This panel will explore the definition of productive supply chains, how this has changed over time, and what challenges may influence productive goods mobility in the future. What new opportunities may be available with technology? What new enabling policies, regulations and collaborations will we need to maximise our supply chain productivity?
Panelists will include representatives from the Railway Association of Canada, Export Development Canada, the Association of Canadian Port Authorities, Trucking HR Canada and the Freight Management Association of Canada.
Economist, Economic and Political Intelligence Center (EPIC) EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CANADA
Nadeem is an economist with expertise in macroeconomics, country risk assessment, and trade and competitiveness issues in emerging markets. Currently serving as an Economist at Export Development Canada (EDC), he focuses on economic matters pertaining to South and Southeast Asia... Read More →
Angela provides top-level stewardship of talent management best practices for the trucking and logistics sector in her role as CEO. Under Angela’s leadership, THRC has become a national centre of excellence where stakeholders in commercial transportation, public policy, training... Read More →
President, Freight Management Association of Canada
John Corey is the President of the Freight Management Association of Canada (FMA). A professional accountant by training, John spent 28 years at the Canadian Transportation Agency, working in both the Air and Rail branches of the Agency where he played a major role in dispute resolution... Read More →
Monday May 26, 2025 8:15am - 10:00am EDT Desmarais 116055 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5
Canada is known for its large land mass and concentration of population along the southern border, but with smaller communities across the country. Air connectivity allows for the movement of people and goods, supporting tourism and trade from larger centres. For smaller communities, air connectivity is vital and can often be the only form of transportation to other parts of the country. The recovery of the sector post-COVID 19 has changed the aviation landscape in Canada. Many communities have faced changes in services as the airlines adjusted their networks through the recovery period. Given the importance of air connectivity across the country, it is prudent to understand the different ways of measuring air connectivity. There are basic metrics such as number of direct destinations, or total number of seats, but these metrics do not take into account other factors that are important to connectivity, such as the size of the destination or economic importance. We propose a measure for connectivity that accounts for not only the size destination (and number of onward connections), but also accounting for one stop connections. This allows for connectivity to be measured by accounting for the hub and spoke model common in aviation.
Transportation is one of seven priority areas under the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) which sets out to realize a barrier-free Canada by 2040. The Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR) were established to advance this goal and protect the right to barrier-free travel. Most provisions set out in the ATPDR came into force in 2020, while others were phased in until 2022 due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. Five years later, gaps in the consistency and quality of accessible transportation services remain.
A fundamental challenge lies in the disconnect between transportation service providers and other stakeholders within the aviation system. Effective collaboration between various entities is required to deliver a seamless, barrier-free experience for everyone.
This paper reflects on the past 5 years of the ATPDR with a focus on air travel, exploring accomplishments, challenges, and opportunities. It argues that compliance does not necessarily lead to accessible outcomes. As we navigate towards 2040, how might we shift the focus from a compliance-based approach to a framework that prioritizes dignity, autonomy, and empowerment? Over the next five years, what might be done to affect change in the industry and elevate accessibility to the same levels of safety and security?
Sonya is an Analyst at InterVISTAS Consulting, based in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. She has supported a range of projects relating to economic analysis, policy, accessibility, and customer experience in the transportation industry. She holds a Bachelor of International Economics... Read More →
Good transit travel time estimates are important for transit planning and operations. Most existing literature focuses on predefined statistical distributions, analysis levels, or specific elements of transit travel times, but less on how various elements interact with each other and cause variations in the overall travel times. This study aims to address these research gaps by decomposing observed transit travel times, identifying how much variation can be attributed to each element and their interaction effects using sensitivity analyses, and demonstrating potential ways to improve bus schedules.
