2025 Public Transit Short Courses

 

PT-Courses-2025-brochure-Final

High quality public transit is the linchpin of liveable cities. Not only does it enhance mobility, accessibility, economic productivity, and help address climate change, but the recent COVID pandemic also illustrated its critical role in public health and ensuring the mobility of essential workers. Transit has always faced challenges in our auto-dominant society, but now faces an environment that is increasingly uncertain and turbulent. The last few years have highlighted the strategic importance of data, sophisticated analytics, and advanced technology such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), that enabled transit systems to respond more nimbly to the dynamic situation and the changing needs of customers.  These tools are playing an increasingly critical role in the planning and operations of public transit, and need to be fully integrated into internal business processes.

 

The Transit Analytics Lab at the University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute is  offering two back-to-back courses designed to provide participants with knowledge on key concepts and best practices related to public transit service planning and technology. The first course, Transit Planning and ITS, provides an overview of key concepts and best practices related to transit planning, network and service design, service standards, transit and land use, and the application of ITS technologies. The second course, Transit Analytics and Modelling, provides a complementary but more focused and advanced exploration of data analytics and modelling tools that can be used for performance analysis and optimization, forecasting demand at both the system and route levels, transit assignment, and microsimulation-based analysis. New this year: the second course will be extended into two days, adding one session on transit data analytics and three labs for hands-on training involving the use of real-world data and coding exercises. The courses will be taught by leading transit planning researchers and practitioners and will provide a balanced perspective on transit systems planning and ITS, including both state-of-the-art techniques (including data and AI driven tools) and practical perspectives.

 

Short Course Leaders

Dr. Hossam Abdelgawad has 20 years of experience in developing simulation models using a wide range of traffic software/tools. He has ample experience in building models using AIMSUN, Vissim, UAF, DynusT, HCS, Synchro, SimTraffic, EMME and Dynameq.

 

Dr. Diego Da Silva is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto, specializing in Public Transit Analytics and learning methods. His research spans equity and accessibility, demand forecasting, electric bus operations, intelligent fare systems, open transit data architecture, and service reliability. With a PhD in Computer Science and prior consulting experience in Advanced Analytics and Digital Transformation, Dr. Da Silva bridges academic insight and practical transit innovation.

 

Dr. Brendon Hemily is an independent consultant with more than 40 years of experience working with the transit industry in Canada and the US, and he serves as Senior Advisor for the Transit Analytics Lab. He has been involved in a wide range of projects related to the implementation of innovative service concepts and the effective use of advanced technology. Previously, he was Manager of Research and Technical Services at the Canadian Urban Transit Association where he worked for 15 years.

 

Professor Eric Miller is a recognized expert in integrated land use transportation modelling and demand forecasting. He is the developer of GTAModel, a “best practice” regional travel demand modelling system used widely to forecast travel demand in the Greater Toronto Area. He is co-author of the textbook Urban Transportation Planning: A Decision-Oriented Approach.

 

Dr. Kareem Othman is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Transit Analytics Lab (TAL), University of Toronto. Kareem has extensive experience in developing simulation models using a range of traffic software such as AIMSUN, Vissim, and Synchro. He has been involved in multiple research projects that explore the benefits and impacts of emerging technologies, such as vehicle connectivity and electrification, on public transit operations with multimodal corridor control taken into consideration.

 

Amer Shalaby is Bahen-Tanenbaum Professor in Civil Engineering and Founding Director of the Transit Analytics Lab at the University of Toronto, with more than 30 years of research and consulting experience in Canada and internationally in the areas of transit planning, scheduling and intelligent transit systems. His research has been published widely in peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings. He has served on various transit committees of the Transportation Research Board, and he sits on the editorial boards of multiple scientific journals.

 

Nigel Wilson is Emeritus Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT focusing on urban public transport.  He is Founding Director of the MIT Transit Lab, a major long-term collaborative research program with leading global public transport agencies including Transport for London (UK), MTR (Hong Kong) and the MBTA (US) which focuses on making better use of smart card and other automatically collected data to support decision-making throughout the agency. During sabbatical leaves from MIT, Professor Wilson worked in three large transit agencies, the MBTA, Metro Transit and TfL, and has served as consultant to a number of other North American transit authorities.  He taught a short course in transit planning at MIT for twenty years which had a cumulative enrollment of over 400 transit professionals.

