling, multi-modal competition and cost-benefit analysis of transportation infrastructure construction. Especially, he has a strong publication record on managing the transportation network mobility with pricing mechanisms, which involves multiple subjects like tradable credit schemes, multi-modal pricing competition, transportation network design, etc.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai Sumalee at Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Imagining radically-different future transport systems: The challenges and issues for modelling
Professor David Watling
Centenary Professor of Transport Analysis, Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK
29 July, 2013 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date : 29 July, 2013 (Monday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room ZS970, 9/F, Core Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In most practical and academic transport modelling studies, an approach is adopted whereby a hypothetical model is posited, this model is calibrated to current local conditions, some elements of the calibrated model are adjusted to mimic some proposed policy measure, and finally the predicted impacts of the policy are then examined, in order to support some public or private agency planning future investments. The approach is so ingrained that rarely does anyone actually mention it explicitly, or consider what it implicitly assumes. This approach becomes particularly problematic when we may wish to imagine future transport systems that are radically different from the present, either to avoid some anticipated future problems (lack of fuel, climate change), because we wish just to envision a better system for all ('utopia' thinking), or because we are facing a period of major social and economic change (as in several emerging economies around the world). In such cases, the people in the future may think and act very differently to people of the present, their values may be different, and there will likely be many, difficult-to-quantify changes external to the transport system that support such a future. We cannot capture this by 'calibrating to the present', but actually it is less clear even what (kinds of model) we should calibrate - the factors that we tend to neglect as important or too difficult to quantify may be exactly the factors that we need best to understand in order to capture such a future. Moreover, it is not clear that we can even do planning in the same way, and this may significantly affect how we choose to model the system; in particular, it is unlikely to be feasible to bring about radical change without active public participation, but then our 'models' and the assumptions behind them then need to be more clearly communicable to the public. The seminar will discuss two projects, one recent and one on-going, which aim to address these issues, and to develop new forms of 'modelling' techniques that are able to address these problems. We discuss the many difficult conceptual issues that arise, and particularly the new kinds of challenge that this kind of research sets for the modelling community.
SPEAKER
Prof. Watling is a mathematician by training who joined Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds, U.K. as a Research Assistant in 1989, being appointed as Centenary Professor of Transport Analysis in 2004. His interests are in the understanding and modelling of transport systems. Most of his published work has concerned the analysis of transport networks, especially when those networks have some components which are stochastic or time-varying. More recently, his attention has been split between such topics and the development of more 'qualitative' approaches for understanding and visioning radicallydifferent future transport systems.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai Sumalee at Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Date with Editor in Chief: Prospect and Vision - Transportation Research Part E
Professor Jiuh-Biing Sheu
Department of Business Administration, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
8 July, 2013 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 July, 2013 (Monday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
In this seminar, we introduce the new prospect and vision of Transportation Research Part E. Particularly, we highlight the new aim and scope of the journal, including several hot topics and research subjects (e.g., green logistics and supply chain management, emergency logistics, and supply chain disruption and resilience, behavioral modeling in supply chain management) targeted by TRE. Additionally, we introduce the new structure of editorial advisory board of TRE as well as the paper review process, including the criteria and standards adopted by TRE for paper evaluation. We hope that such two-way communication between the editor-in-chief and potential readers/authors of TRE may facilitate authors not only submitting papers fitting for the journal but also exploring new and novel research topics for future research in related areas.
SPEAKER
Professor Jiuh-Biing Sheu holds the distinguished professor at National Taiwan University. He is also the Editor in Chief of Transportation Research Part E, associate editor of Transportmetrica B, and editorial board member of Industrial Marketing Management. Professor Sheu has published over fifty refereed journal articles with a half of them by singly authored. Additionally, Professor Sheu published two special issues on Emergency Logistics management and Green Supply Chain Management for Transportation Research Part E in 2007 and 2011, respectively. His research areas cover Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Emergency Logistics, Green Supply Chain Management, Business-to-Business Marketing, Quantum Optical Flow Theory and its Applications in ITS, Behavioral Operations Management, Green Marketing, Affect Science and Cognition in Decision Science. He received Outstanding Researcher Awards from National Science Council of Taiwan in 2006 and 2012; Outstanding Young Researcher Project, National Science Council, Taiwan (2011-2015); Outstanding Scholar Research Project, National Science Council, Taiwan (2008-2011); Outstanding Researcher Award, National Chiao Tung University (2004) and Da-You Wu Outstanding Junior Researcher Award, National Science Council, Taiwan in 2003.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
A convergent gradient projection method for dynamic traffic assignment consistent with traffic control and user behaviour
Professor R. Jayakrishnan
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, USA
13 June, 2013 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 13 June, 2013 (Thursday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Dynamic traffic assignment based on simulation models is considered the most practical method to capture time-dependent equilibrium or optimal conditions in urban networks with significant temporal variations in traffic intensity. The traffic flow models appropriate for congested conditions are invariably analytically intractable within classical optimization frameworks, which is the reason for significant use of simulation models for state prediction within DTA formulations. The algorithm of choice has been the method of successive averages (MSA), due to its simplicity in combining simulation results of successive iteration. MSA, however, does not necessarily lead to theoretically-converged optimal or equilibrium conditions even while the iterations show convergence. A much faster gradient projection (GP) algorithm based on path-based variables is described here, that overcomes this difficulty and yields theoretically-converged DTA solutions. Case study examples are given for applying the algorithm to DTA based on microscopic simulation, which achieves traffic control and route guidance consistent with user behaviour.
SPEAKER
Professor R. Jayakrishnan has been in the faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine since 1991, after receiving his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests are in a variety of topics such as Traffic Flow Theory and Simulation, Transportation Systems Analysis, Network Modelling, Decision Theory, Intelligent Transportation Systems and Public Transit Design. Prof. Jayakrishnan has been a member of several professional committees, has served in the editorial committees of journals such as Transportation Research Part-C, and is currently the chair of the U.S. Transportation Research Board subcommittee on Route Choice and Spatio-Temporal Processes. A paper co-authored by him received the Pyke Johnson Award for the best paper in planning submitted to U.S. Transportation Research Board in 2009. Sixteen doctoral students have graduated under his advice and he has about 90 refereed publications to his credit.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. W.Y. Szeto at Tel.: 2857-8552
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Simulation-based dynamic traffic assignment: from the labs to the trenches, and beyond
Professor Yi-Chang Chiu
Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, The University of Arizona, USA
13 June, 2013 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 13 June, 2013 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In the past decade, simulation-based Dynamic Traffic Assignment (SBDTA) models have been increasingly applied to modeling emerging transportation operations, planning, and policy issues. Built upon decades of research, efficient algorithmic design and implementation, SBDTA models offer a vital and much needed regional dynamic traffic/activity modeling capability not available in traditional static assignment or microscopic simulation models. Furthermore, SBDTA models also create great opportunities for integrated urban land-use and travel activity modeling and analysis. Moving SBDTA models out of research laboratory and put it to use under stringent requirements of real-world applications is a process where real-world applications could inspire innovative research. In this talk, we will discuss several research activities supporting the development of an open source SBDTA model DynusT. Central to the discussion is the anisotropic mesoscopic traffic simulation model, large-scale origin-destination matrices and speed profile calibration, sensor location identification, information and congestion responsive diversion behavior, and multi-modal heterogeneous traffic assignment. Ongoing research on the integration with activity-based and land-use models, as well as incentive modeling are also presented and discussed.
SPEAKER
Dr. Chiu is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Arizona (UA) and President of Metropia, Inc. Dr. Chiu devoted into research in the area of large-scale dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) and real-time incentive-based commuter reward program for active demand management. Dr. Chiu's research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USDOT and more than 20 DOT and MPO in the U.S. Dr. Chiu is the principal developer of the open source DynusT DTA model that has 500+ agency users world-wide. Dr. Chiu served as domain expert in more than 20 expert panel meetings for various FHWA offices. Dr. Chiu is the associate editor for International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology, and editorial board member for the ASCE Journal of Urban Planning and Development.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. W.Y. Szeto at Tel.: 2857-8552
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Robust optimization and applications in transportation
Professor Tao Yao
Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, USA
5 June, 2013 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 5 June, 2013 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Robust optimization (RO) derives optimal solutions that are immune to set-based uncertainty. RO has received lots of recent attentions and becomes an alternative to classical stochastic programming (SP) that handles optimization under distribution-based uncertainty. In this talk, I will give a general introduction to RO and discuss its application in transportation. In particular, I will discuss our recent work in robust dynamic traffic assignment, robust dynamic congestion management, and two stage robust models for truckload service procurement.
SPEAKER
Tao Yao is an Associate Professor at Marcus Department
of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. He received the
Ph.D. degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. His research emphasizes
refinement and application of numerical and mathematical tools that fall within the disciplines of
optimization, stochastic modeling, data mining, statistics, and game theory. The specific numerical
and mathematical tools he has stressed are robust optimization, differential variational inequalities,
real options, and stochastic differential games. The primary application domains he has emphasized
are transportation and supply chains. The common goal of almost all of his work is to create a
foundation for dynamic optimization, uncertainty, equilibrium, and learning analysis for robust,
dynamic, multi-agent, complex, and competitive systems. His research involves tractable and scalable
optimization and equilibrium under uncertainty for real time and data driven large-scale applications.
He has more than 30 articles published in refereed journals including Transportation Research Part B:
Methodological, Production and Operations Management, Network and Spatial Economics, Decision Sciences,
European Journal of Operational Research, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, etc. He has
received research funding from NSF, MAUTC/USDOT, and industry. He serves Senior Editor of Production
and Operations Management, Area Editor of Network and Spatial Economics, the Committee on Transportation
Network Modeling, ADB30, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, and Editorial
Boards of IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management and Service Science. He has received an
honorable mention in the INFORMS George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award, Best Paper Awards from
Industrial Engineering Research Conference Computer and Information Systems (CIS) track, Best
Paper Award (Finalist) from INFORMS Service Science section, Best Student Paper Award (Runner-up)
from INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology, and a Best Paper Award from Industrial
and Systems Engineering Research Conference Supply Chain and Logistics track.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Are adaptive signal control systems a solution to urban congestion?
Professor Zong Tian
Associate Professor and Director; Center for Advanced Transportation Education and Research, University of Nevada Reno, USA
24 May, 2013 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 24 May, 2013 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room PQ303, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Adaptive traffic signal control systems are an emerging technology for urban arterial operations. This presentation focuses on the current status of adaptive traffic signal control system applications in the U.S. An overview of adaptive signal system deployments is first presented. Some insights of the advantages and drawbacks will be given. The results from some field before-after studies will be discussed. One particular issue is related to how a comparison is made against the time-of-day coordination plans. Potential biases can result if the comparison is against a non-optimal time-of-day coordination. Signal optimization software does not necessarily generate truly optimized signal timing plans. Errors are often result during the timing implementation process due to various factors. The presentation will also include a demo of a smartphone based application for facilitating field signal timing implementation. Finally, some thoughts are given regarding adaptive system applications under the traffic conditions in China.
SPEAKER
Prof. Zong Tian joined the University of Nevada Reno (UNR), U.S.A. in 2004 and is currently an Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Advanced Transportation Education and Research (CATER) at UNR. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Texas A&M University. He held a position of Associate Research Scientist at the Texas Transportation Institute between 2000 and 2004. He was employed at Kittelson and Associates, Inc. in Portland, Oregon between 1995 and 1999. Prof. Tian is active in various professional organizations. He is a member of two major Transportation Research Board (TRB) committees, the Highway Capacity and Quality of Service Committee and the Traffic Signal Systems Committee. He is also a member of the Special Interest Group 15 - Urban Traffic Control of the World Conference on Transportation Research Society (WCTRS). He is the paper review chair for the Highway Capacity and Quality of Service Committee of TRB. His specialty area is in traffic signal systems and operations, highway capacity, and integrated freeway and arterial operations. Prof. Tian received the Young Consultant Award from Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) in 1997.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
New methodological developments in land-use and activity-travel demand modeling with application to the Los Angeles area
Professor Chandra Bhat
Director, Center for Transportation Research University Distinguished Professor and Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
24 May, 2013 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 24 May, 2013 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room PQ303, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
There have been important recent methodological developments in land-use and activity-travel demand modeling. One of these is the development of methods to recognize and accommodate social and spatial interdependencies in individual choice processes. The second relates to methods that acknowledge that several consumer demand choices related to travel and other decisions are characterized by a discrete dimension as well as a continuous dimension. In the current presentation, the author will discuss recent lines of work in these two broad areas. Within each area, the author will present specific model structures and identify inference approaches. Applications to a model of household vehicle type choice model and another model of household activity generation will be discussed. These models have been embedded within a larger activity-based modeling structure (labeled as Simulator of Activities, Greenhouse gases, Energy, Networks, and Travel or SimAGENT) for the Southern California region. The applicability of this structure for socially and demographically diverse urban settings such as in China will be identified.
SPEAKER
Prof. Chandra Bhat is University Distinguished Professor and Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, The University of Texas (UT) at Austin, U.S.A. He is also the Director of the Center for Transportation Research at UT. His substantive research interests include land-use and travel demand modeling, activity-based travel modeling, policy evaluation, mobile-source emissions analysis, and physical health and transportation. His methodological research interests and expertise are in the areas of econometric and mathematical modeling of consumer behavior. His research has been widely referenced in the economics, marketing, geography, statistics, and transportation fields.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Mid-America freight coalition truck demand microsimulation model
Professor Alan Joel Horowitz
Professor, Civil Engineering and Mechanics, and Director, Center for Urban Transportation Studies, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA
10 April, 2013 (Wednedsay)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 10 April, 2013 (Wednedsay)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
This presentation will first review the status of freight planning models in the US for both urban settings and large regions (states and multiple states). Deficiencies of these models and those databases necessary to operate them have led a few researchers to try microsimulation of freight demand. The MAFC microsimulation model operates over a 10 state region in the central part of the US. The Phase I model had only 5 indicator commodities (corn, soybeans, motor vehicle parts, plastics and dairy). Phase II is extending the number of commodities sufficiently for approximating all truck freight in the region. To implement the model, a new method for commodity transshipment was developed, and an enhanced method for estimating values of time was also developed.
SPEAKER
Professor Alan Joel Horowitz is currently a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is also Director of the Center for Urban Transportation Studies. Prof Horowitz is a transportation engineer and an urban planner. His research spans the areas of travel forecasting, transportation benefits, and social and environmental impacts of transportation policy. His research has been widely disseminated in academic journals, conference proceedings, monographs, and software. Prior to completing his doctorate, he was a member of the staff of Technology Service Corporation where he participated in air quality studies for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Highway Administration. In December of 1974, Professor Horowitz joined the staff of General Motors Research Laboratories. His research included analyses of transportation impacts on residential location, development of procedures for psychological scaling of time spent in travel, and fuel efficiency of automobiles. Since coming to the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in January 1979, Professor Horowitz has been continuing his research into values of travel time, and conducting new research about urban trip tours, land-use impact assessment, single-route ridership forecasting, trip assignment, subarea focusing, ride quality of highways, intermodal passenger transfer facilities, transportation benefits, freight planning, applications of GIS to transportation networks, hazardous materials routing, driver route choice behavior, freight demand, and travel forecasting methodology. Professor Horowitz is a Life Fellow in the Institute of Transportation Engineers and a Charter Member of the American Planning Association. He is a professional engineer (PE) in Wisconsin, and he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Agent-based modelling of travel behaviour and flow: the MATSim implementation in Singapore and elsewhere
Professor K.W. Axhausen
Professor of Transport Planning, ETH - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
20 March, 2013 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 20 March, 2013 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The shift from aggregate zonal flows to disaggregate activity based analysis is still on-going in transport planning and less so in traffic engineering. The scale of the problem in terms of the sizes of populations and in terms of requested network detail produces computational demands which make the shift still challenging. The agent-based framework MATSim tries to address these issues by tightly integrating travel demand and traffic flow simulation, reducing detail where not required and keeping computational efficiency high. (See www.matsim.org for the GNU public licence software and documentation). The talk will present the basic idea behind the co-evolutionary relaxation strategy, which MATSim employs to find an agent-defind Stochastic User equilibrium across activity durations and travel. The approaches to model the choice of the number and sequence of activity, durations, locations, modes, routes and the integration of social networks will be addressed as well. The talk will draw on and present the current IVT implementations of the framework for Singapore and Switzerland.
SPEAKER
Prof. K.W. Axhausen is Professor of Transport Planning at the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich. Before he worked at the Leopold-Franzens Universitat, Innsbruck, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford. He has been involved in the measurement and modelling of travel behaviour for the last 25 years contributing especially to the literature on stated preferences, microsimulation of travel behaviour, valuation of travel time and its components, parking behaviour, activity scheduling and travel diary data collection. Current work focuses on the agent-based micro-simulation toolkit MATSim (see www.matsim.org). A full Curriculum Vitae with a list of recent publications can be found at http://www.ivt.ethz.ch/people/axhausen/cv_kwa.pdf.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Assigning user class link and route flows uniquely
Professor David Boyce
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, USA
14 December, 2012 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 December, 2012 (Friday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
The standard method for predicting traffic flows on urban road networks, static user-equilibrium traffic assignment, is based on the principle that drivers seek their own least cost routes from their origins to their destinations. This principle corresponds to a user-equilibrium state in which all used routes have equal costs and no unused route has a lower cost for every origin-destination pair. This problem can be formulated as a convex optimization problem with linear constraints, and solved with an iterative algorithm. Although the total flows on links of the urban road network are uniquely determined by this formulation, multi-class link flows, as well as route flows, are not. An additional assumption, called the condition of proportionality, may be imposed to determine these flows uniquely. This condition was the basis for incorporating a post-processing adjustment into two commercial travel forecasting software systems, TransCAD and Visum, as well as designing a new algorithm called TAPAS. In this seminar analyses of class link flows, class flows over a pair of alternative route segments, and class O-D flows over a selected link are presented for Visum assignments of cars and trucks to the Chicago regional network, without and with the post-processing for proportionality. Two user-equilibrium assignments were performed in which the trip matrices were specified as car, then truck, and truck, then car, followed by 60 iterations to achieve a user-equilibrium with a relative gap equal to 1E-8. Although the total link flows found by the two assignments are effectively equal, substantial differences may be observed between the class flows by order of assignment and even following post-processing for proportionality. Differences in class link flows with and without the condition of proportionality were found primarily for links with flows less than 2,000 vph. The findings offer insights into the magnitude of such differences, which links are subject to differences, and the importance for practitioners of imposing the condition of proportionality in multi-class road traffic assignments at the link, segment and route level.
SPEAKER
Dr. David Boyce, P.E., is Adjunct Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and Professor Emeritus of Transportation and Regional Science in the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During 40 years of research and teaching, Professor Boyce addressed key methodological issues related to metropolitan transportation and land use planning. His early monograph, Metropolitan Plan Making, critically examined the experience with the land use and travel forecasting models during the 1960s. Recognizing that these methods lacked an adequate scientific basis, he has since devoted himself to the formulation and solution of urban travel and land use forecasting models as constrained optimization problems and related constructs, which synthesize elements of network analysis and modeling, stochastic discrete choice theory and entropy-based methods. Professor Boyce provided institutional leadership and support to the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) in North America, Europe and Asia. For twenty years, he organized the North American Meetings of this academic society. He served as co-editor of a principal journal in the field of urban and regional research and as associate editor of an archival journal in the transportation research field. In addition, he has served on many editorial boards in regional science and transportation. In recognition of his research contributions to the field of Regional Science, in 2000 Professor Boyce was awarded the Founder's Medal of the RSAI; in 2002, he was elected a Fellow of the RSAI. In 2003, he received the Robert Herman Lifetime Achievement Award of the Transportation Science and Logistics Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). He also received the INFORMS Fellows Award in 2003, and the Fellows Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009. He is an Emeritus Member of the Transportation Networks Committee of the Transportation Research Board. In 2000, he received the UIC Inventor of the Year and the UIC College of Engineering Faculty Research Award for his contributions to transportation modeling and algorithms. He received the University of Illinois Alumni Association’s UIC Flame Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Observing flows in traffic networks based on counting and plate scanning devices
Professor Enrique Castillo
Department of Applied Mathematics, School of Civil Engineering, University of Cantabria, Spain
14 December, 2012 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 December, 2012 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
In this seminar we discuss the different observability problems: route, OD, link or plate scanned flows, and analyze the problem of determining how many and where to locate counting and scanning devices in order to optimize the number of resources. We include several items of information including the network topology, previous observations and actual flows registered by adequately located flow counting devices. We measure the amount of information of the different device types using the FAO (flow amount of information) measure that provides the number of constraints reported by a group of field observations. Some matrix tools are presented to solve the observability problems and it is shown that a ternary representation can be very useful for the case of very large networks because of speed, cpu and memory requirements and precision results. The seminar will end with a presentation of some programming methods for locating optimally the counting and plate scanning devices illustrated by simple and real cases.
SPEAKER
Enrique Castillo was born in Spain and studied Civil Engineering at the Polytechnical University of Madrid, and Mathematics at the Complutensis University of Madrid. He got two Ph. D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University and the Polytechnical University of Madrid. He has participated in more than 40 research projects and has authored 14 books in English and 15 in Spanish. He has presented 165 publications in Congresses and 226 papers published in 106 different journals. He has delivered talks, seminars and courses in 22 universities in Spain and 21 foreign universities. He has directed 35 Ph. D. theses (22 in Engineering, 9 in Mathematics, 2 in Informatics, 1 in Medicine, 1 in Economics) and has been Editor, Associated Editor and referee for more than 40 international journals, and advisor of 8 institutions or editorial companies. He is a Member of the Spanish Academy of Engineering and of the Spanish Academy of Sciences. He has been honored with the National prize in Engineering Research and with the Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Universities of Oviedo and Castilla-La Mancha. His main fields of research are: Extreme value distributions, optimization and operations research, functional equations, artificial Intelligence and Bayesian networks, modeling of Engineering problems, functional networks, and since very recently Traffic Engineering.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Observability techniques applied to structural system identification
Professor Enrique Castillo
Department of Applied Mathematics, School of Civil Engineering, University of Cantabria, Spain
13 December, 2012 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 13 December, 2012 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This seminar deals with the problem of applying observability techniques to Structural System Identification, understanding as such the problem of identifying which is the subset of characteristics of the structure, such as Young's modulus, area, inertia and/or product of them (flexural or axial stiffness), that can be uniquely defined when an adequate subset of deflections, forces and/or moments in the nodes is provided. Compared with other standard observability problems, two issues arise here. First, nonlinear unknown variables (products or quotients of elemental variables) appear, that is, systems of polyrational equations, and second, the mechanical and geometrical properties of the structure are "coupled" with the deflections and/or rotations at the nodes. In fact, it is demonstrated that polyrational equations are of primary importance and arise in all fields of Science and Engineering and that it is not a coincidence but the result of well-defined and physically based equations. To solve these polyrational equations a direct method is proposed in this seminar. The results obtained show, for the very first time, how observability techniques can be efficiently used for the identification of structural systems and damage detection. Some examples of a bridge and some structures are given to illustrate the proposed methodology and to demonstrate its power for the case of static measures.
SPEAKER
Prof. Castillo received his Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University, U.S.A. in 1972 and from Polytechnical University of Madrid, Spain in 1973. He has directed 36 Ph.D. theses (22 in Engineering, 9 in Mathematics, 2 in Informatics, 1 in Medicine and 1 in Economics). He has participated in more than 40 research projects, most of them as director. His research areas include Extreme Value Distributions, Optimization and Operations Research, Functional Equations, Artificial Intelligence and Bayesian Networks, Modelling of Engineering Problems, Functional Networks, Fatigue Problems, Structural System Identification, and Traffic Engineering. He has published over 14 books in English and 15 books in Spain and over 390 publications including on major journals such as Transportation Research B, IEEE Transaction on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Computer Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, Journal of Transportation Engineering (ASCE) and Applied Mathematical Modeling. His publication has been cited more than 5500 times in Google-Scholar. He has been Editor, Associated Editor and referee for more than 40 international journals, and advisor of 8 institutions or editorial companies. As referee, he revises more than 70 papers per year. He has given talks and seminars in 22 universities in Spain and 21 foreign universities. He has delivered courses in 8 Spanish universities and has been visiting professor in 17 foreign universities.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat by sending the following Reply Slip to
Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070, Fax: 2334-6389 or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk
Towards a next generation of road safety interventions
Professor Fred Wegman
Professor of Traffic Safety, Delft University of Technology, Managing Director, SWOV Institute of Road Safety Research, Netherlands
19 November, 2012 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 19 November, 2012 (Monday)
Time : 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The mortality rate in the Netherlands is one of the lowest in the world. The Dutch mortality rate has been decreasing over the last few decades and we have strong indications that the implementations of road safety strategies contributed to this positive trend. Many well-known problems have been dealt with (risk increasing factors such as speeding, drinking and driving, not using safety devices such as seat belts and crash helmets, etc.), often using rather well-known measures from the fields of engineering, enforcement, and education. However, the Netherlands is not yet satisfied with today’s road safety level. It has been decided to strive for a further reduction of fatalities and serious injuries in road traffic. A quantitative target has been set for 2020. Analysis of past road safety trends resulted in the conclusion that the more traditional road safety measures have reached the end of their life-cycle: they have become less and less effective and efficient. We decided on a paradigm shift and the new paradigm is called Sustainable Safety; an example of the so-called Safe System Approach. This new approach allows us to think about a new generation of road safety interventions. The paradigm shift was accepted by the road safety community and decision makers and has resulted in the adoption of a new road safety strategy in the Netherlands. First results of the implementation of this new strategy will be presented.