The analyses show that red-light waiting times are heavily affected by trip departure times and their interaction effects, where a few minutes of change can greatly affect the red times and overall travel times due to the varying cycle lengths in fixed signal timing plans. Therefore, historical travel time observations are conditional based on signal synchronizations given their departure times and planners must plan for the different signal synchronization patterns when adjusting bus schedules. To help plan for red time variations, we demonstrate some simple calculations the planners can perform to improve travel time estimations in a newly developed schedule by incorporating signal timings compared to the current practice of applying historical observations.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
Telecommuting has transformed the way two-worker households approach long-term decisions regarding residential location, workplace, and work modalities. This study explores the interconnections among these choices using data from the 2018 Okanagan Travel Survey conducted in British Columbia, Canada. This study employs random utility maximization-based discrete choice modelling approaches, specifically Cross-Nested Logit (CNL) models. The results show that households are more likely to adjust their work modalities, such as telecommuting, rather than altering their residential or workplace locations. Key factors shaping these choices include vehicle ownership, mobility challenges, age, and type of employment. Households with fewer vehicles exhibit a higher tendency to telecommute, while preferences favour residential areas with strong neighbourhood characteristics and workplaces near commercial centres or central business districts. Moreover, reducing commuting distances emerges as an essential aspect in balancing commuting burdens for two-worker households. These insights contribute to a nuanced understanding of the interconnected nature of household decisions and provide valuable input for promoting sustainable urban planning. The developed model will be integrated into the Simulator for Transportation, Energy, and Land Use for Regional Systems (STELARS), currently under development at The University of British Columbia.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Over the last two decades, a correlation has emerged between the Government of Canada's policies on immigration, tourism, and trade and Canada's bilateral air transport agreements. This paper will demonstrate how government policy actions on immigration, tourism, and trade can both support and hinder the development of air traffic by conducting a historical review of passenger traffic in relation to key policy changes, highlighting their influence on travel patterns in subsequent years.
This paper will use a statistical analysis of passenger traffic data and a qualitative analysis of government policy changes. The analyses will outline how shifts in government policy are linked to accelerations and decelerations in traffic growth using market case studies. Transitioning to the current context, the paper will explain how a new era of policy restrictiveness in areas such as immigration and trade could change bilateral passenger traffic flows between Canada and foreign markets. Finally, the paper will look to underscore the importance of governments' responsible use of foreign policy and air transport agreements to promote a stable expansion of air services from Canada to the rest of the world.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to initiate major changes in transportation systems, particularly in cities where multiple users share the transportation infrastructure. AVs can encounter scenarios where selecting a course of action gives rise to an ethical dilemma, such as determining which road user should bear a higher level of risk. This paper explores the application of the trolley problem in autonomous vehicle decision-making through a literature review. We first describe the trolley problem and how it can be used as a tool to solve ethical dilemmas revolving around AVs. Next, we introduce several ethical frameworks as solutions to trolley cases and discuss how these frameworks integrate within regulatory and cultural contexts. We conclude with a discussion on the ethical values involved in various dilemmas related to the deployment and operation of AVs.
Autonomous Transit Services (ATS) offer transformative solutions to urban mobility challenges by enabling precise operations with reliably scheduled arrival/departure times, dynamic route optimization avoiding congestion, advanced collision avoidance systems and continuous 24/7 operations without driver-related risks fostering a sustainable transportation system. Despite these benefits, research on individuals' perceptions of ATS remains limited due to minimal public exposure, high costs of pilot projects, and the interdisciplinary complexity required for comprehensive studies. To explore futuristic travel choices particularly emerging modes like ATS, a stated preference (SP) survey was conducted. Additionally, revealed preference (RP) data, reflecting individuals' current mode choices were also collected, as existing choices significantly influence preferences for futuristic modes. Integrating RP data with SP analysis enables the development of robust models, improving the predictive accuracy of future travel behaviour. The study investigates perceptions of ATS along the Okanagan Rail Trail, a multi-modal pathway connecting major regional hubs. Using random sampling method, 1,500 responses were gathered from Kelowna and Lake Country residents. A mixed logit model examined the influence of socio-demographics, mobility tools, land-use patterns and individual attitudes on mode choice. The findings aim to provide actionable insights for urban-planners and policymakers to promote ATS adoption and advance sustainable urban mobility.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Rural areas and smaller cities often face unique challenges related to transportation and environmental considerations. In this context, the present study aims to understand mode choice behaviour of smaller cities in Canada which remain underrepresented in the literature. The data comes from the 2018 and 2024 Okanagan Travel Surveys (OTS) conducted in the Central Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada. The study develops a multinomial logit model to test the influence of sociodemographic, mobility tool ownership, built environment and neighborhood attributes on mode choice outcomes. Furthermore, a comparative analysis between the two datasets provides a unique opportunity to assess how mode choice patterns have evolved over time. The findings of the study highlights similarities and dissimilarities in mode choice between the time points, and confirm that such outcomes are sensitive to sociodemographic, vehicle and bike ownership levels, and neighborhood characteristics. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate how changes in vehicle and bike ownership, land use mix, and active transportation infrastructure influences the overall mode share. Overall, the findings of the study assist transportation professionals in developing robust policies for effective sustainable transportation planning.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Monday May 26, 2025 10:50am - 11:10am EDT Desmarais 113055 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5
Ecotourism is a global growth industry and Canada is well-positioned to attract more tourists for these types of activities. However, remote locations are under-served with respect to access and inherently vulnerable. This presents significant difficulties for tourists who want to see Canada's wildlife in their natural habitats. In addition, the use of transport to get close to wildlife for viewing opportunities can be stressful for the animals and may damage terrain. This article explores the use of passenger airships for ecotourism. Modern designs with electric propulsion make airships ideal for unintrusive ecotourism operations.
