UTTRI associated faculty Professor Amer Shalaby and UTTRI Executive Director Dr. Judy Farvolden teamed up May 31 for the second seminar in the Cities By Design: The Future of Urban Mobility series, part of the Urban Challenge Project Seminars presented by the School of Cities in partnership with UTTRI.
Professor Amer Shalaby presented “Transit System Management using Passive Data, Simulation and Machine Intelligence.”
Dr. Judy Farvolden followed with her presentation “Preparing for 21st Century Transportation through Collaborative Research.”
Professor Steve Farber was on hand acting as MC and contributing discussion points following the presentations.
The Myhal Centre room was again filled to capacity (35) for the seminar, which now runs two hours to accommodate attendee questions and discussion following the presentations.
Seminars are planned to take place every other Thursday through the summer months; details will be confirmed. All are welcome to attend and no registration is required.
Forthcoming seminars
Thursday, June 13, 3-5 p.m., Rm MY 430, 55 St. George Street, 4th floor
- Professor Shauna Brail, “Regulating Ride-Hailing in Canadian Cities”
- Professor Paul Hess, “Pedestrians and Street Design in the Age of Automated Vehicles: A Review”
Thursday, June 27, 3-5 p.m., Rm BA 2139, 40 St George Street
- Professor Jonathan Hall, Title TBC
- Professor Nate Baum-Snow, “Are Highways Good for Cities?”
Dates and locations for seminars in July and August to be confirmed.
About Cities By Design: The Future of Urban Mobility
For the first time in history, the majority of people live in urban settings. Cities are the engines of economic growth, but are plagued with challenges relating to resource allocation, constrained government spending, ecosystem protection, creating migrant and youth opportunities, social inequities, labour market changes and infrastructure aging. Thrown into this arena, emerging technologies such as automated and connected vehicles, ride-hailing services, Mobility-as-a-Service platforms, and micro-transit are threatening rapid changes to our mobility systems. The academic and policy debates are rife with visions of new mobility utopias, where technology drives improvements in efficiency, CO2 emissions, and social inclusion. Also prominent are visions of mobility dystopias, where private vehicles control more of the public realm, mobility benefits are concentrated among the wealthy, and labour standards are eroded. Cities now face the massive challenge of evaluating the potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences of integrating a heterogeneous mix of promising technologies with existing transportation infrastructure and mobility services.
In light of this uncertainty, it is imperative that we conduct evidence-based research to guide transportation policy to achieve the many positive promises of emerging technologies, while ameliorating the inherent risks in technology-induced disruption. The Future of Urban Mobility seminar series will provide the U of T community a space to engage on these topics and explore research opportunities with the Mobility Cluster at the School of Cities.