SPEAKER
Professor Fred Wegman has extensive experience of research and advisory work on road safety in the Netherlands and European Commission. He gained an MSc from Delft University of Technology in 1972. In 1977, he joined SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research and since April 1999 has been its managing director. Since January 2009, he has been appointed as part-time professor of Road Safety at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences of the Delft University of Technology. He is currently the advisor of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, advisor to the Dutch Parliament, and member of the National Advisory Board on Road Transport in the Netherlands. Besides, he was the chairman of OECD scientific expert group Targeted Road Safety Programme, ETSC working party on Road Safety Performance Indicators, the SUNflowerNext project, and the International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD). He has also provided inputs to road safety programmes, projects and research in Australia, Colombia, Israel, New Zealand, Nigeria, and South Africa. He is the associate editor of Safety Science, and the co-editor of Advancing Sustainable Safety and National Road Safety Outlook for 2005-2020.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Customized proximal point algorithms for linearly constrained monotone variational inequalities and their applications in transportation research
Professor Bingsheng He
Department of Mathematics, Nanjing University, China
9 November, 2012 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 November, 2012 (Friday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The mathematical form of many problems in transportation research is a linearly constrained variational inequality. By introducing the Lagrangian multiplier, it can be formulated as a structured variational inequality in primal and dual variables. For solving the structured VI, the proximal point algorithm in Euclidean norm is classical, however, it is usually difficult to be implemented. In this talk, we introduce a class of customized proximal point algorithms by using a modified primal-dual proximal procedures. The application of the proposed method to the structured VI can result in easy proximal sub-problems. In particular, under some practical assumptions, the primal sub-problem becomes explicit in the sense that it has closed-form solution or can be efficiently solved up to a high precision. By using a simple but skillful dual updating, it leads the primal-dual iterate to the form of the PPA in G-norm (G is a symmetric positive definite matrix). Using the frame of PPA for VI, it greatly simplifies both the construction of the solution methods and the convergence analysis. The proposed method is also applicable for linearly constrained convex optimization problems in economics, information science and image restoration problems.
SPEAKER
Prof. He received the Ph.D. degree in applied mathematics from University of Wuerzburg, Germany, in 1986. Since 1987 he is with the Department of Mathematics, Nanjing University, China. His research areas include the computational mathematics and optimization. He has published over 60 refereed journal articles, including on major journals such as Mathematical Programming, SIAM J. Optimization, SIAM J. Numerical Analysis, SIAM J. Imaging Science, SIAM J. Matrix Theory and Applications, IMA Numerical Analysis, Applied Mathematics and Optimization, Computational Optimization and Applications, JOTA and Transportation Research C. His main interest is to construct computational methods which are relative easy to understand for engineers. He authored four highly cited papers which are recognized by ISI and received ISI Citation Classic Award. His papers are also cited by Ph.D. candidates in University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, UC Berkeley and Columbia University in different engineering research areas.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk.
Estimation of travel time distributions for congested arterial systems*
Professor Nikolas Geroliminis
Chair of Urban Transport Systems Laboratory (LUTS)**, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland
6 November, 2012 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 November, 2012 (Tuesday)
Time : 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The introduction of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
technologies and new sensing hardware promise
significant progress in reducing the congestion level in cities. With respect to monitoring, reliable and efficient
estimation of travel times and other performance measures is still not a wide spread accomplishment on arterials
since it requires extensive sensor infrastructure normally found only on freeways. The issue is not only that the
existing monitoring infrastructure in arterials is less dense than freeways but also that arterial systems traffic
dynamics are significantly different than these of freeways and fixed sensors cannot always give the required level
of information. In this talk, we present our resent findings in travel time estimation in arterial systems. Our models
are based on data commonly provided by loop detectors system and/or GPS data and the signal settings at each
traffic signal. The models consider the spatial and temporal queuing at the traffic signals and the signal
coordination in arterial to estimate travel times distributions. The model extensions explicitly address the issues of
long queues and spillovers that frequently occur on arterials in urban areas and interdependencies/correlations
between consequent links. The validation of the monitoring methodologies is conducted at different scales of
complex city-level scenarios using advanced micro-simulation software and data from field experiments.
* This research is mainly supported by 2 SNF Basic Research Grants. For list of publications, please visit:
http://luts.epfl.ch/
** Research team: Prof. Nikolas Geroliminis, K. Aboudolas, B. Boyaci, J. Haddad, Y. Ji, M. Ramezani, M. Yildirimoglu and
N. Zheng.
SPEAKER
Prof. Nikolas Geroliminis is an Assistant Professor at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland and the head of the Urban Transport Systems Laboratory (LUTS). He has a diploma in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in civil engineering from University of California, Berkeley. Before joining EPFL, he was an Assistant Professor on the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He is a member of the Transportation Research Board's Traffic Flow Theory Committee. He also serves in the editorial board of Transportation Research, part B, Transportation Letters and Transportmetrica B. His research interests focus primarily on urban transportation systems, traffic flow theory and control, public transportation and logistics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Agachai Sumalee at Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk.
Differentiated congestion pricing of urban transportation networks with vehicle-tracking technologies
Professor Yafeng Yin
Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, USA
5 November, 2012 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 5 November, 2012 (Monday)
Time : 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
In this talk, we explore a new type of congestion pricing that differentiates users with respect to their travel characteristics and charges them different amount of toll accordingly. The scheme can reduce the financial burden of travelers or lead to more substantial reduction of congestion. Given that the scheme requires tracking vehicles, an incentive program is designed to mitigate travelers' privacy concerns and entice them to voluntarily disclose their private travel information.
SPEAKER
Dr. Yafeng Yin is an Associate Professor at Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida. He works in the areas of transportation systems analysis and modeling, and has published over 50 refereed papers in leading academic journals. He is an Associate Editor for Journal of Advanced Transportation and Transportation Research Part C, an Area Editor for Journal of Transportation Safety and Security, and serves on the editorial boards of Transportation Research Part B, ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems and International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. He is also a member of Transportation Network Modeling Committee of Transportation Research Board. Dr. Yin received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 2002, his master's and bachelor's degrees from Tsinghua University in 1996 and 1994 respectively. Prior to his current appointment at the University of Florida, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at University of California at Berkeley between 2002 and 2005. Between 1996 and 1999, he was a lecturer at Tsinghua University, Beijing.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Active traffic management for dynamic congested urban networks with macro models
Professor Nikolas Geroliminis
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland
5 November, 2012 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 5 November, 2012 (Monday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Instead of this micro-modeling approach of traffic congestion, the macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) aims to simplify the complex micro-modeling task of the urban network where the collective traffic flow dynamics of sub-networks capture the main characteristics of traffic congestion, such as the evolution of space-mean flows and densities in different regions of the city. The MFD can be utilized to introduce elegant control strategies to improve mobility and decrease delays in large urban networks that local ones are unable to succeed. We develop methodologies to model and understand the collective behavior for different types of urban systems, with emphasis in conflicts for the same road space. Regularity conditions for well-defined MFDs are discussed. We also develop optimization tools and investigate what type of real-time active traffic management schemes (congestion pricing, vehicle restriction, large scale traffic signal control, dynamic bus lanes) can improve mobility measures in a city for cities of different structures. We build a hierarchical feedback control network of multiple levels. The validation of the modeling methodologies and the traffic management schemes are conducted in various and complex city structures scenarios using large data sets from field experiments and advanced micro-simulations.
SPEAKER
Dr. Nikolas Geroliminis is an Assistant Professor at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the head of the Urban Transport Systems Laboratory (LUTS). He has a diploma in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and a MSc and Ph.D. in civil engineering from University of California, Berkeley. Before joining EPFL he was an Assistant Professor on the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He is a member of the Transportation Research Board's Traffic Flow Theory Committee. He also serves in the editorial board of Transportation Research, part B and Transportation Letters. His research interests focus primarily on urban transportation systems, traffic flow theory and control, public transportation and logistics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Urban cooperative delivery: feasibility and environmental impact analyses
Professor Jane Lin
Department of Civil and Materials Engineering & Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
20 October, 2012 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 20 October, 2012 (Saturday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Among new, innovative city logistics strategies, delivery cooperation has received increasing academic and practical attention mostly in Europe and Japan. The idea is to establish cooperation among the suppliers, carriers and the customers through Urban Consolidation Center (UCC), a public facility usually located at the city boundary; with proper consolidation of loads and routing, the goods are then sent to the customers in the urban area with cleaner vehicles and less vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Although creating a terminal increases the operating cost at the facility, it may be compensated by reducing VMT with the right economies of scale, stocking cost at the customer end, and emissions and congestion in urban area. In this talk, Dr. Lin will explore strategies which will make UCC an economic and environmental attractive delivery option in the U.S. cities. She and her team formulate the delivery problem using the Continuum Approximation (CA) method and illustrate it through a hypothetical case study.
SPEAKER
Dr. Lin is an Associate Professor of Department of Civil and Materials Engineering and holds a joint appointment with the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy (IESP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Her research is focused on modeling of transportation environmental impacts, freight transportation and logistics, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS). Lin is Chair of the Transportation and Air Quality Committee (ADC20) of the Transportation Research Board, National Research Council of the National Academies. She serves on the editorial boards of Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice and the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. She has published over 60 refereed journal articles and conference proceedings, including on major journals such as Transportation Science, Atmospheric Environment, Transportation, Journal of Environmental Management and Transportation Research series. Before joining UIC in 2003, Dr. Lin was a post-doctoral fellow with the Harvard University Center for the Environment, Cambridge, MA. She received her M.S. and PhD degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of California, Davis. She earned her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering and a minor in Computer Science at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk.
Data management in intelligent transportation systems
Professor Ouri Wolfson
Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
20 October, 2012 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 20 October, 2012 (Saturday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have been researched and developed since the 1970's but impact of these Systems so far has been relatively small. In this talk, Prof. Wolfson will argue that this is about to change and that these systems will soon revolutionize urban transportation. He will discuss novel applications that improve safety, mobility, environmental impact, and energy efficiency. The applications epitomize ITS efforts currently undertaken throughout the world, e.g. the IntelliDrive initiative of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Focusing data management, he will argue that information-ranking is a fundamental operation in an environment where travelers and billions of sensors embedded in the infrastructure, in vehicles, and in portable devices generate vast amounts of data. Two ranking paradigms will be discussed, one using game theory and the other using machine learning. He will also relate these efforts to their NSF-sponsored IGERT PhD program in Computational Transportation Science.
SPEAKER
Professor Wolfson is the Richard and Loan Hill Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He is the founder of Mobitrac, a venture-funded high-tech startup that was acquired by Fluensee Co. in 2006. Prof. Wolfson authored over 190 publications, and holds seven patents. He is a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a University of Illinois Scholar. He co-authored three award winning papers, and participated in numerous conferences as a keynote speaker, general chairman, program committee chairman or member, tutorial presenter, session chairman, and panelist. Most recently he was the keynote speaker at the Mobilware 2010 Conference and at the 2012 Mobile Data Management Conference. Professor Wolfson's main research interests are in database systems, distributed systems, and mobile/pervasive computing. Before joining the University of Illinois, he has been on the computer science faculty at the Technion, Columbia University, and at Bell Laboratories.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk.
The uncertainties of driver responses to vehicle safety features
Professor Fred L. Mannering
School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA
18 October, 2012 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Department of Civil Engineering & Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 18 October, 2012 (Thursday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Continual advancements in vehicle safety technologies have presented drivers with a constantly changing landscape of vehicle performance and safety. Features such as front and side airbag systems, antilock braking systems, traction control, electronic stability control, adaptive cruise control, side-mirror warning systems, lane departure warning systems, and others are all becoming pervasive features in the World's vehicle fleet. From a technical perspective, the expectation would be that the introduction of these features would significantly reduce the likelihood of accidents in general and injury-causing accidents in particular. But some historical aggregate accident data do not necessarily show this. For example, in the U.S. in the early 2000s, the number of fatalities per mile driven remained nearly constant (and increased for the first time in nearly 20 years in 2005) despite the rapid introduction of new-vehicle safety features during this period. One possible explanation for persistently high fatality rates is that drivers may be responding to improvements in vehicle safety by driving more aggressively or engaging in what may be termed as distracted driving (cell phone use, texting, etc.) - thus offsetting the safety impacts of vehicle-safety features as drivers seek to maintain roughly the same level of accident risk. To provide some insight into the possible presence of such risk-compensating behavior, the rapid adoption of airbags and antilock brakes in the U.S. in the 1990s is considered. The econometrics in uncovering risk-compensating driver behavior with regard to vehicle-safety features is complicated by a number of factors including the propensity of the safest drivers to buy the safest cars, which can lead to a gross over-estimation of the effectiveness of new safety features when they are first introduced. Using a simultaneous discrete-outcome modeling approach, a model of the probability of drivers having an accident, an injury-producing accident, and owning a vehicle with airbags and/or antilock brakes is estimated. Using data from the early to mid 1990s, and accounting for possible taste variations across the driver population, the estimation findings show that airbags and antilock brakes had no statistically significant effect on the likelihood of an accident or its injury severity. This provides some empirical evidence that suggests driver behavior may indeed be offsetting many of the expected benefits of new vehicle-safety features.
SPEAKER
Fred Mannering is currently the Charles Pankow Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Economics. He received his BSCE from the University of Saskatchewan, MSCE from Purdue University and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Mannering's expertise is in the application of statistical and econometric methods to study a variety of subject areas including highway safety, transportation economics, automobile demand, and travel behavior. His body of work has been highly influential and has been cited over twenty-five hundred times in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) databases, over twenty-five hundred times in Scopus, and over five thousand times in Google Scholar. Dr. Mannering has published over 100 refereed journal articles, 2 text books, over 60 other publications (conference proceedings, project reports, book reviews and commentaries), and has given over 120 invited lectures and presentations at professional conferences. His undergraduate textbook, "Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis" is now in its fifth edition and has sold over 40,000 copies. He has been principal investigator on 38 funded research projects and has supervised 21 PhD students and 43 MS students. Dr. Mannering has been Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Research Part B: Methodological since 2003. The Journal's citation impact factor is currently first among transportation journals (Social Science Edition) and sixth highest among 106 Civil Engineering journals (Institute for Scientific Information, 2009). Dr. Mannering's awards include: Arthur M. Wellington Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers, for the best paper in the Journal of Transportation Engineering (2010); James Laurie Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers (2009) "For his outstanding contribution to the advancement of transportation engineering through his influential research and publication in the area of highway safety"; Wilbur S. Smith Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (2005) "For outstanding contributions to the enhancement of the role of the civil engineer in highway engineering through excellence in teaching and research"; National Highway Safety Award (2001) for "A new method for prioritizing intersection improvements"; Harold Munson Award for outstanding teaching, Purdue University (2007); CHOICE Magazine's Outstanding Academic Books Award (1991) for "Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis" first edition.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Issues on TOD and public transport: experiences from Latin America
Professor Fumihiko Nakamura
Institute of Urban Innovation, Yokohama National University, Japan
6 August, 2012 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 August, 2012 (Monday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is regarded as one of the important and powerful tools for sustainable development. Curitiba, Brazil is referred as one of the successful cities where TOD strategies with BRT system have been applied properly. Another good example of TOD with BRT is Bogota, Colombia. Based on the field survey, the differences of these two cities are identified. Especially, Curitiba is now facing with serious traffic jam and severe criticism on BRT. Possible reasons are analyzed in the presentation and based on those analysis, direction and implication on TOD mainly with BRT are discussed.
SPEAKER
Prof. Fumihiko Nakamura is a Professor in urban transportation planning, as well as Vice Dean of Institute of Urban Innovation, Yokohama National University, Japan. He received a Bachelor degree of Engineering and a Doctoral degree of Engineering from University of Tokyo in 1985 and 1991 respectively. He worked in Asian Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor from 1992 to 1994, before joining with Yokohama National University in 1995. He is a Visiting Professor at Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Parana at Curitiba city, Parana, Brazil. Prof. Nakamura has published over 40 referred journal papers in the areas of urban transportation planning, mainly on urban public transport, including papers written in Japanese. He has authored a book titled as City Planning with Urban Buses (Japanese) in 2006. He has also co-authored more than ten books on urban transportation planning (Japanese), including on Transportation Demand Management, Intelligent Transport Systems, Demand Responsive Transit and Environmentally Sustainable Transport.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai Sumalee at Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: fyc.lam@polyu.edu.hk.
Part I: Introduction to an on-going "973" project
Part II: A highway bottleneck model with stochastic capacity
Professor Hai-Jun Huang
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China
19 July, 2012 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 19 July, 2012 (Thursday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
This talk includes two separate parts. The first part gives a brief introduction to an on-going project of the State Basic Research Program, titled "Theoretical and Empirical Studies of Comprehensive Transportation Systems in Large Cities", leaded by the speaker. The motivation, major topics, methodologies, targets and team members will be described. The second part presents a novel bottleneck model in which the bottleneck capacity is stochastic and follows a uniform distribution, the commuters' departure time choice is governed by the mean cost-based user equilibrium principle. The analytical solution of the proposed model is derived. We then develop two tolling schemes under the model framework: the time-dependent and single-step schemes.
SPEAKER
Hai-Jun Huang is the Cheng Kong professor of the Beihang University. He received his PhD in transport operations research from Beihang in 1992. His research interests include road traffic flow models, transport network modeling, travel behavior analysis and congestion pricing. He has published more than 100 papers in international journals such as Transportation Research (Part A, Part B, Part C, Part E), JORS, EJOR, Physical Review E, Physical A, Networks and Spatial Economics. He co-authored the book "Mathematical and Economic Theory of Road Pricing" published by Elsevier in 2005. In 1998, he received the Grant for National Excellent Young Researchers and in 2005 the Grant for National Creative Research Groups. He is now the PI of a "973" project and serves more than 10 journals as the editorial board member, including Transportation Research Part B, Journal of Advanced Transportation, and Transportmetrica. In 2011, he was selected the International Advisory Committee member of the ISTTT and awarded the Second-class State Natural Science Award bestowed by the State Council of the People's Republic of China.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Route choice models in stochastic user equilibrium problem: a review and new developments
Professor Anthony Chen
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, USA
8 June, 2012 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Beijing Jiaotong University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 June, 2012 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, P.R. China
ABSTRACT
The stochastic user equilibrium (SUE) principle was suggested by Daganzo and Sheffi (1977) more than thirty years ago to relax the perfect knowledge assumption of network travel times of the deterministic user equilibrium (DUE) model. It is defined as follows: "At SUE, no motorists can improve his or her perceived travel time by unilaterally changing routes". Specifically, a random error term is incorporated in the route choice decision process to simulate travelers' imperfect perceptions of network travel times, such that they do not always end up picking the minimum travel time route. In this seminar, various closed-form route choice models used in the SUE framework will be discussed. Numerical results will be presented to examine how these models address the two major drawbacks of the multinomial logit model: (1) inability to account for overlapping (or correlation) among routes, and (2) inability to account for perception variance with respect to trips of different lengths. Some recent developments will also be discussed in the seminar.
SPEAKER
Dr. Anthony Chen is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Utah State University (USU) in the United States. He is also the division head of the Transportation Program at USU. Professor Chen's research interests include transportation systems modeling and analysis, transportation network reliability/vulnerability/resiliency analysis, transportation network design under uncertainty, transportation and the environment, non-motorized transportation modeling, path flow estimator and its applications to transportation planning, network modeling and solution algorithmic development, sensor location for transportation networks, infrastructure management and disaster management, and applied optimization to infrastructure problems. He was a member of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee of the Transportation Research Board (from 1999 to 2009). He is currently serving as an associate editor of Transportmetrica and an editorial board member of ASCE Journal of Urban Planning and Development and Transportation Research Part B: Methodological.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
International Workshop on Intelligent Transportation Systems
25 May 2012 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 May 2012 (Friday)
Time : 8:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Venue : Central Garden Hotel, No. 18 Gaoliangqiao Xie Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, P.R. China
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), which has emerged in the last two decades, provides solutions for improving the performance and safety of surface transport in countries across the world. The local and overseas speakers will talk about the ITS modeling, applications and technologies together with potential development in theories and practice. This workshop will provide the participants a unique opportunity to keep up-to-date with ITS research issues and the latest in ITS related projects in Hong Kong and other areas.
SPEAKERS
Professor Michael G.H. Bell,
Chair Professor and Director of PORTeC, Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, Imperial College London, UK
Professor Gang-Len Chang, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Maryland-College Park, USA
Professor Wei Guan, Vice Director of School of Traffic and Transportation,
Beijing Jiaotong University, P.R. China
Professor William H.K. Lam, Chair Professor, Department of Civil and
Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
Dr. Agachai Sumalee, Department of Civil and Structural Engineering,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
Professor Satish V. Ukkusuri, School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA
Professor S. Travis Waller, Evans & Peck Professor of Transport Innovation
and Director of Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI),
School of Civil Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Australia
Professor Hai Yang, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong SAR
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information contact Prof. Bin Jia, School of Traffic and Transportation, Beijing Jiaotong University, No. 3 Shangyuan Village, Haidian District, Beijing 100044, P.R. China, Tel. and Fax: (86-10) 5168 4240, Email: bjia@bjtu.edu.cn; or call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045, Fax: 2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Valuing prevention of a death on the roads - a European perspective
Professor Richard Allsop
Emeritus Professor of Transport Studies, University College London, UK
18 May, 2012 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 18 May, 2012 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In the first half of 2011, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), as part of its road safety performance index programme PIN ( www.etsc.eu/PIN ), took stock of the reduction in road deaths in the EU over the period 2001-2010, for which a target to reduce deaths by 50% had been in place. In the course of this, ETSC revised its estimate of the monetary value of the socio-economic benefit that would arise across the EU if all road traffic accidents could be prevented. Central to that estimate is the monetary value to be attached to preventing the death of an unknown individual, or valuation of prevention of a fatality (VPF). Different countries use different valuations, and the speaker led a working group to consider these valuations and recommend a common valuation for use by ETSC, and others who wish to use it, in the context of formulating and implementing road safety policy at the EU level. The process of doing this and application of the result will be discussed.
SPEAKER
Professor Richard Allsop has extensive experience of research, training and advisory work on road safety, traffic management and other aspects of transport policy. He has a first class honours degree in Mathematics from Cambridge, and a PhD and DSc from UCL (University College London), where he is Emeritus Professor of Transport Studies, having been Professor since 1976 and Director between then and 1997 of what is now the Centre for Transport Studies. He has a longstanding involvement in road safety research and policy, including being a Director of PACTS (the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety). He is a Board Member of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and leads its European road safety performance index programme PIN. He has also provided inputs to road safety policy in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Poland, and is a Consulting Editor of Transportmetrica and a member of International Advisory Committee of the HKSTS International Conference Series. He was made an OBE in 1997 for services to traffic management and road safety, is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and holds the CIHT Award for professional excellence and a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Optimal cordon-based congestion pricing with continuously distributed value-of-time
Professor Qiang Meng
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
23 February, 2012 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 23 February, 2012 (Thursday)
Time : 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
This talk introduces the optimal distance-based toll design problem for the cordon-based congestion pricing schemes such as the ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) system, aiming at estimating an optimal toll-charge function in the case of continuously distributed value-of-time (VOT).The proposed problem can be formulated as a model of mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints (MPEC), with the objective of maximizing total social benefit. This MPEC model is approximated by a mixed-integer MPEC model for the convenience of calculation. A Hybrid Genetic Algorithm - CA method is then designed to solve the mixed-integer MPEC problem. Finally, two network examples are used to assess the proposed models and algorithms.