"Age-friendly Communities" is an initiative led by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to support healthy aging in communities through the provision of a built environment (including active transportation) and programming that helps foster the inclusion of older adults in society. Communities can have age-friendly infrastructure development goals but may lack metrics to establish benchmarks and monitor progress. There are audit guides to assist with this evaluation, but the utility and uptake of these guides in engineering practice is unclear. This research piloted multiple guides, including some PHAC-recommended, on 62 selected road segments in Fredericton, NB. While the audit tools permitted a consistent method of compiling information, there were limitations, including: extensive data collection requirements (e.g. one had 165 built environment measures per segment), overly subjective attributes to measure, inconsistent scoring schemes, lack of a total score of "age-friendliness", lack of weighting on the importance of relevant attributes, inability to evaluate at a network level, and reliance on foot-based audits (completed virtually where possible). A GIS-based analysis approach was piloted by identifying attributes from an audit tool most likely to be available from city open data sources and using this to propose an approach for city-wide age-friendly community evaluation.
Defining a typology of urban bus routes is critical for understanding how different types of services and route characteristics influence travel demand patterns. This study aims to establish a comprehensive typology of bus routes in Montreal by taking into account both land use data - which helps to identify the types of areas served by the routes (e.g., residential, industrial, educational, or central business districts, etc.,)- and route features. The latter include operational and accessibility-related indicators, such as average inter-stop distance, total number of stops, speed, and connectivity with other transportation services (e.g., number of intersecting subway stations, and bus lines etc.,).
Once the bus route typology is created, the clusters are merged with the daily transactional validation data to analyze the variability of demand during the different phases covering the COVID period (spanning from 2019 to 2024), using variability measures. This analysis sheds light on how different route types responded to pandemic-related and shifts in travel behaviors. Finally, this research highlights the features that play a key role in shaping demand patterns, whether related to land use, network accessibility, or other route characteristic features, which will be valuable for future transportation planning and policy development.
Bita Farokhian is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering with a specialization in transportation engineering at Polytechnique Montreal under the supervision of Prof. Catherine Morency. She received her M.Sc. and B.Sc in Industrial Engineering and has a background in the... Read More →
In travel behavior research, joint modeling of multiple interdependent decisions has primarily relied on theory-based econometric models, with limited exploration of data-driven multi-task learning (MTL) methods. Existing MTL studies have mostly focused on discrete-discrete outputs, overlooking mixed-type decisions such as travel mode (discrete) and departure time (continuous"”though some studies have treated it as discrete). This study develops a joint artificial neural network (ANN) to simultaneously model travel mode and trip departure time. We evaluate two MLT-ANN architectures: hard-parameter sharing MTL (HP-MTL) and cross-stitch MTL (CS-MTL). Additionally, we compare them against single-output neural networks (SO-NNx) and econometric models. The results indicate that the more complex CS-MTL performed similarly to SO-NNx in most measures but was outperformed by HP-MTL, likely due to negative learning from increased complexity given task interdependencies. In contrast, HP-MTL showed significant improvements: for trip departure time prediction, it enhanced R² and mean squared error (MSE) by 21.4% and 8.3% over SO-NNx, and by 4.7 times and 27% over the hazard model. For travel mode choice, HP-MTL achieved slight accuracy gains, notably improving transit mode predictions by ~10%. This research contributes to transportation modeling literature by demonstrating the effectiveness of ML, particularly HP-MTL, in modeling joint discrete-continuous decisions.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Despite the growing focus on accessibility - the ease of reaching destinations - in transport planning, much research has centered on urban contexts. However, Canada's diverse landscapes, including rural, remote, northern, and isolated communities, present unique challenges (e.g., seasonal variability) that are unaddressed by urban accessibility literature.