 

Transit Planning and ITS Course

Monday, August 11, 2025

8:45-9am         Welcome and Course Introduction – Hemily

9-10:30            Setting the Context for Transit Planning  – Hemily

10:30-11          Coffee Break

11-12:30pm    Transit Network Planning – Shalaby

12:30-1:30      Lunch

1:30-3              Fundamentals of Line Analysis and Scheduling – Shalaby

3-3:30              Coffee Break

3:30-5              Transit ITS: Developments, Challenges, Opportunities & Future Directions – Hemily

 

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

8:30-10am      Transit Signal Priority and Novel Route Management Concepts – Shalaby

10-10:30          Coffee Break

10:30-12pm   Transit Performance Monitoring Using ITS Data – Wilson

12-1                   Lunch

1-2:30               Transit Cost Modelling – Wilson

2:30-2:45         Coffee Break

2:45-4:15         Transit Fare Policy and Collection Technology – Hemily

4:15-4:30         Closing Session: Attendance Certificate Presentation

 

 

Transit Analytics and Modelling Course

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

8:45-9am         Welcome and Course Introduction – Miller

9-10:30            Introduction to Transit Demand Forecasting & System Level Methods – Miller

10:30-11          Coffee Break

11-12:30pm    Transit Assignment Models – Shalaby

12:30–1:30      Lunch

1:30-3               Ridership modelling (Lecture) – Shalaby

3-3:30               Coffee Break

3:30-5               Ridership modelling (Lab) – Othman

 

Thursday, August 14, 2025

8:30-10am      Data Analytics for Reliability and Accessibility Analysis (Lecture) – Da Silva

10-10:30          Coffee Break

10:30-12pm    Data Analytics for Reliability and Accessibility Analysis (Lab) – Da Silva

12-1                   Lunch

1-2:30               Microsimulation Models of Transit Operations (Lecture) – Abdelgawad

2:30-2:45        Coffee Break

2:45-4:15        Microsimulation Models of Transit Operations (Lab) – Othman

4:15-4:30         Closing Session: Attendance Certificate Presentation

 

Transportation Access

The venue is near the intersection of St. George and College Streets in Downtown Toronto. It is accessible by the subway (Queen’s Park Station) and the 506 Carlton streetcar line. Paid parking is also available around the venue location.

 

Accommodation

Suggestions for accommodation are:

• Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre, 30 Carlton Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2E9, (877) 660-8550 (416) 977-6655
• Chelsea Hotel – 33 Gerrard Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1Z4, 1-800-243-5732, 1-416-595-1975

Accommodation booking should be made directly by the participants.

 

Who Should Attend?

The two short courses are designed for practising public transit professionals or those involved in the transportation and planning industry who have an interest in public transit planning and ITS and the use of data analytics for decision making. If you are new to the field and wish to have some formal exposure to the fundamentals, or if you have been practicing for some time and wish to undertake a refresher and be exposed to recent state-of-the-art developments, then these short courses could form part of your professional development program.

It is expected that those involved in planning, designing and operating transit services at various levels of government will find value in the two courses. Consultants involved in traffic and public transit planning, ITS and data-driven decision making will also find the courses useful and relevant. Members of the general public with an interest in public transit are also invited to attend.

 

Course Organization

The two short courses are organized by the Transit Analytics Lab at the University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute.

 

Registration and Payment Information

Interested participants can register and pay online at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScitBsLP3uheEJ8DDAXmrdqgzM2L60YAqrhJtxQ_yE-lRYctA/viewform

 

Registration Fees & Acknowledgment

The registration fees (inclusive of 13% HST) are $1,695.00 for the Transit Planning & ITS course; $1695.00 for the Transit Analytics & Modelling course; and $3,051.00 for both courses. All amounts are in Canadian dollars. Registration covers attendance, course notes, lunches, coffee breaks and course completion certificate. Accommodation costs are not included in the registration fee. Upon receipt of your completed registration form and payment, your registration will be acknowledged by email.

 

Early-bird Registration

The following discounted fees (inclusive of 13% HST) are offered for early bird registration until July 30, 2025: $1,440.75 for the Transit Planning & ITS course; $1,440.75 for the Transit Analytics & Modelling course; and $2,593.35 for both courses.

 

 

Refunds

If you have to cancel your registration, your fee will be refunded in full provided that we receive your cancellation request in writing no later than August 4, 2025. After that date, no refunds are available. A replacement can always be nominated if you cannot attend.

 

Contact Details

For inquiries about the course, please contact:

 

Dr. Diego Da Silva, Course Manager

E-mail: tal@utoronto.ca