SPEAKER
Dr. Qiang Meng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Tracker Leader in the Centre for Maritime Studies, National University of Singapore. He received his PhD in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology in 2000. His research interests include maritime transportation network analysis, transportation network modeling and optimization, and quantitative risk assessment of transport infrastructures. He has led three research projects on maritime studies with the total amount of about HK$6 millions in the past three years. He has also published more than 85 papers on the international peer-reviewed journals including Transportation Research Series (Part B, C, and E), Transportation Science, European Journal of Operational Research and Risk Analysis. He is an editorial board member of Journal of Advanced Transportation and Transportmetrica, a member of Scientific Committee of the World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) Society and a member of Freight Transportation Planning and Logistics Committee of Transportation Research Board (TRB).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Statistical inference for origin-destination matrices
Professor Martin L. Hazelton
Chair of Statistics, Institute of Fundamental Sciences Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand
22 February, 2012 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 February, 2012 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Estimation of origin-destination (OD) matrices is a classical problem in transportation science, and has interested the speaker for 15 years. This seminar will provide an overview of Professor Hazelton's work in this area. Topics covered will include: What are we really trying to estimate? A look at specification of OD matrices, and a comparison of reconstruction, estimation and prediction problems. Statistical identifiability: estimation of OD matrices from link counts, and the use of second-order properties of the data to help resolve indeterminacy problems. Likelihood and Bayesian methods for link count data: point estimation of OD flow rates and associated measurement of precision. The effects of measurement error: what happens when the recorded link counts are subject to non-negligible error? The impact of sporadic routing information: how should we incorporate explicit routing information on a fraction of vehicles? The seminar will conclude with some comments on related problems, and thoughts on future research directions.
SPEAKER
Prof. Martin Hazelton was educated at the University of Oxford where he read mathematics as an undergraduate before taking a PhD in statistics (on kernel smoothing methods). His introduction to transport research came immediately after his PhD, when he worked for a year as a research associate in the field. His next appointment was as a lecturer in statistical science at University College London. He then moved to the University of Western Australia where he spent almost ten year as a lecturer (then senior lecturer and associate professor) in statistics. In 2006, he took up his current position as Chair of Statistics at Massey University in New Zealand, becoming at the time the youngest full professor of statistics in Australasia. Prof. Hazelton's research interests are varied. In addition to working on statistical problems in transportation research, he also has a continuing interest in smoothing methods and spatial statistics, particularly with applications in epidemiology. His current work on statistical inference for transport networks is supported by a Marsden Grant, administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Some dynamic traffic models
Professor Enrique Castillo
University of Cantabria, Spain
30 December, 2011 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 30 December, 2011 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Two dynamic traffic models are presented: (a) a FIFO rule consistent model for the continuous dynamic network loading problem, and (b) a stochastic demand dynamic traffic model. The first model aims at determining the traffic evolution due to a deterministic time-varying demand. The model consists of five units: a path origin flow wave definition unit, a path wave propagation unit, a congestion analysis unit, a network flow propagation unit and an inference engine unit. The path flow intensity wave, which is the basic information, is modeled as a linear combination of basic waves. Next, the individual path waves are propagated throughout the paths by using a conservation equation that stretches or enlarges the wave lengths and increases or reduces the wave heights depending on the degree of congestion at the different links. Then, the individual path waves are combined together to generate the link and node waves. Finally, the inference engine unit combines all information items to make them compatible in times and locations using the above mentioned iterative method until convergence. In the second part, a stochastic demand dynamic traffic model to predict some traffic variables such as link travel times, link flows or link densities and their time evolution in real networks is presented. The model is able to provide a point estimate, a confidence interval or the density of the variable being predicted. To this end, a closed formula for the conditional future variable values (link travel times or flows) given the available past variable information, is provided. The model is applicable to very large networks. Finally, the models are illustrated by their application to the Nguyen Dupuis, the Ciudad Real and Cuenca networks and the Vermont-State example. The resulting traffic predictions seem to be promising for real traffic networks and can be done in real time.
SPEAKER
Enrique Castillo was born in Spain and studied Civil Engineering at the Polytechnical University of Madrid, and Mathematics at the Complutensis University of Madrid. He got two Ph. D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University and the Polytechnical University of Madrid. He has participated in more than 40 research projects and has authored 14 books in English and 15 in Spanish. He has presented 165 publications in Congresses and 226 papers published in 106 different journals. He has delivered talks, seminars and courses in 22 universities in Spain and 21 foreign universities. He has directed 35 Ph. D. theses (22 in Engineering, 9 in Mathematics, 2 in Informatics, 1 in Medicine, 1 in Economics) and has been Editor, Associated Editor and referee for more than 40 international journals, and advisor of 8 institutions or editorial companies. He is a Member of the Spanish Academy of Engineering and of the Spanish Academy of Sciences. He has been honored with the National prize in Engineering Research and with the Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Universities of Oviedo and Castilla-La Mancha. His main fields of research are: Extreme value distributions, optimization and operations research, functional equations, artificial Intelligence and Bayesian networks, modeling of Engineering problems, functional networks, and since very recently Traffic Engineering.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Regulation, privatization, and airport charges: panel data evidence from European airports
Professor Anming Zhang
Professor in Operations and Logistics, YVR Authority Chair in Air Transportation, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada
20 December, 2011 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 20 December, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This presentation examines the determinants of airport aeronautical charges by employing a unique panel dataset covering sixty-one European airports over an eighteen-year period. The speaker and his team are able to extend the literature on the role of airports as an essential element in transport infrastructure by offering the first analysis of the impact of different regulatory policies and privatization on airport charges in a panel data setting where fixed effects can be employed to mitigate endogeneity concerns. Their main empirical results indicate that aeronautical charges are lower at airports when single-till regulation is employed, when airports are privatized, and - tentatively - when ex post price regulation is applied. Furthermore, hub airports generally set higher aeronautical charges, and it appears that price-cap regulation and the presence of nearby airports do not affect aeronautical charges.
SPEAKER
Prof. Anming Zhang is a Professor in Operations and Logistics and holds YVR Authority Chair in Air Transportation at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. He received a B.Sc. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, M.Sc. and Ph.D. from UBC. Prof. Zhang is the recipient of the "Yokohama Special Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher" awarded at the 7th World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) in Sydney, Australia in 1995, and is the recipient of the "WCTR-Society Prize," awarded to the overall best paper of the 8th WCTR in Antwerp, Belgium in 1998. More recently, he received two awards from the Canadian Transportation Research Forum for his research in transportation economics and policy. Prof. Zhang has published over 90 refereed journal papers in the areas of transportation and industrial organization. He has co-authored three recent books: Globalization and Strategic Alliances: The Case of the Airline Industry, 2000, Pergamon Press, Oxford; Air Cargo in Mainland China and Hong Kong, 2004, Ashgate, London; and Air Cargo Logistics in China (in Chinese), 2005, Aviation Industry Publishers, Beijing.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Models for quantifying safety and mobility benefits of winter road maintenance
Professor Liping Fu
Director of iTSS Lab, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada
20 December, 2011 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 20 December, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
By keeping roads clear of snow and ice, winter road maintenance (WRM) activities are intuitively beneficial to the safety and mobility of highway networks in winter seasons. There is however no robust methodology currently available for quantifying these benefits, which is needed for justifying the high costs of WRM operations and conducting comprehensive cost-benefit evaluations of various WRM related decisions. In this talk, the speaker will present the latest findings of his empirical investigation on the effect of winter weather and road maintenance on road safety and mobility. In particular, the speaker will introduce a set of statistical safety and mobility effect models, which were developed using a unique data set containing detailed hourly records of road weather and surface conditions, traffic counts, and collisions on 31 highways from Ontario, Canada, over six winter seasons. Several case studies are used to illustrate the applications of these models for evaluating alternative winter maintenance policies and operations, such as shortening bare pavement recovery time, changing maintenance operation deployment time, and raising level of service standards.
SPEAKER
Prof. Liping Fu is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Innovative Transportation System Solutions (iTSS) Lab at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Dr. Fu's research interest specifically focuses on evaluation and optimisation of large, complex traffic and transportation service systems where uncertainty and dynamics play a major role, and on the development of decision support tools for use in managing these systems. Dr. Fu has a track record of research contributions to the areas of intelligent transportation systems, public transit, road safety, and winter road maintenance. Dr. Fu holds a patent and several software copyrights, including a commercial paratransit routing, scheduling and simulation system and a web application highway-railway grade crossings risk analysis. He has provided technical services to many transportation agencies, including Transport Canada, Ministry of Transportation Ontario, various municipalities in Canada. Dr. Fu has served on numerous technical committees of various professional organizations, including Transportation Research Board's Committee, Editorial Advisory Board of the journal of Transportation Research, Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada, Canadian Urban Transit Association, and Institute of Transportation Engineers. He is the Chair of Transportation of Division of Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Statistical inference for transport networks
Professor Martin L. Hazelton
Massey University, New Zealand
27 October, 2011 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 27 October, 2011 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Network-based models of road traffic systems underpin a
vast array of transport management and planning activities. For practical application, such transport
models must be calibrated for the traffic system under consideration. The importance of the stage of the
modelling process must not be underestimated: it will often be better to employ a simple model that is
easy to calibrate rather than use a more detailed (and realistic) model for which calibration is difficult.
Model selection and calibration give rise to a wide range of statistical inference problems. Examples
include estimation patterns of travel demand over the network, calibration of microsimulation models of
traffic flow, and inference for network-based vehicle emissions models. The most readily available type
of data for these problems comprises traffic counts on a set of network links. However, these counts do
not uniquely determine the route flows, leading to a statistical linear inverse problem structure. In
this talk we discuss how this common structure may be used to develop improved tools for inference with
wide applicability in transportation science.
SPEAKER
Martin Hazelton was educated at the University of Oxford where he read mathematics as an undegraduate before taking a PhD in statistics (on kernel smoothing methods). Martin's introduction to transport research came immediately after his PhD, when he worked for a year as a research associate in the field. Martin's next appointment was as a lecturer in statistical science at University College London. He then moved to the University of Western Austern Australia where he spent almost ten year as a lecturer (then senior lecturer and associate professor) in statistics. In 2006 Martin took up his current position as Chair of Statistics at Massey University in New Zealand, becoming at the time the youngest full professor of statistics in Australasia. Martin's research interests are varied. In addition to working on statistical problems in transportation research, he also has a continuing interest in smoothing methods and spatial statistics, particularly with applications in epidemiology. His current work on statistical inference for transport networks is supported by a Marsden Grant, administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8389
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Price discrimination, social welfare and congestion charges
Professor Anming Zhang
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada
7 October, 2011 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 7 October, 2011 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
The welfare effect of third-degree price discrimination in airline markets is analyzed. The model features two types of passengers with different time valuations, oligopoly carriers and a congested infrastructure. The main result is that price discrimination always leads to a loss of social welfare when, in the first stage, the congestion charge is chosen to maximize welfare by incorporating carriers' Cournot behavior in the second stage.
SPEAKER
Anming Zhang is a Professor in Operations and Logistics and holds YVR Authority Chair in Air Transportation at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He received a BSc from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, MSc and PhD from UBC. Dr. Zhang is the recipient of the "Yokohama Special Prize for Outstanding Young Researcher" awarded at the 7th World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR) in Sydney, Australia in 1995, and is the recipient of the "WCTR-Society Prize," awarded to the overall best paper of the 8th WCTR in Antwerp, Belgium in 1998. More recently, he received two awards from the Canadian Transportation Research Forum for his research in transportation economics and policy. Dr. Zhang has published over 90 refereed journal papers in the areas of transportation and industrial organization. He has co-authored three recent books: Globalization and Strategic Alliances: The Case of the Airline Industry, 2000, Pergamon Press, Oxford; Air Cargo in Mainland China and Hong Kong, 2004, Ashgate, London; and Air Cargo Logistics in China (in Chinese), 2005, Aviation Industry Publishers, Beijing.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Sustainable transport development: an achievable aim?
Dr. Wafaa Saleh
Transport Research Institute (TRI), Edinburgh Napier University, UK
14 June, 2011 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 June, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
With increasing attention on climate changes and their impacts on sustainability, which is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, more research is being conducted looking at environmental issues and the impact of emissions on local and global air quality. Upon the principle of "the polluter pays", or that those who are causing environmental harm by producing or utilising energy shall bear the cost of its remedy, investigations of transport policies which are specifically intended to reduce emissions and improve air quality are needed. Road use pricing for example, has become a popular policy for managing the demand for travel. The execution of the theoretical principles of congestion charging into practice is complex and will hardly, if ever, be met in reality. The idea has always been to charge vehicles where the extent of the charge should reflect negative externalities they impose on others and on the system, thus helping to reduce negative externalities of traffic. In theory that should include congestion, air quality, etc. However in practice congestion has been the only factor considered as the basis for any charging scheme and to a much lesser extent, if any, on air quality improvement. The purpose of this presentation therefore is to present a framework for sustainable transport development which explicitly distinguishes the environment and air quality. More investigations into emission factors which reflect actual driving behaviour and local driving conditions are needed. Critical to achievement of sustainability is the principle of integration; at the level of setting targets and objectives, at the level of setting policies and measures and at the level of monitoring the impacts of such policies.
SPEAKER
Dr. Wafaa Saleh is a Reader in Transportation in the School of Engineering and the Built Environment, and a member of the Transport Modelling and Transport and the Environment Research Groups at Edinburgh Napier University's Transport Research Institute (TRI). Wafaa is a chartered engineer and her research and teaching areas include transport modelling, travel demand forecasting, modelling travel behaviour, transport and the environment, transport safety, transport management in developing countries and traffic engineering. Wafaa's first degree is in Civil Engineering and her Master and PhD degrees are in Transportation Engineering and Modelling. Wafaa teaches on a number of Edinburgh Napier's undergraduate and programmes, and supervise a number of PhD research programmes. Wafaa has just launched a specialised environment engineering lab for testing driving behaviour and emissions from vehicles at Edinburgh Napier University.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Visualization and assessment of arterial progression quality using high resolution signal event data and probe vehicle travel time data
Professor Darcy Bullock
School of Civil Engineering Purdue University, USA
3 June, 2011 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 3 June, 2011 (Friday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Coordination is essential to providing the highest possible quality of service on signalized arterials through movements, and travel time is its most accurate yet most expensive measure. This talk presents a methodology for evaluating signal coordination that combines high resolution signal data with travel time measurement using Bluetooth device MAC address matching. The Purdue Coordination Diagram (PCD) is introduced as a tool for visualizing and quantitatively evaluating signal performance and identifying opportunities for improvements. This diagram plots the arrival time of each vehicle at an intersection using input from setback detectors, in combination with information about the phase state (red and green intervals). On a cycle-by-cycle basis, it is possible to view the arrival of each platoon relative to the start and end of green. At a higher level, the performance of the green band can be qualitatively evaluated through visual inspection of the concurrence (or lack of) of vehicle platoons within the green bands. Quantitative measures such as the percent of vehicles arriving on green can be extracted from aggregation of the data and used as objective functions in optimization models. Arterial travel times were measured using MAC address matching using intersection and midblock detecting stations to identify time periods with opportunities to make timing improvements. Using this technique, optimal offsets were calculated for a Saturday plan on a four-intersection signalized corridor, and the operational impacts were estimated. These offsets were then implemented. The number of vehicles in the corridor arriving on green increased from 56% to 66%, while median northbound travel time observed by tracking Bluetooth devices decreased by 1.9 minutes. The talk concludes by discussing the application of Bluetooth tracking to airport security lines and work zone origin-destination research.
SPEAKER
Darcy Bullock is a Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program. He teaching and research are in the general area of intelligent transportation systems for signalized arterials and pedestrian facilities.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Measuring and assessing travel time reliability
Professor Michael A.P. Taylor
Director, Barbara Hardy Institute, University of South Australia, Australia
2 June, 2011 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 2 June, 2011 (Thursday)
Time : 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This presentation considers the study of travel time reliability. It describes the development of a longitudinal database of travel times (the Adelaide Longitudinal Travel Time Reliability Database), which provides data sets for the analysis of travel time reliability in terms of day to day variations in travel times on specified routes. The data used in the study are collected using GPS equipped probe vehicles. Analysis of the longitudinal data suggests the Burr distribution as a useful statistical model to represent travel time variability on journeys in urban areas. This distribution has a flexible shape and the ability to describe the very long upper tails (and hence significant skewness) seen in the observed data. This result provides a means to study travel time reliability in line with recent developments of new travel time reliability indices. The Burr distribution is algebraically tractable, which means that percentile values can be computed directly. Thus metrics, such as the FHWA Buffer Index and the Delft skew-width indices, can be computed from the fitted Burr parameters. This opens the way to the inclusion of reliability as a consideration in economic analysis, using metrics that can better reflect the nature of travel time variability.
SPEAKER
Professor Taylor is the Director of the Barbara Hardy Institute and Professor of Transport Planning at the University of South Australia, Australia. The institute is the focal point for the university's research in transport, natural resource management, energy, the built environment, sustainable development, and climate change adaptation. Professor Taylor is internationally acknowledged as an expert on traffic flow theory, transport modelling, the environmental impacts of road traffic, and intelligent transport systems. He has more than 40 years of professional and research experience, as a traffic engineer, a research scientist, and in academia. His interest in travel time reliability began in the 1970s, and he has continued to research in this area until the present day. Professor Taylor gained his PhD at Monash University in 1976. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, the UK Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics, and the US Institute of Transportation Engineers.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Bi-level applications of graph theoretical combinatorial algorithms for dynamic traffic assignment
Professor S. Travis Waller
Evans & Peck Professor of Transport Innovation and Director of the Research Centre for Integrated Transportation Innovation, University of New South Wales, Australia
2 June, 2011 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 2 June, 2011 (Thursday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Bi-level optimization problems represent some of the most challenging facing transportation modelers particularly when the embedded lower-level problem requires Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) conditions. New methodologies will be presented which devise combinatorial algorithms operating on time-expanded graphs by employing the Cell Transmission Model (CTM) for traffic flow propagation. The new DTA algorithms are combined with previously developed linear programming formulations (also based on consistent CTM conditions) to devise novel dual approximation schemes which are employed to achieve gradient information with regard to single or bi-level optimization objectives. The resulting framework and techniques are highly conducive to parallel implementations as well as a wide range of bi-level optimization problems such as capacity calibration, pricing, and network design.
SPEAKER
Professor Waller is the Evans & Peck Professor of Transport Innovation and Director of the Research Centre for Integrated Transportation Innovation at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1997 with his B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He subsequently obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Following a post-doctoral research fellowship at Northwestern University, he began his faculty career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2001. He joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin as an Assistant Professor in 1997 with promotion to Associate Professor (and Phil M. Ferguson Teaching Fellow) in 2007 and Full Professor in 2011. He joined the Department of Civil Engineering at UNSW in mid-2011. While at the University of Texas, he was the founding director for two research centers. The first, the Center for Transportation and Electricity Convergence (CTEC) is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (NSF IUCRC) which focuses on the transforming impact of plug-in electric vehicles on transport and utility planning. The second, the University of Texas Network Modeling Center (NMC) is a regionally funded effort supported by central Texas transport agencies which focuses on the application of large-scale dynamic traffic assignment solutions for critical planning issues. His research and teaching interests span network modeling, simulation, applied operations research methods, stochastic optimization, intelligent transportation systems, and network routing algorithms.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Visual PFE for planning applications in small communities
Professor Anthony Chen
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, USA
2 June, 2011 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 2 June, 2011 (Thursday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Transportation is critical to the social, environmental, and economic health of every metropolitan city. Because of its importance, federal regulations in the United States require each urbanized area over 50,000 in population to have a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) responsible for transportation planning. Yet, according to the U.S. Census, over 40 percent of all U.S. communities have populations less than 50,000. In California, there are 333 municipalities (out of 535 municipalities) that have a population less than 50,000 (U.S. Census Bureau). Such small communities usually do not have sufficient resources to conduct travel surveys or embark on model development and maintenance for carrying out various planning functions. This seminar will present a simplified planning tool specifically targeted at small communities, by adapting and enhancing the Visual Path Flow Estimator (PFE) originally developed for estimating path flows, and hence origin-destination (O-D) demands based on link traffic counts and historical O-D data. To show proof of concept, case studies will be presented in the seminar.
SPEAKER
Professor Chen is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Utah State University (USU), USA. He is also the division head of the Transportation Program at USU. Professor Chen's research interests include transportation systems modeling, modeling of route choice behavior under uncertainty, origin-destination trip table estimation, network equilibrium modeling and algorithm development, meta-heuristics for discrete network location and network design problems, and transportation network reliability and applications to infrastructure management and disaster management. He is a member of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), an editorial advisory board member of the Journal of Urban Planning and Development, and an associate editor for Transportmetrica. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the 2002 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in USA.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Modeling heterogeneous risk-taking behavior in route choice: a stochastic dominance approach
Professor Yu (Marco) Nie
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, USA
22 March, 2011 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 22 March, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Transportation systems
are affected by uncertainties of various sorts. As a result, reliability has
become a critical dimension in user experience of transportation services. On
one hand, lack of reliability either encourages overly conservative risk-averse
behavior or leads to uncomfortable, sometimes disastrous, disruptions to
personal and business schedules. On the other hand, users' risk-taking behavior
in presence of uncertainties may collectively affect the "equilibrium"
of traffic in the system, and hence the design and operational decisions.
In this talk, a unified approach is proposed to model heterogonous risk-taking
behavior in route choice based on the theory of stochastic dominance (SD), a
tool widely used in finance and economics. We show that, the paths preferred by
travelers of different risk-taking preferences can be obtained by enumerating
the corresponding SD-admissible paths, and that general dynamic programming can
be employed to generate these paths. The relationship between the SD theory and
several route choice models found in the literature is also discussed. These
route choice models employ a variety of indexes to measure reliability, which
often makes the problem of finding optimal paths intractable. We show that the
optimal paths with respect to these reliability indexes often belong to one of
the three SD-admissible path sets. This finding offers not only an
interpretation of risk-taking behavior consistent with the SD theory for these
route choice models, but also a unified and computationally viable solution
approach through SD-admissible path sets, which are usually small and can be
generated without having to enumerate all paths.
We also introduce two applications of the stochastic dominance approach. In the first, the first-order
SD is used to solve the percentile user-equilibrium traffic assignment problem,
in which travelers are assumed to choose routes to minimize the percentile
travel time, i.e. the travel time budget that ensures their preferred
probability of on-time arrival. The second application considers the optimal
path problems with second-order stochastic dominance constraints, which arise
when travelers are concerned with the tradeoff between the risks associated with
random travel time and other travel costs. Risk-averse behavior is embedded in
such problems by requiring the random travel times on the optimal paths to
stochastically dominate that on a benchmark path in the second order. For each
application, we give a formulation and briefly discuss solution algorithms.
SPEAKER
Yu (Marco) Nie is Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. He received his B.S. in Structural Engineering from Tsinghua University (Beijing) and his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Nie's research covers a variety of topics in the areas of transportation systems analysis, traffic simulation and traffic flow theory. He has extensive experience in developing software tools for various transportation applications. Currently Dr. Nie is a member of the TRB committee on Transportation Network Modeling (ADB30), TRB committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics (AHB45) and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Transportation Research Part B. He has also served as an ad-hoc reviewer for a variety of transportation journals, and as review panelists for National Science Foundation. Dr. Nie's research has been supported by National Science Foundation, US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and Illinois Department of Transportation.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Road use charging and inter-modal equilibrium: the Downs-Thompson paradox revisited
Professor Michael G.H. Bell and Muanmas Wichiensin
Centre for Transport Studies, Imperial College London, UK
11 March, 2011 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 March, 2011 (Friday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This presentation looks at the impact of charging for road use in cities where; an intermodal equilibrium prevails, there are efficiency gains to be had from increased transit use, but the roads are congested. Demand is assumed to be elastic and transit is assumed not to be directly affected by road congestion, as would be the case where transit uses a reserved track. It is shown that at a stable intermodal user equilibrium a version of the Downs-Thompson paradox applies if the efficiency gains arising from increased transit use are passed on to passengers as reduced generalized usage costs (reduced fares, increased service frequencies, or both). The paradox arises because the imposition of a road user charge (call it a congestion charge) not only reduces road congestion but also reduces the cost of travel at the intermodal user equilibrium including the congestion charge for those who choose to drive. The presentation then goes on to consider what would be expected if, rather passing on the efficiency gains to transit users, the transit operator(s) behaved like a profit maximizing monopolist, and establishes that the paradox can no longer arise. The implications of the findings for the regulation of transit fares are considered.