In this context, we examine the spatial accessibility of Yellowknife, a northern Canadian community (population of ~20,000) and the capital city of the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife is currently undergoing the creation of their first comprehensive transportation master plan. We explore how the newly calculated Spatial Access Measure (SAM) provided by Statistics Canada may compliment this initiative.
We first review how SAM may relate to more commonly used "remoteness indices' relevant to Northern community planning. Then, we evaluate how dissemination areas rank in terms of their SAM to important care destinations such as grocery stores and healthcare, recreational, and education facilities by active transportation modes. We discuss the suitability of this measure in potentially reflecting lived experiences from different dimensions, like youth's access to school. Overall, our study seeks to critically evaluate the applicability of the newly calculated SAM in the Northern context and outline future research needs.
The rate of disability in New Brunswick is currently higher than the national average, however, the impact of having a mobility disability on someone's ability to independently meet their transportation needs is not well understood. This research aimed to address this knowledge gap by piloting a 5-day travel diary survey using GPS devices and prompted recall interviews for persons with a mobility disability (n = 13) solicited from a larger mail-out survey (678 distributed, 99 Returned). After travelling with the GPS, they participated in a prompted recall interview where they identified their trip purposes, modes of transportation, and any accessibility barriers they may have encountered. Participants also completed a stated adaptation survey and a feedback survey about the travel diary techniques.
On average, participants travelled on 3.2 of their 5 travel days. Life maintenance trips were the most reported trip type, followed by return home trips. Most trips were made using a private vehicle, with an almost equal split between being a driver and being a passenger. Accessibility barriers were not frequently reported. 77% of participants reported that the methodology was effective and 92.3% supported using interviews for the prompted recall. This suggests these methods could be applied again.
Cities are increasingly prioritizing active and sustainable forms of mobility, with enhanced territorial connectivity emerging as a central objective. In this context, understanding the impacts of substantial public transit service changes ”beyond incremental adjustments" on travel behaviors is crucial for effective urban planning.
This research examines the effects of significant improvements in transit travel times on various travel behavior indicators. Using data from the Montreal metropolitan area, the study identifies areas where transit travel times have markedly improved over a five-year period and evaluates corresponding changes in behaviors such as mode choice, transit trip rates, and the spatial distribution of transit trips.
To achieve this, GTFS data are employed to estimate transit travel time matrices, while origin-destination travel survey data provide insights into observed behavioral patterns. Transit travel time matrices are compared to detect origin-destination pairs with notable changes, using filters based on spatial and temporal parameters. Furthermore, distribution models are calibrated to analyze how changes in travel times influence the spatial structure of trips and overall transit demand.
This analysis offers valuable insights into the relationship between transit supply improvements and travel behaviors, informing strategies to promote sustainable and efficient urban mobility.
The development of high-rise condominiums in response to population growth in large cities has noticeably contributed to traffic congestion, parking shortages, and, indirectly, greenhouse gas emissions. Among proposed solutions to tackle car dependency in today's societies, high-rise condominiums, and apartment buildings hold the latent potential to shape the behavior of residents toward using active modes or public transportation. This paper aims to understand the effect of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies implemented in high-rise condominiums in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area on residents' mode choice and mobility patterns. A web-based stated adaptation survey was designed and conducted in the study area, and the collected data were used to estimate a series of multinomial logit models, highlighting effective policies and factors influencing condo residents' modal shifts. The model results suggested that an innovative condo-specific parking policy, along with transit fare incentives, and the provision of e-bike share stations, and e-bike share membership discounts, could encourage residents to adopt sustainable modes and reduce private car use. The model findings were further utilized to develop an Excel-based forecasting tool that could support land developers in predicting the effectiveness of TDM policies in residential developments prior to their implementation.
With a high-speed rail project in the corridor between Québec and Toronto officially announced, Canada might finally proceed to the modernization of its rail infrastructure and bring it up to par regarding long distance public transportation; however, question marks arise regarding the proposed route layout and the cities served. This conference will explore the methodological approaches and challenges encountered while codifying long distance rail and bus public transit in Québec in the GTFS format in order to diagnose the quality of current interregional transit in Québec and its accessibility to the population. With a province-wide representation of transit networks, it is now possible to compare total travel time by transit and by car, thus determining what proportion of the population has a viable alternative to their private vehicles when traveling across the province. With both supply and demand in transport observed through the first long distance OD survey available, methods used to design a long-distance transit network will be reviewed. As such, this research will provide a methodological pathway to build the public transport infrastructure needed to decrease the use of private vehicles in interregional trips to meet the sustainable transportation goals set by the provincial government in its policies.
