Please RSVP by Monday@5pm
Our next research forum will be held next Wednesday, November 16, 12pm-1:00pm in E40-298. Please join us for lunch and a talk by current PhD student Candy Brakewood (details and upcoming talks below).
Please RSVP by next Monday (Nov 14) at 5pm.
Hope to see you there.
Best, Rebecca & Vivek
Wednesday, November 16, 12pm-1:00pm (E40-298)
Speaker: Candace Brakewood
Title: Riding in Real-Time: Information Provision and User Behavioral Response in Public Transportation Systems
Abstract:
Urban systems are becoming increasingly digitized, and this trend has important implications for the complex sociotechnical systems at the core of major metropolitan areas, including the transport network. In the context of public transportation systems, which form the backbone of many metropolitan mobility systems, transit providers are now leveraging real-time and distributed communication and computation technologies to provide information for their customers’ use. As traveler information systems become increasingly sophisticated in functionality, additional information is rapidly being integrated into these platforms. Attributes of transport alternatives that were previously not (easily) quantifiable – such as crowding levels, measures of reliability, and environmental impacts – may now be provided to travelers, and this trend is likely to increase as riders become more connected and demand higher levels of personalized, dynamic information.
It is hypothesized that these advanced information systems will enable transit riders - or potential transit riders - to make travel choices that more fully represent their preferences. Because information is available at the time and level of detail necessary to influence their decision-making process, it could have a significant impact on short term travel choices. Furthermore, the literature suggests that these various factors (e.g. crowding, reliability, health impacts, etc.) are likely to impact individual travelers differently. Given these hypotheses, the modeling approach should be able to accommodate these heterogeneities. Two key techniques have been advanced to account for such heterogeneity in choice models: the finite mixture model and the mixed logit model. Using these flexible modeling approaches, the research objective is to provide a comprehensive study on the emerging types of information that may influence the daily choices of transit users and potential transit users.
Bio:
Candace “Candy” Brakewood is currently a second year Doctoral Student in the Engineering Systems Division, although she has been at MIT for a very long time, since she previously did two masters degrees, one through the Master of Science in Transportation Program (2010) and another in the Technology Policy Program (2010).
Candy’s research focuses on the use of new information and communication technologies to improve public transportation systems. As you can probably tell from her high level of energy, Candy really loves public transportation, and she can’t get enough of riding buses and trains.
Candy is still scoping her dissertation proposal, so this talk will be a work-in-progress. Feel free to come and rip up her research, but if you plan to throw rotten tomatoes or vegetables, please consider bringing something a little sweeter (since Candy loves anything sweet).
Upcoming Speakers
November 16, 12pm-1:00pm: Candace Brakewood
November 17, 11am-2:00pm: Special GE Research Event Joint with TPP
MONDAY, November 21, 12pm-1:00pm: Regina Clewlow (special day, as part of MIT Open House)
December 2, 12pm-1:00pm: Rebecca Saari
December 16, 12pm-2pm: Ellen Czaika & Fernando de Sisternes
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Rebecca Saari
PhD Student in Engineering Systems
MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139
E19-411-ST9
saarir@mit.edu