SPEAKER
Prof. Michael Bell is Professor of Transport Operations at Imperial College London. Having graduated in 1975 from Cambridge University with a BA in Economics, he obtained an MSc in 1976 and a PhD in 1981, both in the field of transportation and both from Leeds University. Between 1979 and 1982 he worked as a Research Associate at University College London, before moving to the Institut fur Verkehrswesen at the Technical University of Karlsruhe as an Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral Research Fellow. He returned to the UK in 1984 to a New Blood lectureship at the University of Newcastle. In 1992 he became the Deputy Director of the Transport Operations Research Group (TORG), becoming its Director in 1996. He was promoted to a Personal Readership in 1994 and a Personal Chair in 1996. In January 2002, he moved to Imperial College London, and in 2005 he established the Port Operations Research and Technology Centre (PORTeC), of which he is Director. His research and teaching interests span transport network modelling, traffic engineering and control, intelligent transport systems, ports and logistics. An important methodological theme has been decision-making under uncertainty and transport network reliability. Recent projects include robust and adaptive algorithms for navigation in multi-modal networks.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Recent developments of road network operations in Australia
Dr. James Luk
Australian Road Research Board (ARRB Group), Australia
11 January, 2011 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 January, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Traffic management is given a modern term called network operations in Australia/New Zealand and other countries. With increasing congestion in large urban centres, the cost of congestion has been similar to the cost of road crashes and has attracted attention amongst policy makers in Australia. This Seminar reports on some of the research and development activities at ARRB and state road agencies. It will describe the following three aspects of road network operation: (a) definition of road network operations - the definition has ranged from the traditional sense of managing 'hot spots' to high-level strategy development including travel demand management. An appropriate definition was reached by consensus amongst road agencies recently and will be reported. (b) automatic, online measurement of network performance - to be able to manage congestion well, it is important to be able to measure it well. Some recent research into the development of online performance indicators will be reported. (c) high-level network intelligence in SCATS - some operational limitations of SCATS will be described including recent measures to overcome these limitations.
SPEAKER
Dr James Luk is a Chief Scientist with the ARRB Group in Melbourne. He has been involved in intelligent transport system research and teaching for more than 30 years. He was with the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore from 1998-2002. James is also an Adjunct Professor of La Trobe University in Melbourne.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Adaptive joint route-choice behavior of multi-occupants in private vehicles: To switch or not to switch - Who makes the decision on route switching?
Professor Jiuh-Biing Sheu
Institute of Traffic and Transportation, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
8 January, 2011 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 8 January, 2011 (Saturday)
Time : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Civil Eng. Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
This talk is about the introduction of a new adaptive joint route choice behavior model which characterizes and predicts household adaptive en-route choice behavior in ATMIS contexts. The proposed model characterizes in-vehicle joint route-choice decisions by multi-occupants in the following three stages: (1) initiation of individual preference; (2) preference accommodation; and, (3) utility aggregation. The unique feature of the proposed model is that the fundamentals of fuzzy set and psychological game theories are integrated into the individual preference accommodation process. Two psychological factors, egoism and altruism, are considered when characterizing how vehicle occupants adapt their preferences for route choices to the preferences of other occupants. The in-vehicle multi-occupant joint utility is then determined by a weighting utility aggregation process. Using household survey data for a long-weekend holiday, the parameters of the proposed model are estimated, followed by model tests with a simple freeway traffic network to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed model. Test results indicate that the proposed model can characterize household route-choice behavior and predict network traffic diversion with a forecasting performance better than that when only considering driver utility for household en-route choice prediction.
SPEAKER
Professor Jiuh-Biing Sheu is a full professor and director of Institute of Traffic and Transportation, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C. Presently, he is also the associate editor and guest editor of Transportation Research Part E. His research interests include Intelligent Transportation Systems, channel relationship management, green supply chain management, green marketing, emergency logistics management, and advanced logistics distribution and transportation systems. His current research focuses on psychophysics and its applications in driver behavior, and green supply chain relationship management, bargaining game and its applications in green supply chain negotiations.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Equilibrium and mode split under pricing regimes in a competitive transit/highway system
Professor Hai-Jun Huang
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China
14 December, 2010 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 December, 2010 (Tuesday)
Time : 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Civil Eng. Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
Consider such a competitive transit/highway system where every morning, commuters have to travel from a residential area to a workplace by using their private cars on a bottleneck-constrained highway or selecting a regularly dispatched train on a railway. We first depict the commuters' departure patterns by private car and train respectively, then derive the conditions and properties of a non-toll dynamic equilibrium for ensuring that the total private cost is equal for any commuter at any used departure time and by any mode. We discuss three different pricing regimes and formulate the corresponding mathematical programs for minimizing the total social cost or maximizing the total toll revenue. Numerical results are presented.
SPEAKER
Hai-Jun Huang is the Cheng Kong professor of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA). He is now the executive associate dean of the BUAA's Graduate School and had served as the dean of the School of Economics and Management. From 2000 to 2004, he was the vice director of the Department of Management Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China. He received his Ph.D in transport operations research from BUAA in 1992. His research interests include road traffic flow models, transport network modeling, travel behavior analysis and congested road-use pricing. He has published more than 100 papers in such international journals as Transportation Research (Part A, Part B, Part E), JORS, EJOR, JTRR, Physical Review E, Physical A. He co-authored with Hai Yang the book Mathematical and Economic Theory of Road Pricing published by Elsevier in 2005. In 1998, he got the National Excellent Young Researcher Grant. He is now on the editorial boards of more than 15 journals, including Transportation Research Part B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
The distributional effects of road pricing with heterogeneity in values of time and schedule delay
Professor Erik T Verhoef
VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
14 December, 2010 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 December, 2010 (Tuesday)
Time : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Civil Eng. Conference Room, via Lift 27/28), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
This talk is about the efficiency and distributional impacts of congestion pricing in Vickrey's (1969) dynamic bottleneck model of congestion, allowing for continuous distributions of values of time and schedule delay. We find that congestion pricing can leave a majority of travellers better off even without returning the toll revenues to them. We also find that the consumer surplus losses or gains from tolling are not strictly monotonic in the value of time, because they also depend on the value of schedule delays. The greatest losses are not incurred by drivers with the lowest value of time, but by users with an intermediate value of schedule delays and the lowest value of time for that value of schedule delays. For second-best pricing with an untolled alternative, the pattern of distributional effects is quite similar to that for first-best pricing. In contrast with results from prior static models, users who are indifferent between the two alternative routes are not the ones who gain least from this type of second-best pricing. Our results suggest that, in assessing the distributional impacts of road congestion pricing, it is important to take into account both the distribution of the value of time and of the value of schedule delays, as well as the dynamics of departure time choice.
SPEAKER
Erik Verhoef is affiliated as a full professor in Spatial Economics, and as the Research Dean of the Faculty of Economics, at the VU University Amsterdam. Furthermore, he is visiting professor at the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University, and a research fellow at the Tinbergen Institute and the Netherlands Network of Economics (NAKE). He is elected follow of the Regional Science Association International, and has recently received a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant. His research focuses on efficiency and equity aspects of spatial externalities and their economic regulation, in particular in transport, urban and spatial systems. Important research themes include second-best regulation, network- and spatial analysis and methodological development, dynamic modelling, efficiency aspects versus equity and social acceptability, and policy evaluation. His research is at the interface of welfare-, micro-, transport-, urban-, spatial- and environmental economics. He has published various books and numerous articles on these topics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Analysis of observed flows and speeds of urban transit systems
Professor S.C. (Chan) Wirasinghe
Department of Civil Engineering
, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada11 September, 2010 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 September, 2010 (Saturday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
As a transit corridor evolves over time (over several decades) due to land use and other changes, the public transit mode (or mix of modes) that serves it may have to transition from one to another several times. Two of the significant characteristics that must be considered in the transition are the capacity and average speed of each mode since they impact the passenger waiting times and in-vehicle travel times respectively. Data on stated capacities, observed maximum flows and average speeds have been collected from many available sources and analyzed as part of this study. In addition to intrinsic variations, there is considerable variation in the data caused in part by lack of information about the differences in the transit systems for which the data is available, e.g. number of transit routes passing through a corridor. Various modes considered suitable for the South Calgary corridor are ranked in terms of the line capacity and average speed. The thresholds are those at which a mode transition is essential. However, mode transitions may occur well in advance of such thresholds if a new modal mix is optimal for the corridor in terms of minimizing the sum of the costs to the users and the operator. Some preliminary results on the optimal mix of regular and express bus services in a given corridor are also discussed.
SPEAKER
Prof. Wirasinghe is currently a full Professor of Civil Engineering and the Academic Director of the Center for Transportation of the Van Horne Institute. He is an Honorary Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong and the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He obtained his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in Peradeniya in 1968. He won a four year US Fulbright Scholarship to study transportation engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. He completed his MS in 1973 and Ph.D. in 1976 at Berkeley. He moved to the University of Calgary in Canada in 1976 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. He became Dean of the Faculty of Engineering in January 1994 and held the post until July 2006. Prof. Wirasinghe's research interests are in public transportation, airport planning, transport in developing countries and mitigation of natural disasters. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Advanced Transportation. He is currently writing a book titled Transit Systems - Analysis and Planning. He has about 190 publications and supervised 12 PhD students, 3 PDF's and 11 Masters students. He received a D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) from the University of Moratuwa in 2001. He was named Calgary's Citizen of the Year for 2005. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, and Engineers Canada.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
A multi-class mean-excess traffic equilibrium model with elastic demand
Professor Anthony Chen
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
, Utah State University, USA9 June, 2010 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 June, 2010 (Wednesday)
Time : 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Mean-excess travel time is a new route choice criterion recently proposed by Chen and Zhou (2010) to simultaneously consider both reliability (on-time arrival) and unreliability (late arrival) aspects of travel time variability when making route choice decisions under uncertainty. In this seminar, a multi-class mean-excess traffic equilibrium model with elastic demand will be presented. This model explicitly accounts for multiple user classes with different risk attitudes toward the travel time variability in the mean-excess traffic equilibrium framework. Furthermore, travel demand between each origin-destination (O-D) pair for each user class is assumed to depend on the corresponding minimal O-D mean-excess travel time. The proposed model is formulated as a variational inequity (VI) problem that can be solved by a route-based algorithm based on the modified alternating direction method. Numerical examples are also provided to illustrate the proposed model.
SPEAKER
Dr. Anthony Chen is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Utah State University (USU). He is also the division head of the Transportation Program at USU. Dr. Chen's research interests include transportation systems modeling, modeling of route choice behavior under uncertainty, origin-destination trip table estimation, network equilibrium modeling and algorithm development, meta-heuristics for discrete network location and network design problems, and transportation network reliability and applications to infrastructure management and disaster management. He is a member of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), an editorial advisory board member of the Journal of Urban Planning and Development, and an associate editor for Transportmetrica. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the 2002 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in the United States.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Planning for electric vehicles - can we match environmental requirements, technology and travel demand?
Professor Michael Anthony Peter Taylor
Director, Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies
, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia1 June, 2010 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 1 June, 2010 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (via Lift 27-28), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
This seminar discusses the feasibility for adopting electric vehicles (EV) for urban transport, replacing conventional private vehicles. Considerations need to be made of the potential greenhouse gas benefits of EV, the ability for EV to be used as direct replacements for present day vehicles, and the infrastructure and power supply implications of a wholesale shift to electric powered private transport. The paper presents the results of a feasibility study conducted for two major Australian cities, Sydney and Adelaide. The overall conclusion is that introduction of current technology electric vehicles could impact significantly on daily journeys made within a 100 km charge range. The case studies show that the large majority of motorised journeys are accomplished within this range. However, it must be emphasised that for a maximum benefit from electric vehicles, electricity should be acquired from renewable sources. The study findings should have implications for the adoption of EV technology in cities around the world.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael Taylor is the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies (ISST) and Professor of Transport Planning at the University of South Australia. He is internationally acknowledged as an expert on travel behaviour, travel demand modelling, and the environmental impacts of road traffic. His current research is in three areas: future urban transport systems, fuel and emissions modelling for road traffic and transport network reliability and vulnerability. He has 40 years professional experience, as a traffic engineer, a research scientist, and in academia.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8743
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164.
Changing concepts of high speed rail in Europe
Professor Roger Vickerman
Centre for European Regional and Transport Economics, University of Kent, UK
16 April, 2010 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 16 April, 2010 (Friday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
High Speed Rail was originally developed in France as substitute for air over longer distances and road over shorter distances with the ideal distance being seen as 400-600 km or a 2 to 3 hour journey time. This led to both mode substitution and trip generation, but concerted campaigns for regional connections led to two developments - off-route connections and the development of intermediate stations. These have had varying degrees of success. In Germany rather less emphasis has been placed on the development of new inter-city routes but rather gradual developments of laid over the existing inter-city rail service. Spain on the other hand has tended more towards the French model. Two major changes have however occurred to the original inter-city model with HSR as a complement to air with airport stations and the growth of longer distance commuting. In this paper we review these developments and assess the priorities for future developments concentrating particularly on the potential for using HSR as an instrument of regional economic development. This will provide some interesting contrasts with the current development of HSR in China.
SPEAKER
Prof. Roger Vickerman is Professor of European Economics at the University of Kent, Canterbury, U.K., where he is also Director of the Centre for European, Regional and Transport Economics and Dean of the University of Kent's Brussels (Belgium) Campus where he directs the Brussels School of International Studies. He holds degrees in Economics from the Universities of Cambridge and Sussex and an honorary doctorate from the Phillipps-Universitat Marburg. He is an Academician of Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. His main research interests are the relationship between transport (especially infrastructure), regional development and integration in the European Union; and the role of migration and labour mobility in integration. He is particularly known for his studies on major infrastructure projects and their economic effects, particularly the EU's Trans-European Networks. He is currently working on questions relating to public-private partnerships, regulation in transport and the ex-post analysis of ERDF and Cohesion Fund expenditure on transport. He is a member of the Analytical Challenge Panel to HS2 Ltd which advises the UK Government on the development of high-speed rail. He has served as a member of SACTRA (Standing Committee on Trunk Road Assessment), as an advisor to Committees of both the House of Commons and House of Lords in the UK Parliament and acted as a consultant to the European Commission, various UK government departments and regional and local government authorities. He is the author of 6 books (including the textbook Principles of Transport Economics, with Emile Quinet) and over 150 chapters, journal articles and reports. He sits on the editorial boards of several journals in both transport and regional science.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai Sumalee at Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070, Fax:
2334-6389, or Email: cecfylam@polyu.edu.hk.
Transport investiments and global competitiveness: balancing mobility and livability
Professor Robert Cervero
Professor of City and Regional Planning; University of California, Berkeley
; Director, University of California Transportation Center, USA26 February, 2010 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong
and
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers - Civil Division
Date : 26 February, 2010 (Friday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. (5:30 - 6:00 reception)
Venue : Room M1603, 16/F, Li Ka Shing Tower, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Transport infrastructure is critical to the competitiveness of cities and regions in the global marketplace. With knowledge- and service-based industries driving economic growth in many sectors of the modern economy, creating functional yet livable cities is essential to global competitiveness. This presentation addresses the challenges of striking an appropriate balance between transport infrastructure as an economic conduit and broader place-making and community-building objectives, drawing lessons from Asian, European, and American contexts.
SPEAKER
Prof. Professor Robert Cervero works in the area of sustainable transportation policy and planning, focusing on the nexus between urban transportation and land-use systems. He is Professor of City and Regional Planning and Director of the University of California Transportation Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Cervero is a frequent advisor and consultant on transport projects, both in the U.S. and abroad. In 2004, Professor Cervero was the first-ever recipient of the Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban Planning Research and is a past Fellow with the Urban Land Institute and World Bank Institute. Presently, he is Chairman of the International Association of Urban Environments and the National Advisory Board of the Active Living Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Professor Cervero currently serves on the editorial boards of six leading journals. Over the past year, he has conducted professional training workshops in Indonesia through the World Bank Institute as well as for the Ministry of Transportation in Argentina, the West Australia Department of Planning, and the American Planning Association.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
FREE Admission. Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or by
returning the completed <reply
slip> by fax at
2334-6389.
Funding Organization: Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material / any event organized under this Project do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Vetting Committee for the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme.
An integrated, dynamic, multi-modal emergency evacuation system for the city Baltimore
Professor Gang-Len Chang
Professor and Director of Transportation program, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland; Manager of the Applied Technology for Traffic Operations and Safety Program between Maryland State Highway Administration and University of Maryland, USA
24 February, 2010 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers - Civil Division
Date : 24 February, 2010 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. (5:30 - 6:00 reception)
Venue : Room HJ303, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Efficient evacuation of populations to pre-designated safety destinations within the allowable time window during emergency has emerged as not only a priority research but also operational issue for many US major metropolises in recent years. Given the real-world constraints on the network monitoring and system control, the primary challenge during emergency evacuation lies in how to best direct evacuees from the incident impact zones to target transportation modes and to the assigned evacuation routes. Hence, in developing an effective plan for such applications, one shall take into account a variety of complex operational issues, including the inevitable conflicts between massive pedestrian and vehicular flows within the impacted zones, dynamic guidance of pedestrian flows to subway or bus stations, identification of optimal locations for buses to pick up evacuees, optimal supply of transit vehicles in response to the distribution of evacuation patterns, and responsive control of signals as well as ramps to direct traffic flows out of the direct and secondary incident impact zones. This seminar will illustrate an integrated multimodal emergency evacuation system for the City of Baltimore. The proposed system has been developed to address all those complex operational issues during emergency evacuation. The model framework, key module formulations, and demonstration of system applications will all be included in the presentation.
SPEAKER
Prof. Gang-Len Chang is a Professor and the Director of Transportation program at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, U.S.A. and Manager of the Applied Technology for Traffic Operations and Safety Program between Maryland State Highway Administration and University of Maryland. He also serves as the Director of the Laboratory for Traffic Safety and Operations, and the Executive Committee Member of the Tier-I University Transportation Center by USDOT. Prof. Chang's primary research areas have been on traffic network analysis, intelligent transportation systems control and operations, and regional network planning and development. Over the past 10 years, Prof. Chang has been the principal investigator for more than 50 transportation projects and research funding of over 8 million dollars sponsored by both federal and state agencies. He has received the research excellence and support award from Maryland State Highway Administration, and Martin Marietta University Research Award for Intelligent Transportation Systems Development. He has served as editorial members for major transportation research journals such as Journals of Transportation Research Part B and Part A, Journal of Transportation Engineering. He is a member of several TRB technical committees, and is currently the Chief Editor for Journal of Urban Planning and Development (ASCE), the Associate Editor for Journal of Transportmetrica, and an Editor Board Member for Journal of Urban Technologies. Prof. Chang is also one of the publications committee members for Transportation and Development Institute of ASCE. He has worked as a technical advisor for many ITS programs in developing and developed countries including United Nations Developing Country program, World Bank, Taiwan Ministry of Communications and Transportation, The Korea Transport Institute, Intelligent Transportation Systems of Martin Marietta, Transportation Systems Division of Loral AerroSys, Maryland Toll Authority, and D.C. Capital Region for Emergency Evacuation.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
FREE Admission. Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or by
returning the completed <reply
slip> by fax at
2334-6389.
Funding Organization: Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material / any event organized under this Project do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Vetting Committee for the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme.
Spatial factors associated with pedestrian fatalities and injuries
Professor Robert Noland
Rutgers University, USA
14 December, 2009 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong
Date : 14 December, 2009 (Monday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. (5:30 - 6:00 reception)
Venue : Room N001, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Pedestrian fatalities and injuries are a growing concern in many countries, especially those that are rapidly transforming their cities to enable widespread car usage. This presentation will initially cover some of the fundamental theory associated with understanding road safety and mobility. A spatial analysis of pedestrian fatalities and injuries in the State of New Jersey will then be presented. Using geo-coded data on fatalities and injuries a maximum-likelihood negative binomial model is estimated to examine how various spatially defined variables, including road, demographic, and land use characteristics may be associated with fatalities and injuries. Due to suspected spatial correlation in the data we also employ a conditional autoregressive Bayesian model using Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation, implemented with WinBUGS software. While the injury model did not reach a stable convergence, the fatality model is broadly similar to the maximum-likelihood estimate, but provides better inference on the distribution of parameter values. We supplement the statistical analysis with a demonstration of the power of Google StreetviewTM as a visual analysis tool and discuss future research using this technique. Overall results suggest that areas with greater population density have fewer fatalities, and that those with more intense employment have both greater fatalities and injuries. Lower income areas tend to have more victims, but those from lower income areas also tend to be victims in different areas. Our visual analysis suggests that large roads are likely associated with pedestrian fatalities, as supported by the multivariate results. Implications for road development and policy are discussed.
SPEAKER
Robert Noland is a Professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and serves as the Director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center. He received his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in Energy Management and Environmental Policy. Prior to joining Rutgers University he was Reader in Transport and Environmental Policy in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London, a Policy Analyst at the US Environmental Protection Agency and also conducted post-doctoral research in the Economics Department at the University of California at Irvine. The focus of Dr. Noland's research is the impacts of transport planning and policy on environmental outcomes. This is defined very broadly to include not just air and water quality impacts, but also impacts on safety, climate, health, and other factors associated with overall quality of life. Active research areas include examining the impact of induced travel on vehicle emissions; understanding the policy implications of induced travel and behavioral responses to new transport capacity; investigation of policies to mitigate the climate impacts of aviation, in particular those associated with contrail formation; micro-simulation of pedestrian-vehicle interactions to provide an understanding of the costs and benefits associated with policies to improve pedestrian flow; analysis of behavioral issues associated with transport safety policies and empirical analyses of safety data, and assessment of the economic effects of transport investments. Dr. Noland's research has been cited throughout the world in debates over transport infrastructure planning and environmental assessment of new infrastructure. Dr. Noland is currently the Associate Editor of Transportation Research-D (Transport and Environment) and the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation and is Chair of the Transportation Research Board Committee's on Joint Sub-committee on Transportation and Global Climate Change.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
FREE Admission. Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or by
returning the completed <reply
slip> by fax at
2334-6389.
Funding Organization: Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material / any event organized under this Project do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Vetting Committee for the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme.
The future for route guidance and journey planners
Professor Michael G.H. Bell
Imperial College London, UK
12 December, 2009 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date : 12 December, 2009 (Saturday)
Time : 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (3:00 - 3:30 reception)
Venue : Room AG710, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Efficient transport systems are a necessary but not a sufficient condition for efficient travel. Equally important is the ability to accurately plan and execute a trip, as this determines the efficiency with which transport systems can be used, either by people or by freight. Recently vehicle navigation systems, particularly portable navigation devices, have achieved great popularity by offering drivers guidance at a reasonable price, even though the electronic maps and assumed link travel times have often been inaccurate. At the same time, journey planners have been become more widespread and available to travellers who can access the internet via their mobile phones. Advances in mobile phones open up the possibility of personal, multi-modal guidance systems that can navigate the traveller across transport systems from origin to destination. In addition, there have been advances in algorithms making guidance more reliable, user friendly and responsive to on-trip events. The construction of hyperpaths allows travellers to take advantage of variations in bus or tram arrival times or unforeseen variations in link travel times. Alternatively, hyperpaths can allow for taste variations by offering the driver the full set of Pareto optimal alternatives. This paper reviews the field and presents an algorithm for generating hyperpaths for journey planners. The paper closes with a vision of the future for personal, multi-modal guidance systems.
SPEAKER
Prof. Michael Bell is Professor of Transport Operations at Imperial College London. Having graduated in 1975 from Cambridge University with a BA in Economics, he obtained an MSc in 1976 and a PhD in 1981, both in the field of transportation and both from Leeds University. Between 1979 and 1982 he worked as a Research Associate at University College London, before moving to the Institut für Verkehrswesen at the Technical University of Karlsruhe as an Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral Research Fellow. He returned to the UK in 1984 to a New Blood lectureship at the University of Newcastle. In 1992 he became the Deputy Director of the Transport Operations Research Group (TORG), becoming its Director in 1996. He was promoted to a Personal Readership in 1994 and a Personal Chair in 1996. In January 2002, he moved to Imperial College London, and in 2005 he established the Port Operations Research and Technology Centre (PORTeC), of which he is Director. His research and teaching interests span transport network modelling, traffic engineering and control, intelligent transport systems, ports and logistics. An important methodological theme has been decision-making under uncertainty and transport network reliability. Recent projects include robust and adaptive algorithms for navigation in multi-modal networks.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
FREE Admission. Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or by
returning the completed <reply
slip> by fax at
2334-6389.