Canada's aging population and increasing disability rates pose a question for transportation: with over one-third of New Brunswick's population living with a disability, how can transportation meet the demand for those that require accessible transportation? Accessible Demand-Response Transit (DRT) services are crucial for those who cannot use private vehicles or public transportation. There is a need for data on the operation and travel patterns associated with DRT services in New Brunswick because new regional agencies are assuming transportation planning responsibilities and looking to expand services. This research used geographically aggregated passenger data from 6 months of trip-making by a DRT provider to estimate per capita trip rates, identify origin/destination pairs, and to pilot an exact solution method of Mixed Integer Linear Programming (Christie Method) for vehicle deployment. The Christie Method was able to reasonably replicate the conditions of the existing service provider subject to their level of service requirements and was then applied to a community use-case based on extrapolated trip rates. While effective, the exact solution approach increases processing time exponentially for any additional constraints, therefore other heuristic approaches may warrant future considerations.
There is a notable connection between Canadian census metropolitan area (CMA) population and public transit ridership, as a percent of the commuting population. Smaller CMAs have lower ridership rates. Certain characteristics of smaller CMAs make commuting by car more attractive. Smaller CMAs tend to have lower downtown parking rates. They also enjoy less traffic congestion compared to larger CMAs. On the other hand, larger CMAs, such as Toronto and Winnipeg, have been burdened with serious issues of safety in public transit stations and vehicles. Combining secondary data with a selection of small CMA cases, this paper explores determinants of transit ridership, leading to public policy recommendations for increasing transit ridership. The determinants of transit use can be classified into controllable and uncontrollable factors. While weather patterns and population growth are relatively uncontrollable, transit authorities can control a variety of service features, such as number of routes, number of stops and frequency of service. Drawing on archival data and interviews with CMA transit authorities, cases will contrast several small CMAs across Canada, in an attempt to better understand various drivers of ridership performance, ranging (in 2021) from 1.2 percent in Drummondville, Quebec to 4.9 percent in Kingston, Ontario.
Car ownership remains a key determinant of mode choice, shaping daily mobility patterns. In response, many cities are investing substantial resources in sustainable transport systems to reduce dependence on private cars. But do these improvements in mobility services and infrastructure actually lead to lower car ownership, or at least slow its growth?
This research investigates the evolution of key indicators related to private car access, such as driving license ownership, household car ownership, and access-to-car ratios (the ratio of driving licenses to cars). A range of methodologies is employed to analyze trends, with a particular focus on aggregate trend analysis and the estimation of a difference-in-differences model. This model is applied to zones where significant enhancements to sustainable transportation systems have been implemented.
The findings provide insights into whether such changes have measurable impacts on car dependency. By addressing this critical question, the study contributes to understanding how sustainable mobility strategies influence broader transportation behaviors and supports decision-makers in designing effective policies to promote sustainable urban mobility.
Efficient airport transit access is crucial for mitigating traffic congestion and addressing parking limitations around airports with growing demand for air travel. In medium-sized cities like Kelowna, BC, absence of direct and exclusive airport transit options exacerbates these challenges. Futuristic transportation modes are potential solutions for these challenges, particularly when leveraging existing infrastructure like Okanagan Rail Trail (ORT). ORT, a limited-access, multi-use corridor connecting regions' major hubs, presents a unique opportunity to explore efficient futuristic modes like Autonomous Transit (ATS) to improve airport accessibility. This study investigates factors influencing individuals' perceptions of using ATS for exclusive airport access along ORT. Approximately 1,500 responses were collected from a 2024 survey of Kelowna and Lake Country residents using random sampling. Respondents were presented with scenarios emphasizing trust, safety, and convenience in adopting ATS for airport access to indicate their preferences. The survey also collected their socio-demographic, travel behaviour, and vehicle ownership information. Structural Equation Modeling was used to identify and evaluate relationships among factors influencing ATS perceptions since it simultaneously evaluates direct and indirect relationships and the effects of control variables. Results offer guidance to policymakers and transit planners in designing innovative, user-centric solutions for efficient airport access in cities like Kelowna
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Monday May 26, 2025 12:10pm - 12:30pm EDT Desmarais 116055 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5
Accessible bus stops and shelters are crucial for bus users with mobility-related disabilities. The scarcity of such stops, especially in extreme weather conditions, is one of the transportation barriers experienced by several groups, including persons with disabilities and seniors. While many cities focus on ensuring their transit vehicles are accessible, much less attention is paid to ensuring bus stops are accessible. This paper proposes a location optimization-based solution that aims to equitably distribute the location of accessible bus shelters. The modelling method provides location optimization capability by means of integrating Geographic Information System (GIS)-based network analysis, linear/nonlinear programming and observed ridership data. The case study consists of problem definition, methodological details, data sources, optimization scenarios which will include alternative distributions of accessible bus shelters across the transit network, followed by conclusions, and recommendations. The findings and recommendations will offer a pragmatic analysis of the tradeoffs between different optimization strategies for enhancing transit inclusivity.
Transfer speed and reliability are key factors influencing public transportation use. Fixed schedules often fail under unpredictable traffic, causing missed transfers. To address this challenge, we propose an online stochastic optimization (OSO) framework for the real-time transfer synchronization problem using three control tactics: hold, skip-stop, and speedup. Our approach is based on an offline model that minimizes total passenger travel time by solving time-expanded graphs incorporating all possible control tactics. Building on this model, we develop two OSO algorithms integrating historical and real-time data to generate scenarios on future bus network conditions and make dynamic decisions. These algorithms were implemented in a network-scale simulator of the public transit system of Laval, Canada. The results demonstrate improvements in mean transfer time and in passenger travel times, showcasing the practical potential of using online stochastic optimization for transfer synchronization in multi-line public transit networks.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
Traditional travel surveys, typically capture activity patterns for a single weekday, operate on the assumption that daily travel behaviors remain consistent throughout the week. However, recent shifts, such as hybrid work arrangements, challenge this assumption by introducing significant variations in daily travel patterns across the week. To address this limitation, the British Columbia Activity Time Use Survey (BC ATUS) collected one-day web-based activity data and seven-day smartphone app-based GPS data in the Greater Vancouver and Greater Kelowna regions. The passive nature of the seven-day data collection captured a higher number of trips compared to the one-day survey, highlighting the limitations of single-day surveys in representing comprehensive travel behavior. Analysis reveals that hybrid workers, who exhibit greater scheduling flexibility during the weekdays, display distinct travel patterns compared to traditional commuters. Hybrid workers' midweek travel peaks near home are more pronounced, and they engage in recreational, shopping, and personal business activities later in the day. Conversely, traditional commuters exhibit clearer morning and afternoon work-related peaks alongside evening dining and shopping trips. These findings emphasize the necessity of seven-day data in capturing nuanced travel behaviors, providing critical insights for equitable and effective post-pandemic urban planning.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
The term "barrier to entry' was popularized in the economic jargon after Joe Bain's treatise on the subject though it was used as a strategy to deter competition as long as one can remember. The concern about barriers to entry has been a major concern with politicians and antirust policy makers who are concerned about the state of competition in the economy. Recently, the Competition Bureau in Canada launched an inquiry into competition into the domestic air passenger service followed by the US Department of Justice and Department of Transport. The Bureau plans to examine barriers to entry and expansion as part of the scope of its study. While this initiative provides some motive in part for this paper, it goes beyond this to all transportation networks. This paper begins by briefly examining the definition and treatment of barriers to entry in Canada, it then examines a few studies on the subject followed with our opinion on these barriers in Canada and concludes with policy implications.
Executive Director, Research & Innovation, WSP Canada
Passionate about designing a built environment that creates wealth and improves quality of life for all.Civil Engineer and Economist with a Asset Management backgroundMentor in the IBET program (Indigenous Black Engineering Technology)Adjunct Professor at UNB
Activity-Based Models (ABMs) have traditionally been the domain of mega regions because they are resource-intensive to develop, require significant investments in data collection, software development, and operational costs. The challenge lies particularly in obtaining statistically robust household travel surveys, which must capture diverse behaviors, preferences, and communication arrangements across populations. Efforts to enhance the transferability of ABMs between regions have proven instrumental in addressing these challenges. By adapting foundational behavioral parameters from existing models, ABMs can be efficiently transferred, calibrated, and fine-tuned to reflect local conditions, significantly reducing development costs. This approach not only democratizes access to advanced travel forecasting tools but also provides critical insights into demographic behaviors and preferences, furthering the understanding and assessment of equitable planning.