Funding Organization: Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material / any event organized under this Project do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Vetting Committee for the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme.
Climate change and transportation: a changing climate?
Professor Harry J.P. Timmermans
Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
11 December, 2009 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers - Civil Division
Date : 11 December, 2009 (Friday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. (5:30 - 6:00 reception)
Venue : Room AG710, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The potentially dramatic impact of climate change is a rapidly increasing worldwide concern. Transportation may have a role to play in mitigating climate change. On the other hand, the potential impact of climate change may also influence the organization of activities and related travel in time and space. This seminar presents (i) summarize the current discussion, (ii) discuss alternative transportation-related solutions to mitigate climate change, (iii) reflect on the prospects of these alternative solutions and (iv) identify avenues of future research.
SPEAKER
Dr. Harry Timmermans is Chaired Professor of Urban Planning at the Eindhoven University of Technology. His research interest is in modelling activity-travel patterns and developing decision support systems in a variety of applications areas, including transportation. His latest research projects concern the development of large-scale dynamic activity-based models, linking activity-travel patterns to energy use and environmental performance criteria and the application of pervasive technology in transportation. He has (co-)authored over 500 journal articles and several books in urban planning, transportation, marketing, tourism, operations research, artificial intelligence an applied computer science. He is founding editor of the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services and serves on the editorial board of various journals in different disciplines. He also is member of the board of IATBR and several TRB committees.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
FREE Admission. Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or by
returning the completed <reply
slip> by fax at
2334-6389.
Funding Organization: Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material / any event organized under this Project do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Vetting Committee for the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme.
Risks in transportation project cost estimation
Professor Kumares C. Sinha
Department of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA
29 October, 2009 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers - Civil Division
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 October, 2009 (Thursday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. (5:30 - 6:00 reception)
Venue : Room M1603, 16/F, Li Ka Shing Tower, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Reliability of public project construction cost estimates is a worldwide concern. Estimates made at the planning stage go through several revisions as projects pass through various stages before construction, often spanning a period exceeding 10 to 15 years or more. After the planning stage when a project is scheduled for future implementation, progressively detailed cost estimates are prepared at the remaining stages of project development, namely, design estimate, engineer's estimate, and bid estimate. The level of accuracy of such estimates has critical consequences on contract administration and public asset management. Most transportation agencies do not have a methodological framework that can reliably identify projects with cost over-(or under-) run during the transportation development process. This seminar presents a framework for identifying projects that are likely to experience cost overrun during the different stages of project development process. By analyzing cost escalation patterns during the period a project progresses from planning to construction, the risk of cost overrun can be reliably estimated. The information can allow transportation agencies to identify risky projects early and pre-empt potential cost overruns. A case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the developed framework.
SPEAKER
Dr. Kumares C. Sinha is the Edgar B. & Hedwig M. Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program of Purdue University and the Indiana Department of Transportation. His research interest is in the areas of transportation planning, engineering and management. He has authored or co-authored over 400 journal articles and other publications including a recent book, Transportation Decision Making: Principles of Project Evaluation and Programming, published by John Wiley & Sons. He has mentored numerous graduate and post- doctoral students worldwide. He advises governments at all levels and consults for the World Bank on transportation and infrastructure issues. He is a registered Professional Engineer and Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has served as the President of the Transportation & Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), President of the Research and Education Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), President of the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC), and as a member of the Federal Advisory Council on Transportation Statistics. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the Journal of Transportation Engineering. Dr. Sinha has received numerous honors, including the Award for Distinguished Contribution to University Transportation Education and Research given by the CUTC (2005), Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award (2002) given jointly by the ITE and several other professional organizations, ASCE Francis C. Turner Lecture Award (2001), ARTBA Steinberg Award (2000), ASCE Harland Bartholomew Award (1996), Engineering Alumni Award of the University of Connecticut (1995), ASCE Arthur Wellington Prize (1992), ASCE Frank M. Masters Award (1986) and Fred Burggraf Award of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Research Council (1972). He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
FREE Admission. Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Funding Organization: Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material / any event organized under this Project do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Vetting Committee for the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme.
Aggregation in transport network models
Dr. Richard Connors
Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK
15 July, 2009 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 15 July, 2009 (Wednesday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F., Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Transport models comprise a
representation of the network infrastructure, and of transport users who decide
how, where and when to travel. Naturally, the models used to optimise
micro-scale/short-term measures (e.g. timing of traffic lights), are different
from those used when planning major infrastructure (e.g. increasing motorway
capacity), or designing long term policy (e.g. for sustainable future transport
systems). However, we should expect such models to somehow 'agree' with each
other; transport network models on large spatial and temporal scales should be
consistent with those commonly used for smaller scale, nearer term forecasting.
In fact there is little understanding of what difference a change in scale makes
to model predictions, how to connect current transport models across different
scales of analysis and different data resolutions, and what it means for them to
be consistent.
In transport modelling, aggregation refers to the level of detail included in
network and behavioural models, and the methods used to summarise
characteristics of detailed models for larger scale analyses. For traffic flow
dynamics on a single link, there is some theory on aggregating individual
car-following models to give fluid flow PDEs and area speed-flow relationships.
For transport networks there is no such theory of aggregation. A key challenge
therefore is to establish theory and methods for the aggregation of network
models; to connect existing models across different scales, and to provide
aggregate representations of transport networks for large-scale, long-term
analyses.
In this seminar I will outline an analytic method for network aggregation. With
this in mind, I will consider how recent advances in the study of complex
networks might be used in the large-scale, long-term analysis of transport
networks.
SPEAKER
Dr. Connors gained his first degree in Mathematics (Oxford) and his PhD in Quantum Chaology (Bristol). This was followed by 3 years working as a MATLAB developer (Cambridge). In 2003 Dr Connors returned to academic research, joining the Institute for Transport Studies (Leeds). His current research concerns the representation of network infrastructure and human behaviour within transport network models across different scales of analysis, and the consistency of these mathematical formulations.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Valuing development projects: the cases of urban environment project of Yunnan, China, and non-motorized transport project of Pune, India
Dr. Hua Wang
Senior Economist, World Bank
17 March, 2009 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 17 March, 2009 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This seminar discusses about the theory and methodology for estimating economic values of development projects. Willingness-to-pay studies of two development projects - the Pune Non-Motorized Transport Project and the Yunnan Urban Environment Project, will be used to illustrate the concept, the theory, as well as the methodologies. The potential issues and the ways to solve them will be presented and discussed.
SPEAKER
Dr. Hua Wang is a Senior Environmental Economist of the World Bank's Development Research Group, working on economics and policy of sustainable development in developing countries. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Economics, Management and Policy from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a B.S. in Astrophysics from Nanjing University. He taught in Nanjing University for 8 years before he went to the United States. He joined the World Bank's Development Research Group in 1995. He has published widely in the areas of environmental, ecological, resource, infrastructure and development economics.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. W.T. Hung at Tel.: 2766-6044
Please reserve your seat with Freda Chow at Tel: 2766-6051 or Fax:
2334-6389
A new quality measure for assessing trip table estimates from traffic counts
Dr. Anthony Chen
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
12 December, 2008 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 December, 2008 (Friday)
Time : 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F., Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The uncertainty of an O-D trip table estimate is affected by two factors: (i) the errors of traffic counts and (ii) the multiplicity of solutions due to the underspecified nature of the problem. In this seminar, a new quality measure for assessing the O-D trip tables estimated from traffic counts will be presented. This new quality measure consists of two parts: (i) a generalized demand scale (GDS) measure for quantifying the intrinsic underspecified nature of the O-D estimation problem at various spatial levels, and (ii) confidence intervals to quantify the contribution of input errors (traffic counts) to the estimation results. Initial results using PFE (path flow estimator) as the O-D estimator show that the new quality measure is able to separate the two sources of uncertainty in constructing the confidence intervals at various spatial levels. Simulation results also confirm that the proposed quality measure indeed contain the true estimates within the defined confidence intervals.
SPEAKER
Dr. Anthony Chen is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Utah State University (USU). He is also the division head of the Transportation Program at USU. Dr. Chen's research interests include transportation systems modeling, modeling of route choice behavior under uncertainty, origin-destination trip table estimation, network equilibrium modeling and algorithm development, meta-heuristics for discrete network location and network design problems, and transportation network reliability and applications to infrastructure management and disaster management. He is a member of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), an editorial advisory board member of the Journal of Urban Planning and Development, and an associate editor for Transportmetrica. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the 2002 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in the United States.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Incident-management in
Central Arkansas: an ITS application
Federal-aid Project
Number: ITSR (001)
Professor Yupo Chan
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA
12 December, 2008 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Department of Management Sciences, City University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 12 December, 2008 (Friday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F., Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In this project, we are working
toward building a Traffic Incident Management Center. It provides not only a
shared database but an Incident Command Center (ICC) to motorists and operators
alike. All interested agencies can use the center, enhancing mutual cooperation
and coordination. Similar to other communities, incident-management activities
in Central Arkansas consists of Motorist Assistance Patrol, Towing and Wrecker
Service, Emergency Medical Services, Traffic Management at Work Zones, and
Traveler Information System.
We have four goals in our study. The first is to investigate
advanced incident-detection techniques. The second is to model the distribution
of incidents. The third is to choose the appropriate incident-response
strategies. And the fourth is to perform benefit/cost analysis.
Working toward real-time monitoring of traffic conditions, we are developing
routing algorithms to assist incident managers in decreasing response time and
motorists in re-routing around incidents. Here are some salient features of our
incident-management model:
o Provide a good tactic to allocate available
response vehicles to serve reported incidents.
o Pay attention to potential
incidents in ensuring a certain level of reliability in delivering quality
service overall.
o Reduce the negative impact of incidents as much as
possible.
In order to cater for potential incidents, available resources may not be
committed to the closest-by reported incidents-a somewhat counterintuitive
finding. The simulation result for Central Arkansas shows that the delay cost
& work time are reduced by about 20%, while the workload is also decreased.
The public is served better with less expenditure from the Arkansas State
Police, assuming the towing contractors are paid by their work time, instead of
by the number of dispatches.
In an Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS), we study how to map a
driver's interests to real-time routing decisions. Accounting for en-route
delays and alternate routing, we found counter-intuitively that ATIS networks
exhibit non-FIFO behavior-drivers who depart earlier may not arrive ahead of
those who depart later. Given a time-dependent network, we consider waiting
en-route for an incident to clear. Viewed as an advance in computational
efficiency, we are able to model accurate arc travel-times yet using coarse
simulation time-intervals. Accordingly, the algorithm has been shown to be
operationally viable for real-time applications.
As a prototype, the proposed ICC serves three functions as follows.
o Publish
public information on 511, variable message signs, or the web site to announce
current incidents and dynamic travel time.
o Provide motorists with re-routing
paths to go around incidents.
o Assist incident operators to arrive at incident
scenes as quickly as possible, and advice managers in the judicious allocation
of resources.
SPEAKER
Yupo Chan received his PhD from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. After 28 years of post-doctoral
experience in industry, universities and government, he became the Founding
Chair of the Department of Systems Engineering at the University of Arkansas at
Little Rock (UALR) Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT
College) in 2000.
Before coming to the UALR CyberCollege, Chan worked at The Air Force Institute
of Technology, Washington State University, the State University of New York at
Stony Brook, Pennsylvania State University, and Kates, Peat Marwick.
Additionally, he was a Congressional Fellow in the Office of Technology
Assessment in Washington, DC.
Chan's training and research focus on transportation systems,
telecommunications, networks and combinatorial optimization, multi-criteria
decision-making and spatial-temporal information. Chan has published numerous
books and monographs, including Location Theory and Decision Analysis
(Thomson/South-Western); Location, Transportation, and Land-Use: Modeling
Spatial-temporal Information (Springer); Urban Planning and Development
Applications of GIS (ASCE Press).
For more information, visit his home page at http://syen.ualr.edu/metalab/.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
A framework for deployment planning of bus rapid transit systems
Professor Avishai (Avi) Ceder
Professor and Chair in Transportation and Director of Transportation Research Centre, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, New Zealand
11 June, 2008 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 June, 2008 (Wednesday)
Time : 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F., Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
A bus rapid transit (BRT)
system differs from more traditional rail and bus services by its features that
can combine most of the qualities of light rail transit (LRT) with highly
flexible service and advanced technologies to improve customer convenience and
system reliability. BRT can thus be seen as a bus-based "rapid"
transit system that combines vehicles stations, running way, and Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS) elements into a fully integrated system with a
unique identity. The planning process of a BRT system can generally be divided
into three interrelated stages:
1) Feasibility study or major investment study in which BRT
is investigated among other alternatives, such as light-rail and heavy rail
transit to determine the most cost-effective investment
2) Deployment planning
that determines what BRT elements will be included and their deployment sequence
3) Operations planning including designing routes and stations, setting
timetables, scheduling vehicles, and assigning crew.
While the first and
third stages are essentially planning-specific for any transit service, the
second stage has special features for a BRT system due to its flexibility in
incremental deployment of BRT elements. This presentation proposes a
deployment-planning framework that provides, in a sequence of steps, a general
structure for optimal deployment of bus rapid transit systems. This framework
and its formulation, once operationalized, would provide transit agencies a
practical tool for determining the optimal deployment strategy or strategies
given budgetary, institutional and other types of constraints associated with
the corridor for which they have decided to deploy bus rapid transit. A case
study example is provided to illustrate how the proposed framework would be
utilized.
SPEAKER
Professor Avishai (Avi) Ceder has arrived in November 2007 to the University of Auckland to take the position of Professor-Chair in Transportation, within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Avi has had a distinguished career at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering where he was Head of the Transportation Engineering and Geo-Information Department. He was Visiting Professor twice at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Science and Technology and PolyTechnic University in Hong Kong, and in the University of Tokyo; he also delivered courses in Sydney University and Monash University in Australia and in the University of Rome. Avi was Chief Scientist at the Israel Ministry of Transport from 1994 to 1997, Israel delegate to the Transport Program of the European Community and he is a member of organizing committees of various international symposia and workshops (e.g., TRB, International Conference on Advanced Systems for Public Transport, International Symposium of Transportation and Traffic Theory). He has just released a new book 'Public Transit Planning and Operation: Theory, Modelling and Practice' , Elsevier, 2007.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
GradeX - A web-based decision support tool for safety analysis of highway-railway networks
Professor Liping Fu, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada
28 May, 2008 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 28 May, 2008 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
GradeX is a prototype decision-support tool that could be used by safety engineers and decision-makers in Canada to identify and target grade crossing hotspots, evaluate countermeasures, and prioritize safety improvement projects. This presentation provides an overview of this tool, mainly focusing on: a) the various decision support needs arising in grade crossing safety work; b) the system framework and components of GradeX; b) the alternative methodologies for hotspot identification, and d) the resource optimization model for prioritizing safety improvement projects.
SPEAKER
Dr. Liping Fu is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Dr. Fu's research interest specifically focuses on evaluation and optimization of large, complex traffic and transportation service systems where uncertainty and dynamics play a major role, and on the development of decision support tools for use in managing these systems. Dr. Fu has a track record of research contributions to the areas of intelligent transportation systems, public transit, traffic safety, and winter road maintenance, including over 80 journal and conference publications. Dr. Fu has developed a commercial routing and scheduling system which has been implemented in US and Canada. He is also the developer of a simulation system that can be used to evaluate advanced paratransit systems equipped with GPS and fleet communication systems. He has provided technical services to many transportation agencies, including Transport Canada, City of Edmonton, and Ministry of Transportation Ontario. Dr. Fu is a member of the Transportation Research Board's Paratransit Committee, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal of Transportation Research, a member of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada, Canadian Urban Transit Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
An integrated transportation network reliability analysis framework
Dr. Anthony Chen, Ph.D.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University,
USA28 May, 2008 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 28 May, 2008 (Wednesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In this seminar, Dr. Chen will present an integrated transportation network reliability analysis framework for studying the reliability issues of a transportation system. This integrated analysis framework entails modeling, evaluation, design, algorithm development and implementation. The modeling aspect includes the estimation of the maximum capacity of a transportation network and the development of stochastic route choice models that account for both perception error and network uncertainty; the evaluation aspect involves the assessment of transportation reliability measures: travel time reliability is concerned with the probability that a trip between a given origin-destination pair can be made within a given time interval or a specified level-of-service, and capacity reliability is concerned with the probability that the network capacity can accommodate the required travel demand at a required service level; the design aspect addresses the issues of designing road networks that are both reliable and cost-effective; and, finally, the algorithm development and implementation aspects are crucial to making the framework operational and successful. Some potential applications using this integrated analysis framework will also be discussed in the seminar.
SPEAKER
Dr. Anthony Chen is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Utah State University (USU). He is also the division head of the Transportation Program at USU. Dr. Chen's research interests include transportation systems modeling, modeling of route choice behavior under uncertainty, origin-destination trip table estimation, network equilibrium modeling and algorithm development, meta-heuristics for discrete network location and network design problems, and transportation network reliability and applications to infrastructure management and disaster management. He is a member of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), an editorial advisory board member of the Journal of Urban Planning and Development, and an associate editor for Transportmetrica. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the 2002 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in the United States.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Optimization under uncertainty with applications in ITS
Professor Liping Fu, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada
25 March, 2008 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 March, 2008 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In this presentation, Dr. Fu will provide an overview of several optimization problems that he and his research team have been involved over the past ten years. Most of these problems arise in the specific transportation engineering field called Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), which is aimed at improving the management and operations of the existing transportation facilities by applying advanced sensors, telecommunication, and computer technologies. Example problems include vehicle routing and scheduling in dynamic and stochastic networks, real-time transit operation control, locating of traffic changeable measure signs, and scheduling of winter road maintenance vehicles, and hotspot identification and countermeasure analysis. His presentation will focus on how inherent uncertainties in these problems as well as availability of real-time information are treated.
SPEAKER
Dr. Liping Fu is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Dr. Fu's research interest specifically focuses on evaluation and optimisation of large, complex traffic and transportation service systems where uncertainty and dynamics play a major role, and on the development of decision support tools for use in managing these systems. Dr. Fu has a track record of research contributions to the areas of intelligent transportation systems, public transit, traffic safety, and winter road maintenance, including over 80 journal and conference publications. Dr. Fu has developed a commercial routing and scheduling system which has been implemented in US and Canada. He is also the developer of a simulation system that can be used to evaluate advanced paratransit systems equipped with GPS and fleet communication systems. He has provided technical services to many transportation agencies, including Transport Canada, City of Edmonton, and Ministry of Transportation Ontario. Dr. Fu is a member of the Transportation Research Board's Paratransit Committee, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal of Transportation Research, a member of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada, Canadian Urban Transit Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Some issues related to planning highway and rail "evaculation" under tsunami warning conditions
Professor S.C. Wirasinghe
Department of Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada
25 March, 2008 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 25 March, 2008 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
An introduction is given to natural disasters, and the related issues of probability of occurrence, warning time available, amount of devastation, and the manageability of evacuations. Some slides indicating the impact of the December 2004 Tsunami on the Sri Lankan coastal highways and railways are shown. A proposed Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System is shown in network format. A proposed evacuation plan for coastal highways and railways is also shown as a network. The probability of a successful evacuation as a function of time from an earthquake (that causes a tsunami) is estimated for a coastal highway and railway respectively from Monte Carlo simulation. Some of the issues that have to be resolved in this study, which has been initiated recently, are discussed.
SPEAKER
Professor S.C. Wirasinghe is at the Department of Civil Engineering, Schulich school of Engineering, University of Calgary, CANADA. His research interests are in transportation, natural hazard mitigation, and systems analysis. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Advanced Transportation and the Founder of the International Institute for Infrastructure Renewal and Reconstruction, (IIIRR - www.iiirr.ucalgary.ca) a virtual network devoted to natural disaster mitigation. He is proud to be an Honorary Professor at the HK Polytechnic University.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Effects of neighborhood street pattern on traffic safety
Professor Richard Tay, P.Eng.
AMA/CTEP Chair in Road Safety, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada
20 February, 2008 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, Civil Division
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 20 February, 2008 (Wednesday)
Time : 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F., Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Over the last fifty years, the loops and lollipop design have become the basic building block of many urban neighborhoods. In the field of traffic engineering, this combination of cul-de-sac and loop streets is designed to discourage through traffic and improve road safety and thus has the support of many traffic engineers. Perhaps due to its intuitive appeal, few studies were conducted to examine the impact of this design on road crashes. Using the City of Calgary in Canada as a case study, this study examines the effects of different neighborhood street pattern on the number of crashes. Our results suggest that currently popular road patterns such as warped parallel, loops and lollipops, lollipops on a stick and mixed shape are safer than traditional grid-iron pattern.
SPEAKER
Dr Richard Tay, P.Eng., is currently the AMA/CTEP Chair in Road Safety in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. He has taught in Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia, and was a visiting scholar at MIT. He is a firm believer in multidisciplinary theory and evidence based approaches to addressing road safety issues. He has been invited to many government panels, committees & task forces on road safety in Canada and around the world. He served on the editorial board of several scientific journals and has been invited to speak at and has chaired technical sessions at many road safety conferences around the world.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Queue control for signalized intersections modelling
Dr. Wei Lin
Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, USA.
18 December, 2007 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 18 December, 2007 (Tuesday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Congestion on arterials is often dominated by several key intersections. When these intersections become very congested, queues can spill back from one intersection to another, resulting in excessive delays to vehicles or even gridlock situations at neighboring intersections. For traffic control at individual or a sequence of signalized intersections, minimization of total vehicle delay and minimization of total number of vehicle stops are the two major objectives often considered in many existing optimization algorithms. In this talk, we consider queue management for individual and multiple intersections. We show that proper queue management may lead to control strategies that are robust in its performance with respect to input data required and different objective functions. For single intersections, we show that queue states from the previous cycle can be utilized to determine the allocation of green time to each approach such that queues at both approaches will vanish at the same time. This is achievable by treating the system as a work conserving service. For multiple intersections, we consider queue management specifically for arterials with closely spaced intersections. The property of the spatial queue formed on the short block and its effect on neighboring traffic are examined. We will discuss some control strategies aimed at mitigating the negative impact of the spillback of queues into the intersection upstream.
SPEAKER
Dr. Lin earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He has worked with the California PATH program as a post doctoral research fellow for two years. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering at University of Arizona. Dr. Lin has over ten years of experience in transportation system analysis, traffic operations, and transportation data analysis. His project experience includes evaluating dynamic traffic simulation and analytical models and their functions in ATMIS applications; examining the benefits of traffic responsive signal coordination strategies in minimizing total system delay, and developing computer simulation models capable of capturing moving queues consistent with the hydrodynamic theory of traffic flow. For the past five years, Dr. Lin has been involved in a number of research projects in transportation, including transportation network modeling, traffic data analysis, applications of AVL technologies to transit operations, prediction and estimation of traffic variables and traffic conditions, logistics, and traffic safety analysis. Dr. Lin is a member of the Intelligent Transportation Systems committee, Transportation Research Board, the US National Research Council.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Twenty years research into stochastic assignment modelling
Professor Mike Maher
Institute for Transport Studies, Leeds University, UK
12 December, 2007 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 December, 2007 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The speaker has been actively involved in research on traffic assignment methodology for over twenty years, and has been particularly interested in stochastic or probabilistic methods, in which it is assumed that there are variations between different drivers' perceptions and preferences in their choices of routes through road networks. The seminar will trace the development of this work, from the original numerical stochastic loading method, though efficient methods for obtaining the stochastic user equilibrium (SUE) solution by use of optimal step lengths, and for allowing for elastic demand, and on to more recent work on stochastic social optimum (SSO) and departure time choice, highlighting the significant milestones and results along the way. The seminar will end by looking briefly at other, bi-level, problems that involve assignment and at current directions of research in this field.
SPEAKER
Mike Maher is Professor of the Mathematical Analysis of Transport Systems at the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, UK. His research is in the mathematical and statistical modelling of transport problems, especially in the areas of network modelling, optimisation and traffic safety modelling. Having graduated with a BA and PhD from St. John's College, Cambridge University, he held posts in the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University, and then the Department of Probability & Statistics at Sheffield University, before joining the Transport Research Laboratory in 1987. In 1994, he moved to the Transport Research Institute at Napier University, Edinburgh. He retired from Napier in early 2007 and took up his current part-time post at Leeds University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics & its Applications, a Chartered Statistician, is the author of over 100 papers, and is on the Editorial Advisory Board for the international journal Transportation Research B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Re-visiting queuing theory for the analysis of vehicle delays at intersections
Professor Pitu Mirchandani
Professor
and Director, ATLAS Research Center
Systems and Industrial Engineering
Department, The University of Arizona, USA
12 December, 2007 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 December, 2007 (Wednesday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
About fifty years ago, there
was an active research area on developing queuing models to analyze traffic at
isolated intersections. Wardrop, Webster, Newell, and others developed formulae
to estimate delays at intersections controlled by traffic lights. As control
systems became complex and computer simulation models became more readily
available, fewer researchers developed analytical models for analyzing queues at
controlled intersections.