The Joint REgional TranSportation Simulator (JESS) ABM, developed for the Joint Regional Transportation Agency and the City of Halifax was built on the above principles of transferability and adaptability. In doing so, it has proven that a new age in transportation analytics and data-driven decision-making in planning has arrived, regardless of the size of the urban area.
In a context where managing multiple spatial datasets in transportation is increasingly complex, the analysis of such data faces significant challenges. The redundancy of repetitive tasks and time-consuming manipulations make analysis processes lengthy and costly, impeding the efficiency of mobility and transportation studies.
My research aims to address these issues by developing an innovative tool capable of facilitating the fusion and integration of various geospatial datasets in transportation. This tool will enable the efficient handling of multi-source and multi-scale data, including points (households), lines (transport networks), and polygons (land evaluation zones), while automating repetitive and time-intensive tasks.
The proposed approach also allows for the calculation and visualization of buffers at different scales, the extraction of relevant metrics such as density, averages, or standard deviations, and the intuitive presentation of results. This automation aims to optimize analysis processes, reduce delays, and enhance the accuracy of results.
By simplifying these complex manipulations, this research will contribute to a better understanding of spatial dynamics while providing a powerful tool for researchers and decision-makers in transportation.
The notion of "residential footprint" consists in aggregating the environmental impacts of the dwelling and the environmental impacts of the mobility induced by the home location, over their entire life cycle. This presentation proposes a review of 61 scientific literature documents which aims to present the state-of-the-art in assessing the residential footprint, in a perspective of evaluating the sustainability of residences in the Montreal and Quebec City metropolitan areas. First, the methods to conduct an assessment of the environmental sustainability of residences, as well as data requirements, are outlined. Second, the results of the studies are analyzed and compared. The studies highlight the importance of simultaneously considering housing and daily mobility, both of which account for a significant share of the residential footprint, but also of assessing and differentiating between direct and indirect impacts. They also make it possible to identify the explanatory factors for the different levels of impact, which is essential for implementing equitable measures to reduce households' environmental footprint. Finally, the current gaps in the literature, such as data limitation, incomplete assessment of daily mobility and lack of simultaneous consideration of environmental and monetary impacts, are discussed to guide future work on households' residential footprint.
Networks have always been important in transportation. They have become ubiquitous today in all other sectors of the economy, including banking, pipelines, and grocery shopping. Their importance has further increased with the advent of the Internet-a "network of networks". In Canada the Competition Bureau launched a market study of competition in passenger air travel service and joined a joint new working group in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US to identify and prevent potentially anticompetitive conduct in the global supply and distribution of goods. And in the US, the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and the Department of Transportation jointly announced a broad public inquiry into the state of competition in air travel. This provides the motivation for this paper - networks in transportation.Part I reviews the definition of networks and whether these networks are widespread in Canadian Transportation and its importance. Part II reviews the use of mathematics in networks and the economic theory of networks in transportation. In Part III, whether networks in transportation create economies is briefly examined and their treatment under the competition law. Part V provides a few concluding remarks.