This talk revisits such models and develops new
results on queues where the server (1) periodically cycles between two customer
classes, (2) adaptively serves the two classes (where one class is served until
its queue vanishes and then the other is served), and (3) nearly periodically
serves these classes (where each service period is slightly extended or
decreased depending on arriving customers).
To obtain performance measures such
as average queue lengths and average delays, iterative computations need to be
performed to get steady state conditions. The results of the models are compared
with those obtained by simulation models. Such queues occur at intersections
controlled by traffic lights and comparisons of the performance measures
indicate that indeed traffic adaptive control decreases delays; however, traffic
sensors are needed to measure queues in this case.
SPEAKER
Dr. Pitu B. Mirchandani is a
Professor of Systems & Industrial Engineering and Electrical & Computer
Engineering at the University of Arizona. He is the Director of the ATLAS
Research Center and is the Salt River Project Professor of Technology, Public
Policy and Markets. His educational background includes BS and MS degrees in
Engineering from UCLA, a S.M. degree from MIT in Aeronautics and Astronautics,
and a Sc.D. degree, also from MIT, in Operations Research.
Dr. Mirchandani has
several areas of technical expertise and interests, including theories, models
and algorithms in operations research and systems engineering, and their
application to transportation, logistics and real-time information and control
systems. In particular, his research in the areas of stochastic dynamic
networks, location theory, decision making under uncertainty and competition,
and intelligent transportation systems has received wide attention. He has
co-authored two books and authored or co-authored over 90 articles. He has been
on the editorial boards of Transportation Science, IIE Transactions on
Scheduling and Logistics, Journal of Industrial Mathematics, Journal of
Technology, Policy and Management, and Journal of Advanced Transportation.
Dr.
Mirchandani has over 30 years of academic and professional experience. He has
been a principal investigator on a large number of research programs, which
received total funding of over seven million dollars in the last ten years, from
federal agencies such as NSF, USDOT and FHWA, state agencies such as NYDOT,
Arizona DOT, and NYS-ERDA, and private companies such as Siemens, ITT Systems,
Cambridge Systematics, GM, Hughes, Alcoa, GE, Kodak, NYNEX, USWest, and
AT&T. His recent research projects in the areas of Intelligent
Transportation Systems, Real-Time Traffic Adaptive Signal Control, and Remote
Airborne Sensing of Transportation Flows, mostly supported by USDOT/FHWA/ADOT
has attracted significant publicity; Dr. Mirchandani has appeared on several
television programs and in newspaper articles. In the last ten years he has
given over 100 presentations, including plenary lectures in China, Germany,
South Africa, Hungary and Austria.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Real-time performance measures for signalized intersections
Professor Darcy Bullock, P.E.
Professor and Associate Head, School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA
6 December, 2007 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 December, 2007 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F., Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Although signal retiming
projects have very large benefit/cost ratios, they are expensive and the need
for retiming projects always far exceeds the limited resources of operating
agencies. For nearly forty years, the traffic signal profession has sought
signal systems that use sensors to adjust signal timings. Although there have
been many isolated pockets of success with projects such as SCOOT, SCATS, ACS,
and ACS-Lite, it is clear we have major opportunities for improving traffic
signal operations by developing real-time performance measures that can be
easily understood.
This presentation articulates the core vision a multi-vendor and multi-agency
team that is applying manufacturing quality control procedures to traffic signal
systems to systematically define, measure, analyze, improve, and ultimately
control traffic. A case study based upon instrumented intersections in West
Lafayette and Noblesville, IN will be discussed and several quantitative
performance measure graphs will be presented that detail how we can leverage our
existing traffic signal infrastructure to provide meaningful real-time reports
characterizing green time allocation, cycle lengths, offsets, and pedestrian
service.
SPEAKER
Darcy Bullock is a Professor and Associate Head in the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. Bullock is a Registered Professional Engineer in the States of Louisiana and Indiana and has 15 years of experience in the industry working closely with vendors, state agencies, and USDOT, and colleagues at other universities. Bullock teaching, research and consulting interests have been in the general area of traffic signal systems. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont, and a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Bullock is the past chair of the American Society of Civil Engineer Advanced Technology Committee and past Secretary for the Transportation Research Board Traffic Signal System Committee. Over the past 15 years, Bullock has completed several projects with the Federal Highway Administration, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, National Science Foundation, as well as Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Idaho, Wisconsin, Vermont, and Virginia DOT. The results of those projects are published in over 100 journal articles, conference proceedings, and technical reports.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor S.C. Wong at Tel.: 2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Miss Aggie Sung at Tel.: 2859-1963
Towards a probit-based dynamic stochastic traffic assignment model
Professor Mike Maher
Institute for Transport Studies, Leeds University, UK
27 November, 2007 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 27 November, 2007 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
The speaker has worked on traffic assignment methodology for over twenty years, specialising in stochastic assignment methods. The good properties of the Multinomial Probit (MNP) for choice modelling are well-known: it can deal with correlations between the perception errors associated with different choices, as arising through overlapping routes or similar departure times for example. Work by the author and his colleagues over many years has tested a variety of numerical approximation methods for MNP loading, as well as applying them route choice in (static) SUE assignment, and to departure time choice, as well as to parameter estimation in choice models. In the seminar, the author will describe his recent and current work on the application of these methods to the development of a solution algorithm for dynamic traffic assignment. In this, the users are assumed to make simultaneous choice of route and departure time, based on the current estimates of the total travel cost associated with each route and each departure time. A simple traffic model is used to propagate these flows through the network, and to estimate revised travel costs. An iterative process then alternately applied the choice model and the traffic model, towards convergence. The seminar will describe the current state of this work, and some of the outstanding issues yet to be resolved.
SPEAKER
Mike Maher is Professor of the Mathematical Analysis of Transport Systems at the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, UK. His research is in the mathematical and statistical modelling of transport problems, especially in the areas of network modelling, optimisation and traffic safety modelling. Having graduated with a BA and PhD from St. John's College, Cambridge University, he held posts in the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University, and then the Department of Probability & Statistics at Sheffield University, before joining the Transport Research Laboratory in 1987. In 1994, he moved to the Transport Research Institute at Napier University, Edinburgh. He retired from Napier in early 2007 and took up his current part-time post at Leeds University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics & its Applications, a Chartered Statistician, is the author of over 100 papers, and is on the Editorial Advisory Board for the international journal Transportation Research B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8742
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Rational road safety management - from theory to practice
Professor Bhagwant Persaud
Department of Civil Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
9 November, 2007 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 November, 2007 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Rational management of road safety has been a hot topic of late in the light of the growing recognition of the serious public health consequences of injuries and fatalities to travelers. The seminar begins by tracing the evolution of road safety management over the past 50 years and ends with a vision for the future. Between the beginning and end, a framework for rational road safety management is introduced, along with initiatives aimed at providing the necessary analytical tools and knowledge. The meat of the seminar will provide a discussion of the problems with conventional tools and knowledge, a review of solutions to these problems, and a presentation of research aimed at applying these solutions to improve the knowledge base. The focus will be on knowledge on the safety implications of planning and design decisions that affect safety and on the application of Bayesian statistics in developing and applying that knowledge.
SPEAKER
Bhagwant Persaud, a professor of Civil Engineering at Ryerson University, has become well recognized, in Canada, the United States, and around the world, as an expert in the area of statistical methods in highway safety analysis. He is particularly well known for his work in modeling the relationship between safety and highway characteristics, and in the development and application of these models in Bayesian methods for road network screening and conducting before-after safety evaluation studies. This background led to his selection to write National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 295: "Statistical Methods in Highway Safety Analysis", a widely read document that provides factual knowledge on the state of research and practice in safety analysis tools. Dr. Persaud has been, and is currently involved in several safety related applied research projects for the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Transport Canada, the Transportation Association of Canada, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Recent and current safety analysis efforts included evaluations of traffic signal installation, roundabouts, left turn priority treatments, skid treatments, rumble strips and raised pavement markers (for TRB), red light cameras, and two-way left turn lanes (For FHWA), centreline rumble strips and traffic signal removal (for the IIHS). Dr. Persaud's expertise in highway safety area is supported by, and has led to prestigious appointments for the past several years on two TRB committees: "Safety Data, Analysis and Evaluation" (ANB20) and "Statistical Methodology and Statistical Computer Software in Transportation Research" (ABJ80). He has also been selected as a member of a TRB Task Force (ANB25T) that is guiding a major initiative in the road safety field - the development of a Highway Safety Manual that is providing the practicing engineer with the necessary to conduct analyses in road safety management. Most recently, Dr. Persaud has been involved in research for several chapters of this Manual.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Identifying the marginal cost for hyper-congested traffic
Professor Alan Nicholson
Head of Civil Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
2 August, 2007 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 2 August, 2007 (Thursday)
Time : 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
There have been numerous studies of the merits and demerits of congestion charges for roads, in an effort to equalise the marginal cost and marginal utility. The studies rely upon speed being related to traffic flow. Traffic flow theory and empirical data support a U-shaped relationship for links, which implies two flow regimes (normal and forced/hyper-congested flow) and hence two speed values for a given traffic flow. This ambiguity has led to various other speed-flow relationships being used, on the grounds that a U-shaped is not appropriate for networks. While the marginal cost curve has been clearly defined for normal flow, it has not been clearly defined for hyper-congested flow, although several researchers have suggested various locations. In this seminar, Alan Nicholson will argue that it is appropriate to use a U-shaped speed-flow relationship for a network, and will show that for a general U-shaped speed-flow relationship, the marginal cost curve is quite different from earlier suggestions, and cannot intersect the marginal utility curve.
SPEAKER
Qualifications: BE(Hons), ME and PhD (all in Civil Engineering, from the University of Canterbury), plus an MSc in Transportation & Traffic Planning (from the University of Birmingham, UK). His research interests include: traffic safety, transport network reliability, and the appraisal and evaluation of transport projects. Prof. Nicholson has a particular interest in developing and promoting the use of sound statistical and probabilistic methods. He is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institution of Professional Engineers, and recently retired as National Chairman of the Institution's Transportation Group. Currently, Prof. Nicholson is Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8742
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
The traffic network equilibrium model: its history and relationship to the Kuhn-Tucker conditions flow
Professor David Boyce
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
30 May, 2007 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 30 May, 2007 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The original formulation of the traffic network equilibrium model with variable demand, by Beckmann, McGuire and Winsten during 1952-1954, was perhaps the first time that the Kuhn-Tucker Conditions, introduced in 1950, were the basis for formulating an optimization model for solving a real-world problem. This seminar will explore the original formulation of this model by Martin Beckmann, and offer conjectures on how he found the model formulation, based on analysis of their book and related documents from that period. The Kuhn-Tucker Conditions and Kirchhoff's Law will be examined to provide an understanding of how Beckmann may have approached the formulation of his model. (Students attending the seminar will be expected to be familiar with the basic results of constrained optimization methods.)
To place Beckmann's contribution in a larger context, the relationship of their research at the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics, then located at the University of Chicago, to studies by Duffin, Prager, Charnes and Cooper, Jorgensen and Braess will be briefly described. Beckmann's model will also be contrasted with urban travel forecasting practices stemming from the same period. A discussion of insights from this historical analysis will conclude the seminar.
SPEAKER
Dr. David Boyce is Adjunct Professor in transportation engineering at Northwestern University, and Professor Emeritus of Transportation and Regional Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Since taking Emeritus status in 2003, he has undertaken research on the history and use of urban travel forecasting methods, as well as occasional lecturing and teaching. His long term research interests pertain to improving the understanding and validity of travel forecasting methods, especially as related to the consistent representation of congested network travel times, and their efficient computation with commercial software systems, as well as the relation of land use models to travel forecasting procedures.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Some computational findings on solving the four-stage procedure with feedback
Professor David Boyce
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
30 May, 2007 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 30 May, 2007 (Wednesday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
Alternative feedback solution methods for the Four-stage Travel Forecasting Procedure were applied to a 1,000 zone model. Three methods were tested: Naïve Feedback (no averaging of trip matrices or link flows); Averaging with Constant Weights, applied to the trip matrices; Method of Successive Averages (MSA), also applied to trip matrices. The findings will be presented and interpreted in the framework of combined or integrated travel forecasting models.
SPEAKER
Dr. David Boyce is Adjunct Professor in transportation engineering at Northwestern University, and Professor Emeritus of Transportation and Regional Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Since taking Emeritus status in 2003, he has undertaken research on the history and use of urban travel forecasting methods, as well as occasional lecturing and teaching. His long term research interests pertain to improving the understanding and validity of travel forecasting methods, especially as related to the consistent representation of congested network travel times, and their efficient computation with commercial software systems, as well as the relation of land use models to travel forecasting procedures.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8742
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
A pedestrian behavior model for capacity evaluation in multidirectional flow
Dr. Miho Asano
The French National Institute for Transport and Safety Research (INRETS), France
14 April, 2007 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
The University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering Alumni Chapter (SSEAC) - Hong Kong Branch
Date : 14 April, 2007 (Saturday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Recently, several pedestrian models are proposed to evaluate the pedestrian congestion for the purpose of designing public transport stations, event venues, sidewalks etc. Modelling pedestrian flow is complex because the pedestrians can move in any direction in an open space. Existing pedestrian flow models have encountered the difficulty in representing the multidirectional flows particularly when the pedestrian flows approach the facility capacity (congested condition). Thus, developing a model based on empirical data may provide a better understanding on this issue. This research proposes a new pedestrian simulation model in which the pedestrian's velocity is governed by his/her anticipation of other pedestrians' behaviours nearby. The proposed model is validated using the observed data collected in a controlled pedestrian movement experiment. The data is also used to verify that the proposed model can better represent the multidirectional pedestrian movements especially in the near capacity conditions.
SPEAKER
Dr. Miho ASANO is currently a researcher of the French National Institute for Transport and Safety Research (INRETS). She was a research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science from 2005 to 2007. She recently received a D. Eng. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tokyo in Mar 2007, and MS and BS in the same department. Her research interests include pedestrian flow analysis, pedestrian network analysis, and simulation modeling.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai
Sumalee at
Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Identifying critical links by linearised network capacity evaluation model
Dr. Fumitaka Kurauchi
Department of Urban Management, Kyoto University, Japan
26 March, 2007 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
The University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering Alumni Chapter (SSEAC) - Hong Kong Branch
Date : 26 March, 2007 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Various indicators and methodologies for measuring the network robustness/reliability were proposed in the literature including connectivity reliability, travel time reliability, vulnerability, and capacity reliability. In this paper, the concept of network capacity reliability and vulnerability are integrated to evaluate network robustness and its critical components. To examine reliability/vulnerability of the transport network, it is necessary to include a form of users' responses to the change in network condition. This consideration defines the evaluation of the network reserve capacity as a bilevel programming problem. Incorporating this with the network vulnerability analysis which is also an optimization problem itself, one may end up with a rather complex mathematical programming problem (i.e. tri-level optimization). This paper resolves this issue by replacing the users' equilibrium condition (Probit SUE is adopted in the model) by its sensitivity analysis expression. This turns the network reserve capacity problem to a well-defined single level optimization problem in which its optimality condition can be derived as KKT conditions. This optimality condition is then inserted into the vulnerability analysis problem. The proposed method is checked by the small example network, and then applied to the larger Kansai network.
SPEAKER
Dr. Fumitaka Kurauchi finished the master course at the Department of Transportation Engineering, Kyoto University in 1994. He has become a research associate since then. He has been involved in various research projects such as evaluation of parking guidance and information system, development of traffic management system after major disaster, transport network reliability analysis, traffic flow analysis by video image data, and so on. In 2002, he obtained the Doctor of Engineering by the thesis entitled "Study on changes on parking behaviour by the introduction of advanced parking management system and its effect on road network traffic".
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Agachai
Sumalee at
Tel.: 3400-3963
Please reserve your seat with Connie Lam at Tel: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
Tools for Operations Planning (TOPL) with an application to I-210 in Los Angeles
Professor Pravin Varaiya
Nortel
Networks Distinguished Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University
of California, Berkeley, USA
and
Visiting Distinguished
Professor, The University of Hong Kong
13 February, 2007 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 13 February, 2007 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 5583 (Lift 29/30), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
The freeway performance measurement system (PeMS) tracks California freeway performance, and shows the weaknesses in freeway operations. These weaknesses are opportunities for freeway productivity gains that can be realized in the short term. The TOPL project will provide tools to (1) specify the actions for operational improvements considered in the TMS Master Plan; (2) quickly estimate the benefits that such actions can realize; and (3) prepare a detection plan to support implementation of actions, accurately measure the ex post benefits of those actions, and compare them with their ex ante estimates. The talk will give a progress report on TOPL, including a description of the simulation tool CTMsim and application to ramp metering in I210W freeway in Los Angeles.
SPEAKER
Pravin Varaiya is Nortel Networks Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. From 1975 to 1992 he was also Professor of Economics at Berkeley. From 1994 to 1997 he was Director of the California PATH program, a multi-university research program dedicated to the solution of California’s transportation problems. His current research is concerned with communication networks, transportation, and hybrid systems. He has taught at MIT and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Professor Varaiya has held a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Miller Research Professorship. He received Honorary Doctorates from L’Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse and L’Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, and the Field Medal and Bode Lecture Prize of the IEEE Control Systems Society. He is a Fellow of IEEE, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is on the editorial board of "Discrete Event Dynamical Systems" and "Transportation Research---C". He has co-authored three books and 300 technical papers. The second edition of “High-Performance Communication Networks” (with Jean Walrand and Andrea Goldsmith) was published by Morgan-Kaufmann in 2000. “Structure and interpretation of signals and systems” (with Edward Lee) was published by Addison-Wesley in 2003. Varaiya is a member of the Board of Directors of Sensys Networks.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Hong Lo at Tel.: 2358-8742
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Recent experience in modeling risky choice behaviour: expected utility theory and alternatives
Professor John Polak
Professor of
Transport Demand and Director
Centre for Transport Studies, Imperial College
London, UK
5 September, 2006 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 5 September, 2006 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In recent years there has been a growing recognition that conventional models of travellers' decision making need to be extended to accommodate the fact that travellers are often uncertain regarding the outcome of their decisions. A number of alternatives approaches have been proposed in the literature. This presentation will provide an overview of recent theoretical and empirical research in this area, including both expected utility and non-expected utility approaches. We will present new empirical results, based on the study of departure time choice under uncertain travel times.
SPEAKER
Prof. John Polak is Professor of Transport Demand and Director of the Centre for Transport Studies at Imperial College London. He has published extensively on a number of aspects of travel behaviour and demand including the effects of experience and information on trip planning and spatial choice, the modelling of journey scheduling and peak spreading, household activity scheduling, the influence of network unreliability on travel behaviour and the dynamics of day-to-day adaptation. He is a past President of the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research and a past Council Member of the Association for European Transport and a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070 or Fax :
2334-6389
A game-theoretic model of network flow and reliability
Professor Yupo Chan
Professor and
Founding Chair
Department of Systems Engineering, University of Arkansas at
Little Rock
Adjunct Professor
Department of Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology, Hong Kong
21 July, 2006 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
The University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering Alumni Chapter (SSEAC) - Hong Kong Branch
Date : 21 July, 2006 (Friday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Today's transportation and communication network requires a design that is secure to tampering. Traditional performance measures of reliability and throughput must be supplemented with measures of security. Recognition of an adversary who can inflict damage leads toward a game-theoretic model-formulation. Through such a formulation, guidelines for network designs and improvements are derived. We opt for a design that is most robust. Extensive computational experience with such a model suggests that an equilibrium-design exists that can withstand the worst possible damage. Most important, the equilibrium is value-free in the sense that it is stable irrespective of the unit costs associated with reliability vs. capacity improvement and how one wishes to tradeoff between them. This finding helps to pinpoint the most critical component(s) in network design. From a policy standpoint, the model also allows the monetary value of transportation or information-security to be imputed.
SPEAKER
Yupo Chan received his SB, SM and PhD from MIT. After 28 years of post-doctoral experience in industry, universities and government, he became Professor and Founding Chair of the Systems Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2000. Dr. Chan's training and research focus on transportation systems, telecommunications, networks and combinatorial optimization, multicriteria decision-making and spatial-temporal information.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070 or Fax :
2334-6389
A theory of network congestion estimation with travel time data on limited links
Dr. Agachai Sumalee
Senior Research
Fellow
Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
21 July, 2006 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
The University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering Alumni Chapter (SSEAC) - Hong Kong Branch
Date : 21 July, 2006 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
One approach to reduce the cost for congestion monitoring in a city is to reduce the number of surveyed links. This study proposes a theoretical method for estimating congestion levels in an urban road network with travel time data from a subset of links in the network under the assumption of Wardrop's equilibrium. The paper gives a theoretical condition for valid estimated travel times for a given set of observed link travel times which may yield non-unique solutions. Then, under an assumption that all nodes are origins and destinations (OD) and all pairs of them form OD pairs we prove the strong upper bound of the estimated link travel times. For a general problem, we propose a way to formulate the travel time estimation problem as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC). Two variants of this problem are explained with objectives of minimize and maximize total travel time respectively. A solution for general networks is also discussed.SPEAKER
Dr. Sumalee is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Transport Studies of the University of Leeds.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K.
Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070 or Fax :
2334-6389
Location, transport and land-Use: modelling spatial-temporal information
Professor Yupo Chan
Professor and
Founding Chair
Department of Systems Engineering, University of Arkansas at
Little Rock
18 July, 2006 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 18 July, 2006 (Tuesday)
Time : 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
This seminar serves to highlight a recent monograph bearing the same name. The seminar will identify the underlying principles that govern siting, community development, and product/service delivery. Included are procedures to perform: site location, land-use planning, location-routing, competitive allocation of products & services, and spatial forecasting. It suggests common solution techniques for emergency-response to natural and manmade hazards, environmental planning, infrastructure management, intelligent transportation systems, real-estate development, satellite remote-sensing, and supply-chain management.SPEAKER
Yupo Chan received his SB, SM and PhD from MIT. After 28 years of post-doctoral experience in industry, universities and government, he became Professor and Founding Chair of the Systems Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2000. Dr. Chan's training and research focus on transportation systems, telecommunications, networks and combinatorial optimization, multicriteria decision-making and spatial-temporal information.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hong Lo at Tel.:
2358-8742
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Traffic Dynamics - Models and Data
Dr. Hillel Bar-Gera
Department of
Industrial Engineering and Management
Ben-Gurion University, Israel
29 June, 2006 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 June, 2006 (Thursday)
Time : 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Conference Room, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
The dynamic nature of traffic patterns has been in the focus of transportation research for several decades, in view of its essential role in real-life phenomena. The increase in availability of data during the last few years opens new opportunities to better understand these phenomena. Using data from a major freeway in Israel we show the typical daily-dynamic congestion patterns, and how they have evolved over a period of six years. Having the real behavior in mind, we will discuss one approach for modeling it, using an analytic macroscopic dynamic network loading model with continuous flows. At the single link level the model is based on the kinematic waves theory, reformulated as a variations problem, and solved on a dense discrete intra-link time-space mesh by a least-cost-path algorithm [Daganzo, 2005]. Our work extends the single link traffic flow model to road networks with explicit consideration of route flows and trajectories. Numerical results demonstrate the viability and consistency of the proposed approach.SPEAKER
Hillel Bar-Gera is a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Ben-Gurion University, Israel. He received his Ph.D. in 1999 from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His PhD thesis on "Origin-based algorithms for transportation network modeling" received the Transportation Science Section Award for best Ph.D. Dissertation in 2000. He earned M.Sc. in Mathematics and B.Sc. in Mathematics Physics and Computer Science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor Hai Yang
at Tel.: 2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Some insights with regards to planning the reliability of a bus route
Professor S.C. (Chan) Wirasinghe
Dean, Schulich School of Engineering
Professor of
Civil Engineering, University of Calgary
28 April, 2006 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
The University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering Alumni Chapter (SSEAC) - Hong Kong Branch
Date : 28 April, 2006 (Friday)
Time : 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703d, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The planning of a single bus route is discussed briefly. The reliability of a bus route is one of the key parameters with respect to the level of service that is provided to passengers and in terms of system operations. Typically, the "acceptable" reliability is chosen arbitrarily as 90% or some such number. We look at the costs associated with providing a reliable service from both a passenger and operator viewpoint and suggest that there is a certain reliability that optimizes the total cost. The above approach is illustrated by considering a simple 'one to one' bus route. Special cases related to a normal 'many to many' route are mentioned.SPEAKER
Professor S.C. (Chan) Wirasinghe is the Dean of Schulich SChool of Engineering and Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary, Canada.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William
H.K. Lam at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Connie Lam at Tel.: 2766-6070 or Fax:
2334-6389
The impacts of VMS: SP and RP surveys of traveller behaviour in the road network of Adelaide, Australia
Professor Michael A.P. Taylor
School of Natural and
Built Environments
Director, Transport Systems Centre University of South Australia
8 March, 2006 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 March, 2006 (Wednesday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Variable Message Signs (VMS) are a basic ITS tool for providing traveller information and have much potential in indicating traffic and environmental conditions to travellers in a timely manner. This paper describes a research project on drivers' route choice behaviour in response to the content of VMS. An SP survey by questionnaire was conducted with residents along a target road corridor. The results of the SP survey were then tested by an RP study of the effects of a specific VMS located near a well known traffic bottleneck in Adelaide.This seminar will consider microsimulation modelling of traffic performance, greenhouse gas and air quality emissions, and comparisons with direct on-road observations from an instrumented vehicle. It will report on recent research on the likely impacts on traffic performance and emissions of ITS implementations for incident management and driver information. In new research the instrumented vehicle is being taken inside the simulation, to enable detailed investigations of driver behaviour under different traffic scenarios and events.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael A.P. Taylor holds the Chair in Transport Planning at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, where he is the Director of the university's Transport Systems Centre. His recent research activities are in modelling environmental impacts of road traffic (especially air pollution), assessment of the effectiveness of ITS implementations, modelling of traffic flows in dense networks, and transport network reliability.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Developments in Electronic Vehicle Identification (EVI) with special reference to heavy goods vehicles
Professor Michael A.P. Taylor
School of Natural and
Built Environments
Director, Transport Systems Centre University of South Australia
7 March, 2006 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 7 March, 2006 (Tuesday)
Time : 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3574 (Lift 27/28), Civil Engineering Department Conference Room, Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
As part of its recent research program in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), the TSC has just completed a feasibility study on the introduction of a unique electronic identifier for all heavy vehicles in Australia, for compliance checking and enforcement purposes. The study reviewed international developments in the field and considered a number of EVI initiatives from around the world. The seminar will discuss the needs for better identification of individual heavy vehicles, the available technologies, and the likely consequences for freight transport and for traffic management and control on road networks.
SPEAKER
Professor Michael A.P. Taylor holds the Chair in Transport Planning at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, where he is the Director of the university's Transport Systems Centre. His recent research activities are in modelling environmental impacts of road traffic (especially air pollution), assessment of the effectiveness of ITS implementations, modelling of traffic flows in dense networks, and transport network reliability.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. Hai Yang at Tel.:
2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
A modified path flow estimator that handles inconsistency in traffic counts
Dr. Anthony Chen
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, USA
7 June, 2005 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 7 June, 2005 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Path Flow Estimator (PFE) is a one-stage network observer proposed to estimate path flows, path travel times, origin-destination (O-D) flows, etc., from traffic counts in a transportation network. Although PFE does not require traffic counts to be collected on all network links when inferring unmeasured traffic conditions, it requires all available counts to be consistent. This requirement is difficult to fulfill in most of real applications due to the errors inherited in data collection and processing. The original PFE proposed by Bell and Shield (1995) handles this issue by specifying appropriate error bounds on the traffic counts. This method enhances the flexibility of PFE by allowing the user to incorporate local knowledge about the network conditions into the estimation process. However, specifying appropriate error bounds for all measured links in a real network application is laborious. In addition, improper specification of the error bounds could lead to biased estimates of the O-D demand. This seminar therefore presents a modified PFE capable of internally handling the inconsistency problem within the estimation process. The proposed modified PFE model is illustrated with some test networks.SPEAKER
Dr. Anthony Chen is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Utah State University (USU). He is also the division head of the Transportation Program at USU. Dr. Chen received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Irvine in 1992, 1994, and 1997, respectively. Before joining USU, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Chen's research interests include transportation systems modeling, modeling of route choice behavior under uncertainty, origin-destination trip table estimation, route guidance and traveler information systems, network equilibrium modeling and algorithm development, meta-heuristics for discrete network location and network design problems, and transportation network reliability and applications to infrastructure management and disaster management. He is a member of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and serves as the TRB representative for USU. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the 2002 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Risk-averse in-vehicle navigation
Professor Michael G.H. Bell
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
8 November 2004 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 November 2004 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In research sponsored by the BMW car company, the problem of risk-averse route guidance is being studied. Two system architectures are being considered, namely autonomous route guidance, where little or no dynamic traffic information is available to the vehicle, and supported route guidance, which has a more centralized architecture and two-way data exchange between the guided vehicle and a traffic information centre. Attention is given to computational, memory and bandwidth requirements. For autonomous route guidance, a constrained A* algorithm is proposed. When limited dynamic information is available, a dynamic version of the A* algorithm is suggested, which makes use of information computed at the start of the trip to reduce on-demand response time. For supported route guidance, partially disjoint candidate path sets are precomputed centrally. Guidance is downloaded to the vehicle as the trip unfolds. Multiple paths are used to spread the risk, avoid single path overload and approach a system optimum assignment. Test results relating to randomly generated grid networks will be presented and the relative merits of the two architectures will be discussed.SPEAKER
Michael Bell is Professor of Transport Operations at Imperial College London. He was appointed to his current post in January 2002, having previously been the Professor of Transport Operations at the University of Newcastle. Michael’s research interests span transport network reliability, traffic monitoring and control, and transport network analysis. The work reported in this talk has been carried out largely by Professor Yanyan Chen from the Transport Research Centre at Beijing University of Technology, under the supervision of Michael Bell.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at
Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051 or Fax : 2334-6389
The PECAS framework for spatial activity modelling
Professor John Douglas Hunt
University of Calgary, Canada
7 June 2004 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 7 June 2004 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
PECAS is a recently-developed, generalized approach for simulating spatial economic systems. It is designed to provide a simulation of the land use component of land use transport interactive modelling systems. PECAS stands for Production, Exchange and Consumption Allocation System. It uses an aggregate, equilibrium structure with separate flows of exchanges (including goods, services, labour and space) going from production to consumption based on variable technical coefficients and market clearing with exchange prices. Flows of exchanges from production to exchange zones and from exchange zones to consumption are allocated using nested logit models according to exchange prices and transport (dis)utilities. These flows are converted to transport demands that are loaded to networks in order to determine congested travel disutilities. Exchange prices determined for space inform the calculation of changes in space thereby simulating developer actions. The system is run for each year being simulated, with the travel disutilities and changes in space for one year influencing the flows of exchanges in the next year. PECAS or its components are currently being applied in the development of state-wide transportation land use modelling systems for Ohio and Oregon, in the development of an urban land use model for Sacramento and in the anticipated development of urban land use models of Calgary and Edmonton in Canada.SPEAKER
John Douglas Hunt received a BSc degree in Engineering from the University of Alberta, and a PhD in Architecture and Urban Studies from Cambridge University. He is Professor of Transportation Engineering and Planning in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary, where he has worked for just over 12 years now. He has over 20 years experience in transportation modelling and land use transport interaction modelling, in both academic and practical environments. He enjoys an international reputation for his work, and has contributed to the development of models around the world, including London and Southeast England, Dortmund, Naples, Sweden, Central Chile, Oregon, San Francisco, Phoenix, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Ohio - just to name a few. His research interests concern the mathematical modelling of human behaviour, particularly those aspects that include spatial considerations, and the development of modelling systems for transport, land use and economic policy analysis. His consulting activities concern the application of advanced and novel techniques for such modelling in practice.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at
Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051 or Fax : 2334-6389
Travel time reliability measures for transit itinerary planning
Dr. Mark Hickman
University of Arizona, USA
18 March 2004 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Advanced Study Institute Sponsored by the Croucher Foundation
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 18 March 2004 (Thursday)
Time : 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Venue : Room W 703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
In this presentation we consider the problem of planning an itinerary for a transit passenger, in which the passenger wishes to travel from a given origin to a given destination, at a specific time, using public transit. If there are a number of origin-to-destination (O-D) paths available, the passenger may consider the reliability of the service as one factor in determining the preferred path. For this problem, we define service reliability in terms of the variability of the O-D travel time. We present a method to generate useful measures of travel time variability for the passenger, using historical vehicle location data. As part of this process, we present a shortest path algorithm that incorporates travel time variability directly into the generation of possible O-D paths. Several examples using data from the public transit company in Tucson, Arizona, are used to show the value of the technique in determining O-D paths.SPEAKER
Dr. Mark Hickman received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is currently an assistant professor in civil engineering, specializing in transportation engineering, at the University of Arizona. At the University of Arizona, Dr. Hickman has taught courses and performed research in public transit planning and operations, transportation planning, traffic engineering and traffic modeling. Dr. Hickman’s areas of research interest and expertise include public transit planning and operations, the application of new information technologies in transportation, and transportation systems analysis and quantitative modeling. In these areas, Dr. Hickman has been involved numerous research activities at the University of Arizona, and in previous positions at Texas A&M University and with the PATH Program at the University of California, Berkeley.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at
Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051 or Fax : 2334-6389
Dispatched taxis: Does the Hong Kong taxi model apply?
Professor Michael G.H. Bell
Professor of Transport Operations, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
17 January 2004 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 17 January 2004 (Saturday)
Time : 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
The taxi model developed by S C Wong, Hai Yang and K I Wong makes use of a gravity model to describe the distribution of empty taxis from their drop off points to their next pick up points. The conjecture is that the search process for the next customer leads over time to a gravity-type distribution of empty taxis. However, in smaller cities and in most cities in the UK, taxis are generally requested by telephone and dispatched by a controller rather than search for customers. It seems reasonable to conjecture that a dispatching process would also over time lead to a gravity-type distribution of empty taxis. To test this, a simple simulation model is constructed. Taxi requests are generated randomly according to an underlying trip matrix and the taxi that can reach the requester first is dispatched. This is a two-sided queuing process with either customers queuing for taxis or taxis are queuing for customers, with both taxis and customers distributed across space. Initial simulation results suggest that the gravity model provides a rather good description of the distribution of empty taxis when these are dispatched as described. Moreover, the simulation model generates distributions for customer waiting time and taxi idle time. The impact of the number of taxis on customer waiting time and taxi idle time is examined, and it is shown that as the taxi-hours demanded approaches the taxi-hours supplied the average customer waiting time tends to infinity and the average taxi idle time tends to zero.SPEAKER
Michael Bell is Professor of Transport Operations in the Department of Civil Engineering at Imperial College London. He was formerly Professor of Transport Operations and Director of the Transport Operations Research Group in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle. He is Editor of the Research Studies Press series on traffic engineering and an Associate Editor of Transportation Research B.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Hai Yang at Tel.:
2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Path finding under uncertainty
Dr. Anthony Chen
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, USA
23 December, 2003 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 23 December, 2003 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Most existing path finding methods in transportation deal with the uncertainty issues via stochastic programming using the expected value models (EVM). However, there are many situations that travelers are not always concerning with minimizing their expected costs. Travelers may be interested in finding a reliable path to ensure on-time arrival. In this seminar, two reliable path-finding methods are proposed. The first model is formulated as a chance constrained model (CCM) to find the a-reliable path, and the second model is formulated as a dependent chance model (DCM) to find the most reliable path. In the CCM, for a given confidence level a, it finds the least minimum travel time budget path such that the probability of path travel time less than the budget is at least (100a%) confidence. On the other hand, for a given travel time budget, DCM finds the most reliable path that satisfies the travel time budget with the highest probability. A simulation-based genetic algorithm procedure is developed to solve these new path-finding models. Numerical results will be presented to demonstrate the features of these new path-finding models.SPEAKER
Dr. Anthony Chen is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Utah State University (USU). He is also the division head of the Transportation Program at USU. Dr. Chen received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Irvine in 1992, 1994, and 1997, respectively. Before joining USU, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Chen’s research interests include transportation systems modeling, modeling of route choice behavior under uncertainty, origin-destination trip table estimation, route guidance and traveler information systems, network equilibrium modeling and algorithm development, meta-heuristics for discrete network location and network design problems, and transportation network reliability and applications to infrastructure management and disaster management. He is a member of the Transportation Network Modeling Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and serves as the TRB representative for USU. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the 2002 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
E-business and transportation: quantifying impacts at the overall system and railway industry levels
Professor Luis Ferreira
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
9 December, 2003 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Railway Engineering Specialised Group, IEE HK
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 9 December, 2003 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. (Refreshment: 6:15pm)
Venue : Room FJ302, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
E-business is defined here as encompassing both e-commerce and the application of information technology to link internal and external business operations - Business to Business (B2B). The findings reported here are the results of a recent Australia-wide study undertaken for a Federal Government Transport Agency. The study was intended to assist Australian business and government to pro-actively address the transport issues arising from e-business. The main aims were to undertake an analysis of the main transport impacts of e-business and to quantify those impacts on the different stakeholders at the national and regional levels. The Seminar will highlight the study methodology used to derive changes in demand from e-business take-up. The main study findings, in terms of likely changes in freight and passenger demand will be presented.SPEAKER
Luis holds the Chair in Transport sponsored by the Transport Portfolio Agencies in Queensland and based at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. He received a PhD in traffic modelling from the University of Leeds and has worked for 25 years in academic, technical and managerial roles covering passenger and freight transport planning, research, management and consultancy. His current research interests include transport system performance measurement, transport evaluation methodologies and freight transport planning. He is a Research Theme Leader with the Australian Co-operative Research Centre for Railway Engineering and Technologies. Luis is a Fellow of the Australian Institution of Engineers and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport & Logistics in Australia. He has an extensive and distinguished transport related publications record in international journals and conferences.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Mark Ho at Tel.:
2766-6146 or email: eetkho@polyu.edu.hk
Application of a dynamic traffic assignment model and algorithm
Professor Michael Florian
Department of Computer Science and Operations Research, University of Montreal, Canada
8 December, 2003 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 8 December, 2003 (Monday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
A new dynamic traffic assignment algorithm, which is based on concepts from mathematical programming and simulation, is applied to a medium size network and to a large size network. The methodological foundations of the model as well as details of the calibration of the model for the applications mentioned above are given. This is joint work carried out with Michael Mahut and Nicolas Tremblay.SPEAKER
Michael Florian is Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research of the University of Montreal and is associated with the Center for Research on Transportation of the University of Montreal. He is President of INRO, a company specializing in transportation planning software. He has published more than 120 articles in scientific journals and received several awards including the Robert Herman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Transportation Science Section of INFORMS. He is a Member of the Royal Society of Canada.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Congestion pricing on an urban road network: A study using the dynamic traffic simulator METROPOLIS
Professor Robin Lindsey
Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
8 December, 2003 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
School of Economics and Finance, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 8 December, 2003 (Monday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This paper studies road congestion pricing using the dynamic network equilibrium simulator METROPOLIS which treats endogenously mode, route and departure time choices at the level of individual travelers. Simulations are conducted for a hypothetical circular city with a road network that consists of radial arterial routes and ring roads at varying distances from the city centre. Trip origins and destinations are distributed throughout the city. A range of tolling schemes are considered: single and double cordons, area charging systems, ring road tolls, destination/parking pricing, and several comprehensive schemes. Tolling schemes that encompass a large fraction of the road network are found to yield higher total benefits than do schemes with a more limited coverage, but to offer lower benefits per dollar of revenue collected. Crude schemes that impose uniform charges on trips, links, or distance traveled do not perform very well in terms of either efficiency or equity. Time-varying tolls outperform flat tolls in terms of efficiency gains, while generating smaller toll revenue transfers. Consequently, time-varying tolls have more favorable distributional impacts on travelers.SPEAKER
Robin Lindsey received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Queen's University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton. Since 1982 he has worked at the University of Alberta where he is a professor of economics. His doctoral thesis concerned energy security, and his early research interests included resource economics and industrial organization in which he published studies on retail competition, price discrimination and predatory pricing. Lindsey’s academic specialty is now transportation economics. His work has spanned such topics as traffic congestion modeling, advanced traveler information systems, private toll roads, public transportation timetabling, and competition in public transport service markets. Lindsey is currently involved with research on road pricing, usage of transport pricing revenues and reform of transport institutions. Lindsey has had visiting appointments at University of British Columbia, University of California at Irvine, Free University of Amsterdam and Université de Cergy-Pontoise in Paris. He is currently on sabbatical.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Traffic congestion pricing with heterogeneous travelers: A general-equilibrium welfare analysis
Professor Robin Lindsey
Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
29 November, 2003 (Saturday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 29 November, 2003 (Saturday)
Time : 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W601, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Traffic congestion pricing is studied using a general-equilibrium framework that incorporates public goods expenditures, an income tax, a government budget constraint, and preferences for equity. Individuals differ with respect to wages, values of travel time, and the congestion characteristics of their vehicles. Formulae for optimal tolls are derived and decomposed to reveal the separate influences of individual and vehicle heterogeneity, road network effects, fiscal effects and equity concerns. Using an example various tolling regimes are considered, defined by how much of the network is tolled, by whether and how tolls are differentiated by route, and by vehicle and individual characteristics. One policy conclusion of interest is that congestion pricing may be progressive in its welfare impact. This result derives in large part from the assumption that there is a single level of government that maximizes a well-defined social welfare function, and integrates seamlessly transport pricing with general fiscal policy.SPEAKER
Robin Lindsey received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Queen's University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton. Since 1982 he has worked at the University of Alberta where he is a professor of economics. His doctoral thesis concerned energy security, and his early research interests included resource economics and industrial organization in which he published studies on retail competition, price discrimination and predatory pricing. Lindsey’s academic specialty is now transportation economics. His work has spanned such topics as traffic congestion modeling, advanced traveler information systems, private toll roads, public transportation timetabling, and competition in public transport service markets. Lindsey is currently involved with research on road pricing, usage of transport pricing revenues and reform of transport institutions. Lindsey has had visiting appointments at University of British Columbia, University of California at Irvine, Free University of Amsterdam and Université de Cergy-Pontoise in Paris. He is currently on sabbatical.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam
at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051
Probit-based stochastic traffic assignment and extensions
Professor Mike Maher
Professor of Transportation, School of the Built Environment, Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland
23 September, 2003 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 23 September, 2003 (Tuesday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The talk will give an overview of the work of the presenter and his colleagues over the last 15 years on numerical methods for probit-based stochastic assignment. It will firstly outline the differences between logit and probit methods, and then demonstrate the basic operation of link-based and path-based application of probit loading. It will then go on to look at Stochastic User Equilibrium (SUE) assignment, including the estimation of an optimal step length and the use of alternative search directions, before considering to multiple user classes and elastic demand, showing in particular how the elastic demand SUE problem is no more difficult to solve that the fixed demand problem. Finally, some current work on the development of a probit-based departure time choice model and its use in dynamic assignment, will be described.SPEAKER
Mike Maher is Professor of Transportation and Director of Research in the School of the Built Environment at Napier University in Edinburgh. He previously held posts in the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University, in the Department of Probability & Statistics at Sheffield University, and at the Transport Research Laboratory. His research is generally in the application of mathematical and statistical models to transport problems, especially network models (stochastic assignment and matrix estimation) and the statistical analysis of road accident data (predictive accident models and the estimation of the effectiveness of remedial treatments).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam
at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051
Sensors to monitor traffic: some new technologies and location models
Professor Pitu Mirchandani
Professor, Systems and Industrial Engineering Department, The University of Arizona, USA
23 September, 2003 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 23 September, 2003 (Tuesday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
Some ITS technologies for monitoring traffic (volumes, densities, speeds, routes, etc.) on networks will be reviewed. Some new sensors, passive and active (with transponders from vehicle), including those that are based on images of traffic will be introduced. Such sensor can be fixed or mobile. Their potential for enhancing traffic management and traveler information systems will be discussed. Some new models to locate such sensors, either on arcs or nodes of a network will be developed. The talk will focus on models and algorithms for the following type of problems: (1) ''How many and where should sensors be located to obtain sufficient information on flow volumes on routes?'' and (2) ''Given that the traffic operators have already located conventional flow detectors on some network arcs (e.g., induction loop counters), how many and where should additional sensors be located to get the maximum information on flow volumes on routes?'' Some polynomial solvable instances will be provided. For the mobile sensors case, some logistical problems associated with the design of sensor networks will also be discussedSPEAKER
Dr. Pitu B. Mirchandani is a Professor of Systems & Industrial Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona. He is the Director of the ATLAS Research Center and is the Salt River Project Professor of Technology, Public Policy and Markets. Dr. Mirchandani has several areas of technical expertise and interests, including theories, models and algorithms in operations research and systems engineering, and their application to transportation, logistics and real-time information and control systems. In particular, his research in the areas of stochastic dynamic networks, location theory, decision making under uncertainty and competition, and intelligent transportation systems has received wide attention.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Professor William H.K. Lam
at Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051
Choice set generation for route choice in a transport network
Professor Yasuo Asakura
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Kobe University, Japan
27 March, 2003 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 27 March, 2003 (Thursday)
Time : 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Choice set generation problems have not yet been satisfactorily discussed in travel behavioural modeling. In particular, a huge number of possible routes exist between an origin and destination pair in a network, and it becomes interesting to generate a set of alternative routes for travel route choice models. A two-phase sequential structured model will be presented. The first stage is to generate a candidate set of possible routes in a network using the k-shortest path or the gateway shortest path. The second stage is to bundle similar routes into some groups. The model will be examined using actual route choice data in Osaka.SPEAKER
Professor Asakura is currently a professor at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering and the Graduate School of Science and Technology of Kobe University. He obtained his bachelor and doctoral degrees from Kyoto University in 1981 and 1988, respectively. He joined Ehime University as a lecturer in 1988, and was promoted to associate professor and then professor, before moving to Kobe University in 2002. Professor Asakura research interests are transport network analysis with a focus on network reliability and route choice modelling, and travel behavioural research with a focus on the behavioural monitoring using mobile communication instruments.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Short-term forecasting of traffic conditions: methods, limitations and predictability of traffic
Dr. Wei Hua Lin
Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering The University of Arizona
17 March, 2003 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 17 March, 2003 (Monday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
This presentation has two parts. The first part presents a simple model for short-term forecasting of traffic conditions. The method explicitly makes use of both historical and real-time traffic information in an integrated way. The two key variables used in the model are flow (occupancies) and flow (occupancy) increments. The model departs from many existing traffic forecasting models in that it does not require extensive data calibration. The calibration effort is minimal, involving only the estimation of the mean and variance of these two variables from the historical data. The model is also robust. Computationally, the model is efficient and simple to implement. Satisfactory results are obtained for three measures of performance, the mean relative error, the mean absolute error, and the mean square error.SPEAKER
Dr. Lin is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona. He got his PhD degree in transportation engineering from UC Berkeley in 1995. From August 1995 through August 1997, Dr. Lin was a Post Doc researcher with the PATH program at UC Berkeley. Before moving to Arizona last year, Dr. Lin was teaching in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. Dr. Lin's current research focus is primarily on traffic analysis and logistics. He has been working on projects related to 1) developing operational procedures for enhancing traffic management and information systems funded by FHWA; 2) developing pricing schemes for railroad empty car movements funded by National Science Foundation. He has also been collaborating with PATH researchers to study traffic dynamics with microscopic traffic data.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Cost-based versus time-based user-equilibrium and system optimum assignment: transferred by tolling
Professor Hai-Jun Huang
Professor, School of Management, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
19 February, 2003 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
and
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Date : 19 February, 2003 (Wednesday)
Time : 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
It is well known that in the standard traffic equilibrium model with a single value of time (VOT) for all users, a so-called marginal-cost toll can drive a user equilibrium flow pattern to a system optimum. This result holds when either cost (money) or time units are used in expressing the objective function of the model and the criterion for user equilibrium. In this presentation, we examine the multi-criteria or the cost-versus-time network equilibrium and system optimum assignment problem in a network with a discrete set of VOTs for several user classes. Specifically, the following questions will be investigated: Are the user-equilibrium flows dependent upon the unit (time or money) used in measuring the travel disutility in the presence of road pricing? Are there any uniform link tolls across all individuals (link tolls that are identical for all user classes) that can support a multi-class user equilibrium flow pattern as a system optimum when the system objective function is measured by either money or time units? What are the general properties of the valid toll set? We will find that, once moving to the multi-class bi-criterion traffic equilibrium models, answers to these questions are not obvious and their pursuit makes for very interesting theoretical investigations.SPEAKER
Professor Huang received his Ph.D in
Management Science from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) in 1992.
He has shortly served on the faculty of Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology. In 1996, he worked at the Transport Operations
Research Group of Newcastle University (UK) as a one-year visiting scholar. His research
interests include modeling and analysis of transportation systems, production and
operations management, and transportation economics. As principle investigator, he has
finished three research projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China and in 1998 he became the winner of a grant awarded to the national distinguished
young scientists in China. His research (about 30 papers) has appeared in several
international journals as Transportation Research (Part A, Part B, Par C, Part E), Journal
of Advanced Transportation, Journal of the Operational Research Society, European Journal
of Operational Research, Annals of Regional Science, Optimal Control Applications and
Methods, Transportation, and Spatial & Network Theory. In addition, he has published
more than 30 papers in local refereed journals in Chinese and some research reports for
consult projects. He is on the editorial boards of two international journals, Journal of
Advanced Transportation and Journal of Systems Science and Complexity, and one local
journal Transportation Systems Engineering and Information. He is the associate
editor-in-chief of the Journal of Management Sciences in China and the Global Management
Review. He is now a member of the Executive Standing Committee of the Systems Engineering
Society of China.
Professor Huang had served in the School of Management (BUAA) as the associate dean from
1992 to 1997, and is now concurrently working in the National Natural Science Foundation
of China as the deputy director general of the Department of Management Sciences (starting
from October 2000).
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Designs and implementations of automated system for pavement distress survey
Professor Kelvin C. P. Wang
Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Arkansas, USA
15 November 2002 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 15 November 2002 (Friday)
Time : 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
There were the trillions of US dollars of public money invested in pavements worldwide. Sound management of the pavement assets is important to continuingly provide the public safe and comfort transportation. Pavement condition survey for surface defects is a critical data collection and analysis process in evaluating pavements of highways, streets, and airports. In recent years, the research team led by Prof Kelvin Wang successfully solved the problem of automatically identifying and classifying pavement cracks. The Economist weekly news magazine and the Associated Press reported on this technological advance in 2001 and 2002 respectively. This presentation will discuss historical efforts on the automation of pavement condition survey, describe new technologies of automated survey of pavement surface distress, its development, and information system as applied to infrastructure management, and future directions.SPEAKER
Prof Wang completed his BS and MS degrees from China's Jiaotong Universities in 1983 and 1986 respectively and from Arizona State University in 1992 with PhD in civil engineering. He has worked as an engineer for the Arizona Department of Transportation for 4years before joining the faculty of the University of Arkansas in 1993. He was promoted to the rank of professor of civil engineering at the University of Arkansas in 2002. Prof Wang's research interests include automated infrastructure condition survey, vision systems, and intelligent computing. He is also chairman of the ASCE committee of Advanced Technologies. Prof Wang published widely in ASCE journals and Transportation Research Records. He is also editors of several international conferences organized by ASCE. His most significant contribution in research includes leading the team at the University of Arkansas in the development of a real-time automated survey system for pavement cracks.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Development frame of ITS in China
Professor Wei Huang
Director of Construction Department, Jiangsu Province and Professor of Southeast University, China
31 October 2002 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 31 October 2002 (Thursday)
Time : 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 902, 9/F, Knowles Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
Language : Putonghua
ABSTRACT
Main Content of SeminarSPEAKER
Mr Huang is a famous specialist in
highway and bridge field. He has being taken on the research work of design theory, design
method and construction management of freeway and long-span steel bridge paving. He has
presided and participated in many key projects like “Huning Expressway”,
“Nanjing Airport Expressway”, “Nanjing Second Yangzi River Bridge” and
“Runyang Yangzi River Highway Bridge” and solved many complex technical
problems. In China, Mr Huang is one of the initials of ITS. By now he has won over 30
national and provincial awards and published more than 100 important papers and 8 academic
books. In those books, “Introduction of ITS” is the first academic book in this
field and plays an important role in promoting the development of ITS in China. In
“Design theory and method of advanced asphalt pavement” and “Design theory
and method of advanced cement concrete pavement”, published by Science Press, Mr
Huang has summarized his recent main research achievements, which has been highly
evaluated by experts. His research achievements have been successfully used in the
construction of Nanjing Second Yangzi River Bridge, which is a great breakthrough in the
theory and technique of long-span bridge paving. The level of this research is leading the
world, which has been awarded the first-prize of “China Universities Science and
Technology Development”. At present, Mr Huang is embarking on the research and design
of bridge paving of “Runyang Yangzi River Highway Bridge” (the largest
component-beam bridge in China, from Zhenjiang to Yangzhou) and “ Sutong Yangzi River
Highway Bridge”(from Suzhou to Nantong).
Mr Huang has gained “Special Allowance of State Council” since 1995. In 1996, he
was given the honor of “Jiangsu Ten Distinguished Young People”, “First and
Second Tier of Thousands of Scholars” and “Excellent Researchers of
Century” of Education Department. In 1997, he was awarded “National outstanding
Young Experts”. In 1999, he was honored as professor of “Yangzi Scholar
Plan”.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
A new look at two mathematical models of traffic flow
Dr. H.M. Zhang
Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Davis
6 September 2002 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 September 2002 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
Continuum traffic flow models attempt to describe, through a set of partial differential equations, the temporal and spatial evolution of certain quantities of interest, such as flow rate, concentration and travel speed. Among many models suggested over the years two are most widely studied and applied: the kinematic wave model of Lighthill, Whitham, and Richards (LWR model) and the higher-order model of Payne and Whitham (the PW model). While the properties and deficiencies of the LWR model is well known, those of the PW model are less understood and contradicting claims are sometimes made about the PW model. In this talk I attempt to give a clear picture of what we know about these two models, including their behavioral foundations, solution properties and limitations. Based on this knowledge, I shall suggest a new higher-order model that retains the desirable features and removes certain key limitations of both models.SPEAKER
Dr. Michael Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California Davis. He is also a faculty member in the Graduate Programs of Applied Mathematics and Transportation Technology and Policy at UC Davis. Dr. Zhang received his BS degree in Civil Engineering from Tongji University in 1984, and his MS and PhD degrees in Engineering in 1992, 1995, respectively, from University of California Irvine. Prior to his UC Davis appointment, he has taught at the University of Iowa. Dr. Zhang's current research focuses on applications of systems theory to transportation systems analysis and operations. Specific topics include traffic flow theory, ramp and signal control, and transportation network models. Dr. Zhang is a member of the Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics Committee of the Transportation Research Board, serves as an Area Editor of the Journal of Networks and Spatial Economics and has recently been appointed as an Associate Editor of Transportation Research, Part B. Dr. Zhang received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2000.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Risk-averse routing strategies in networks subject to low probability high consequence failures
Professor Michael Bell
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine London, United Kingdom
11 July 2002 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 11 July 2002 (Thursday)
Time : 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 612-B, 6/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
In safety-critical systems, decisions frequently have to be taken when the probabilities of component failures are small but unknown. As potential losses are often high, decision-makers are risk-averse. Systems which may be represented as networks with links whose probabilities of failure are small but unknown are analysed. The existence of one or more critical cut sets is proven. The risk-averse distribution of traffic across the links of a critical cut set is shown to be inversely proportional to the potential losses. A game theory analogy leads to useful insights and solution methods for large networks. Two transport-related hypothetical case studies, one from the field of hazardous materials and the other from bio-security, illustrate the widespread applicability of the results.SPEAKER
Michael Bell is Professor of Transport Operations at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London. Having graduated in 1975 from Cambridge University with a BA in Economics he obtained an MSc in Transport Planning in 1976 and a PhD in 1981, both from Leeds University. Between 1979 and 1982 he worked as a Research Associate at the then Transport Studies Group of University College London, before moving to the Institut fur Verkehrswesen at the Technical University of Karlsruhe as an Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral Research Fellow. He returned to the UK in 1984 to a New Blood lectureship at the University of Newcastle. In 1992 he became the Deputy Director of the Transport Operations Research Group (TORG), becoming its Director in 1996. He was promoted to a Personal Readership in 1994 and to a Personal Chair in 1996. In 2002, he relocated to Imperial College London. His research and teaching interests have spanned transport network reliability, travel forecasting methods, traffic engineering and control, transport telematics, and logistics. He is the author of numerous papers related to the monitoring and control of traffic, the measurement of transport reliability as well as a book co-authored with Professor Yasunori Iida entitled Transportation Network Analysis (Wiley, 1997). He has been closely associated with European research and development, as a participant in projects, as an administrator (on 6-month secondment to Brussels), and as an evaluator. He is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Symposia on Transportation and Traffic Theory (ISTTT), Editor of the Research Studies Press series on traffic engineering, and an Associate Editor of Transportation Research B. He serves in the EPSRC Built Environment College. In early 2000 he was the Kan Tong Po / Royal Society Visiting Professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and this year was a Visiting Professor at Bodenkultur in Vienna.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms. Betty Tsang at Tel.: 2859-2286
Comparisons of user-optimal and system-optimal solutions to the traffic assignment problem
Professor David Boyce
Professor of Transportation and Regional Science, Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
14 December 2001 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 14 December 2001 (Friday)
Time : 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
Recently, we have solved traffic assignment problems to great accuracy with the Origin-based Algorithm. I have some illustrations of the solutions to the UO and SO problems which I would like to show, and get your reactions. The findings are quite unexpected in terms of the number of routes in the solutions.This seminar will also include a general discussion of future research related to traffic assignment and combined models, including research needs and practitioner training and motivation needed to bring advances in combined models and traffic assignment into widespread use.
SPEAKER
Professor David Boyce is Professor of Transportation and Regional Science in the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining the University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor Boyce served as a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania (1966-77) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1977-88). From 1988-1996, he served as Director of the Urban Transportation Center at the last university. Professor Boyce received the B.S. in civil engineering from Northwestern University in 1961, and the Ph.D. in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965. He also received the Master of City Planning degree from Penn. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio. During 35 years of research and teaching, Professor Boyce has addressed many key methodological issues related to metropolitan transportation and land use planning. His early monograph, Metropolitan Plan Making, critically examined the experience with the land use and travel forecasting models during the 1960s. Professor Boyce has rigorously formulated, implemented, estimated and validated large-scale, integrated models of travel behavior. Professor Boyce was an early innovator of in-vehicle dynamic route guidance systems, a principal element of the emerging field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Beginning in the 1960s, Professor Boyce in various roles has provided institutional support and leadership to the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) in North America, Europe and Asia. For twenty years, he organized the North American Meetings of this academic society. He served as co-editor of a principal journal in the field of urban and regional research and as associate editor of the archival journal in the transportation research field. In addition, he has served on many editorial boards in regional science and transportation. In 1985, he directed a National Science Foundation workshop on transportation research. In recognition of his research and service contributions to the field of Regional Science, in 2000 he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the RSAI. In the same year, Professor Boyce received the UIC Inventor of the Year and the UIC College of Engineering Faculty Research Awards. In 2001, he received the University of Illinois Alumni Association Award for Teaching Excellence. Professor Boyce has published 150 books, book chapters, journal articles and reports during the past 35 years.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Hai Yang at Tel.:
2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Convergence of traffic assignments: How much is enough? Delaware Valley case study
Professor David Boyce
Professor of Transportation and Regional Science, Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
12 December 2001 (Wednesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 12 December 2001 (Wednesday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : Room JG04, G/F, James Hsioung Lee Science Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
First, a review of the concepts, properties and performance of the Origin Based Traffic Assignment Algorithm for Infrastructure Networks (OBTAIN) invented by Hillel Bar-Gera will be presented. Second, a case study investigating the level of convergence necessary for application of traffic assignment algorithms will be presented. The case study includes comparisons of solution times between OBTAIN and the Frank-Wolfe method. A description of the case study follows.Daily traffic assignments to a large-scale road network were performed for Build and No-Build scenarios to evaluate the addition of two proposed ramps between I-295 and NJ 42 in the Delaware Valley Region. The road network consisted of 39,800 links connecting 1,510 zones. Stability of link flow differences between the two scenarios in the vicinity of the proposed ramps are examined over a broad range of traffic assignment convergence levels. Then, relative link flow differences are compared with a very highly converged solution for the same range of convergence levels. Examination of the plots reveals that a Relative Gap of 0.01 % (0.0001) is required to assure that the assignment is sufficiently converged to achieve stable link flows. These convergence levels are then interpreted in terms of the number of Frank-Wolfe iterations needed to achieve comparable Relative Gaps, as well as the amounts of computational effort required. Conclusions concerning appropriate assignment convergence levels are offered.
SPEAKER
Professor David Boyce is Professor of Transportation and Regional Science in the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining the University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor Boyce served as a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania (1966-77) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1977-88). From 1988-1996, he served as Director of the Urban Transportation Center at the last university. Professor Boyce received the B.S. in civil engineering from Northwestern University in 1961, and the Ph.D. in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965. He also received the Master of City Planning degree from Penn. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio. During 35 years of research and teaching, Professor Boyce has addressed many key methodological issues related to metropolitan transportation and land use planning. His early monograph, Metropolitan Plan Making, critically examined the experience with the land use and travel forecasting models during the 1960s. Professor Boyce has rigorously formulated, implemented, estimated and validated large-scale, integrated models of travel behavior. Professor Boyce was an early innovator of in-vehicle dynamic route guidance systems, a principal element of the emerging field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Beginning in the 1960s, Professor Boyce in various roles has provided institutional support and leadership to the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) in North America, Europe and Asia. For twenty years, he organized the North American Meetings of this academic society. He served as co-editor of a principal journal in the field of urban and regional research and as associate editor of the archival journal in the transportation research field. In addition, he has served on many editorial boards in regional science and transportation. In 1985, he directed a National Science Foundation workshop on transportation research. In recognition of his research and service contributions to the field of Regional Science, in 2000 he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the RSAI. In the same year, Professor Boyce received the UIC Inventor of the Year and the UIC College of Engineering Faculty Research Awards. In 2001, he received the University of Illinois Alumni Association Award for Teaching Excellence. Professor Boyce has published 150 books, book chapters, journal articles and reports during the past 35 years.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Please reserve your seat with Ms Patty Chung at Tel.: 2859-2668
Congestion pricing on a large urban road network
Professor David Boyce
Professor of Transportation and Regional Science, Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
10 December 2001 (Monday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 10 December 2001 (Monday)
Time : 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : Room 3584 (Lift 27/28), Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon
ABSTRACT
This study explores the application of marginal social cost pricing to a large-scale road network with a state-of-the-art multi-class, multi-modal combined model of travel choice. Four scenarios are considered: a. User-Optimal Route Choice; b. System-Optimal Route Choice; c. Travel Time tolls on all roads; d. Average Toll on all roads. Then, a fixed toll per mile on freeways that best approximates the System-Optimal solution is determined.The seminar will include a review of multi-class, multi-modal combined models for participants who may have missed the Dec. 6 seminar. The results obtained with this multi-class model are quite different than the conventional road pricing results for a single class model.
SPEAKER
Professor David Boyce is Professor of Transportation and Regional Science in the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining the University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor Boyce served as a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania (1966-77) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1977-88). From 1988-1996, he served as Director of the Urban Transportation Center at the last university. Professor Boyce received the B.S. in civil engineering from Northwestern University in 1961, and the Ph.D. in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965. He also received the Master of City Planning degree from Penn. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio. During 35 years of research and teaching, Professor Boyce has addressed many key methodological issues related to metropolitan transportation and land use planning. His early monograph, Metropolitan Plan Making, critically examined the experience with the land use and travel forecasting models during the 1960s. Professor Boyce has rigorously formulated, implemented, estimated and validated large-scale, integrated models of travel behavior. Professor Boyce was an early innovator of in-vehicle dynamic route guidance systems, a principal element of the emerging field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Beginning in the 1960s, Professor Boyce in various roles has provided institutional support and leadership to the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) in North America, Europe and Asia. For twenty years, he organized the North American Meetings of this academic society. He served as co-editor of a principal journal in the field of urban and regional research and as associate editor of the archival journal in the transportation research field. In addition, he has served on many editorial boards in regional science and transportation. In 1985, he directed a National Science Foundation workshop on transportation research. In recognition of his research and service contributions to the field of Regional Science, in 2000 he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the RSAI. In the same year, Professor Boyce received the UIC Inventor of the Year and the UIC College of Engineering Faculty Research Awards. In 2001, he received the University of Illinois Alumni Association Award for Teaching Excellence. Professor Boyce has published 150 books, book chapters, journal articles and reports during the past 35 years.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. Hai Yang at Tel.:
2358-7178
Please reserve your seat with Ms Rebecca Yau at Tel.: 2358-7164
Validation of urban travel forecasting models combining origin-destination, mode and route choices
Professor David Boyce
Professor of Transportation and Regional Science, Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
6 December 2001 (Thursday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : 6 December 2001 (Thursday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The formulation, estimation and validation of a combined model for making detailed urban travel forecasts is described. The model combines origin-destination, mode and auto route choices into a consistent forecasting method for multiple user classes for the Chicago Region. Household travel survey data and census data for 1990 are used to estimate and validate the model.This seminar will describe the findings of a four-year research effort to implement, estimate and validate a multi-class, multi-modal model of origin-destination, mode and car route choice at the same level of detail used by transportation professionals in the Chicago Region.
SPEAKER
Professor David Boyce is Professor of Transportation and Regional Science in the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining the University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor Boyce served as a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania (1966-77) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1977-88). From 1988-1996, he served as Director of the Urban Transportation Center at the last university. Professor Boyce received the B.S. in civil engineering from Northwestern University in 1961, and the Ph.D. in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965. He also received the Master of City Planning degree from Penn. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio. During 35 years of research and teaching, Professor Boyce has addressed many key methodological issues related to metropolitan transportation and land use planning. His early monograph, Metropolitan Plan Making, critically examined the experience with the land use and travel forecasting models during the 1960s. Professor Boyce has rigorously formulated, implemented, estimated and validated large-scale, integrated models of travel behavior. Professor Boyce was an early innovator of in-vehicle dynamic route guidance systems, a principal element of the emerging field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Beginning in the 1960s, Professor Boyce in various roles has provided institutional support and leadership to the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) in North America, Europe and Asia. For twenty years, he organized the North American Meetings of this academic society. He served as co-editor of a principal journal in the field of urban and regional research and as associate editor of the archival journal in the transportation research field. In addition, he has served on many editorial boards in regional science and transportation. In 1985, he directed a National Science Foundation workshop on transportation research. In recognition of his research and service contributions to the field of Regional Science, in 2000 he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the RSAI. In the same year, Professor Boyce received the UIC Inventor of the Year and the UIC College of Engineering Faculty Research Awards. In 2001, he received the University of Illinois Alumni Association Award for Teaching Excellence. Professor Boyce has published 150 books, book chapters, journal articles and reports during the past 35 years.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at
Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051
Merging reality and virtuality - traffic simulation and on-road observations combined for emissions and congestion studies
Professor Michael A.P. Taylor
Professor, School of Geoinformatics, Planning and Building Director, Transport Systems Centre, University of South Australia
21 September 2001 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : September 21, 2001 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This seminar will consider microsimulation modelling of traffic performance, greenhouse gas and air quality emissions, and comparisons with direct on-road observations from an instrumented vehicle. It will report on recent research on the likely impacts on traffic performance and emissions of ITS implementations for incident management and driver information. In new research the instrumented vehicle is being taken inside the simulation, to enable detailed investigations of driver behaviour under different traffic scenarios and events.SPEAKER
Professor Michael A P Taylor holds the Chair in Transport Planning at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, where he is the Director of the university’s Transport Systems Centre. His recent research activities are in modelling environmental impacts of road traffic (especially air pollution), assessment of the effectiveness of ITS implementations, modelling of traffic flows in dense networks, and transport network reliability.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at
Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051
Research in Freight Transport in Singapore
Dr. James Luk
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Nanyang Technological University
4 September 2001 (Tuesday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil Engineering, The University Hong Kong
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : September 4, 2001 (Tuesday)
Time : 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Venue : Room 6-12B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
ABSTRACT
The efficient and safe movement of freight is vital to the economy of any country. However, research on the movement of goods has not attracted as much attention as the movement of people or supply chain management. The research at NTU aims to gain a better understanding of the freight industry. Two aspects will be discussed. The first aspect is on freight demand modelling. Freight trip generation and distribution models were developed for Singapore. The results suggest that it is feasible to use the gravity model for developing an origin-destination matrix on goods vehicle movements. There was not enough data to develop a similar model on commodity flows. The second aspect is on fright survey design. 440 companies were contacted and the return rate was poor. From the usable data, it was found that the use of IT (e.g. track-and trace, computerised routing, GPS) is still limited, and the key issues facing the local freight industry include traffic congestion and port operations.- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Dr. S.C. Wong at Tel.:
2859-1964
Towards Hybrid Online Dynamic Traffic Assignment Procedures for Network Traffic Management
Professor Hani S. Mahmassani
Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
17 August 2001 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : August 17, 2001 (Friday)
Time : 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Venue : W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
This presentation discusses current directions in the development of robust online dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) procedures to support advanced network traffic management through the provision of real-time route guidance information to users. After reviewing developments of centralized and decentralized dynamic assignment approaches for network routing under real-time information, their relative performance is contrasted through a series of numerical experiments, with a focus on robustness of the control decisions vis-à-vis various sources of error. A hybrid DTA (HDTA) approach is then described, consisting of a hierarchical routing decision process that provides careful interplay between a centralized predictive DTA model (CDTA) and a decentralized reactive DTA (DDTA) capability. The CDTA model supplies anticipatory a priori routing decisions, while the DDTA model generates locally-optimized solutions online. As such, the approach can exploit regular systematic demand patterns that can be forecast a priori with reasonable accuracy, while at the same time gaining robustness by retaining the ability to react rapidly to unforeseen conditions. The HDTA problem is modeled as a Stackelberg Game, in which the Centralized DTA model is considered as the game leader and the Decentralized DTA (DDTA) model is the follower. A key component of the methodology and analysis is a simulation-based algorithm that provides approximate solution for the assignment problem in a realistic size network. Experimental analyses are conducted to illustrate the performance of this hybrid approach, and investigate its properties.SPEAKER
Dr. Hani S. Mahmassani is the A. Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor of Transportation Engineering and Professor of Management Science and Information Systems at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also Director of the Advanced Institute for Transportation Infrastructure Engineering and Management. He specializes in transportation systems analysis and planning, network modeling, econometric techniques, demand forecasting and systems evaluation and decison support models. He received his PhD in Transportation Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and MS in Transportation Engineering from Purdue in 1978. He chairs several technical and professional committees in the US and internationally, and is Associate Editor of Transportation Science, Transportation Research C (Emerging Technologies), and the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. He serves on the editorial boards of the major transportation journals. He is a past president of the Transportation Science Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and the President of the International Association for Travel Behavior Research.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at
Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051
ITS Research Activities for the Baltimore/Washington Corridor
Professor Gang-Len Chang
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Maryland Co-Director, Applied Technologies for Traffic Operations and Safety Program (ATTAP) State Highway Administration of Maryland
17 August 2001 (Friday)
Jointly organized by
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies
Date : August 17, 2001 (Friday)
Time : 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Venue : W703, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ABSTRACT
The presentation will be focused on illustrating on-going ITS activities in the ATTAP conducted by Dr. Chang for the Baltimore/Washington corridor. Major research projects to be discussed include: I-95/Route-1 traffic simulator for operations analysis; Design of optimal locations for a VMS network; Optimal distribution of emergency response units; Integrated signal and ramp control for non-recurrent congestion; Bus priority control on a progressive real-time signal network; and Assessing the benefits of an emergency response system.SPEAKER
Gang-Len Chang is a professor of Civil Engineering at The University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Chang has recently assumed the co-director position for the ATTAP program established by Maryland State Highway Administration. His recent research activities are mainly on the freeway traffic control, network signal optimization, design of a bus priority system, robust optimization for traffic control strategies, and application of cellular information for traffic surveillance.
- ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME -
For further information call Prof. William H.K. Lam at
Tel.: 2766-6045
Please reserve your seat with Freda at Tel.: 2766-6051