Executive Director, Research & Innovation, WSP Canada
Passionate about designing a built environment that creates wealth and improves quality of life for all.Civil Engineer and Economist with a Asset Management backgroundMentor in the IBET program (Indigenous Black Engineering Technology)Adjunct Professor at UNB
Activity-based travel demand models (ABM) often use econometric models or heuristic rules to study activity participation and duration, focusing on independent variable effects. However, joint effects and the influence of emerging trends like telecommuting and online activities remain underexplored. This study investigates how individual attributes influence activity participation and duration, relationships between activity engagement and duration, and interdependencies among activities. Using data from Metro Vancouver, the study examines these dynamics across four groups: commuters, telecommuters, non-workers, and hybrid workers, based on 24-hour activity logs from the British Columbia Activity Time Use Survey. Findings from the Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) revealed significant direct and causal relationships between in-home and out-of-home activity participation and their durations. Furthermore, in-home activities influence each other, as do out-of-home activities. For example, out-of-home recreational activities and in-home recreational durations directly influence in-home social activity participation, while in-home personal business durations have an indirect effect for commuters. The number of children in a household directly influences participation in pick-up/drop-off activities. Similar activity relationships are observed among telecommuters, non-workers, and hybrid workers. The developed model will be implemented within a 24-hour ABM framework, currently under development at UBC Okanagan.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Several studies have explored transportation mode imputation using GPS data, employing different algorithms. There also exist review papers evaluating the accuracy based on dataset, feature selection, and algorithm type. However, comprehensive comparisons of various categories of algorithms applied to a single dataset -while controlling for dataset differences- are rare. Another critical issue in mode imputation research is the limited evaluation of generalizability and transferability. Common practices, such as splitting data into training and testing sets, often fail to address these aspects effectively due to overlap in trips from the same individuals or geographical regions, undermining claims of generalizability. This study addresses these gaps using a large-scale GPS trip dataset with mode labels, obtained via a smartphone application. The study evaluates accuracy and generalizability of rule-based, statistical, and machine learning methods while accounting for data intensiveness, computational complexity, and implementation feasibility as factors of efficiency. Also, trips are categorized by regions to analyze the performance of models trained in one region and tested in another, offering novel insights into the robustness and transferability of these methods. This comprehensive analysis identifies the trade-offs needed to achieve accurate and efficient mode imputation, enhancing the practical applicability of these techniques in real-time mode detection.
This study assesses transportation-related emissions across Edmonton's land use zones using a bottom-up urban vehicular emission inventory, with the goal of exploring potential Low Emission Zones (LEZs). LEZs have been successfully implemented in cities worldwide, including London, Santa Monica, and Beijing, and are also in place in Toronto's North York area through restricted road actions. Given Edmonton's Climate Resilience Planning and Development Action Plan on low carbon transportation, LEZs represent a viable pathway for further exploration.
Edmonton's Zoning Bylaw Geographical Data includes heavy and medium-sized industrial areas adjacent to residential neighborhoods, which contributes to the formation of emission hotspots. Beside establishing the zone-based mobile source emissions, the study will evaluate impact of LEZ common policies, for both groups of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) and light-duty vehicles (LDVs), by calculating the spatial and temporal distributions of GHG and (Criteria Air Contaminants) CACs emissions which can help identifying the action zones. This model is coupled with a spatial visualization tool, to support understanding the impact of traffic restrictions on neighborhoods.
Transportation and warehousing industries were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses reopened and travel restrictions eased in 2021, supply chains were beset by a series of challenges, including a shortage of inputs from shuttered production and dwindling inventories as well as labour shortages and port congestion. Moreover, severe weather and geopolitical events served to intensify such challenges. Although initial impacts have subsided, other issues - productivity, labour disruptions and trade realignments - have emerged. The national Supply Chain Office (SCO) was established in 2023 to help stakeholders better respond to such disruptions.
Statistics Canada is collaborating with Transport Canada to develop supply chain data and metrics to support the SCO. This paper begins by reviewing post-pandemic supply chain disruptions and their economic manifestations. It then provides a recap of the work to date, and outlines planned data development. Next, it features two of the data products under development. The first is a composite Supply Chain Services Price Index to measure the distribution and delivery costs across the entire transportation and warehousing sector. The second is a pilot Survey of Marine Vessel Operators to gather critical financial and operational statistics on Canada's commercial marine industry.
Passenger demand models are used to understand the movement of people across the multimodal transportation systems, which usually includes a combination of the modes ranging between car, bus, train, ferry, etc., and often include other access modes such as walking, taxis, etc. Traditional models are often complex and require substantial amount of data for their development, validation, and calibration. Consequently, this complexity contributes to increased project costs and extended timelines.
This study presents a simplified approach towards modeling passenger flows across a regional transportation network, focused on ferry transport. The model considers travel times, intermodal transfer times, boarding and alighting times, and the corresponding fares associated with the movement of passengers. These costs and times are categorized by passenger type and are represented as a link- or node-based generalized cost. The generalized cost function build-up also accounts for bottlenecks, inefficiencies, congestion, boarding issues, and delays, etc.
The model has been developed in collaboration with BC Ferries to understand demand on the ferry network and to test shifts in demand with potential new ferry routes. Future applications include analyzing demographic shifts, modeling future capacity needs, and assessing the impact of mode shift policies, providing a robust framework for strategic transportation planning.
Smart card data in public transportation provides valuable information on passenger movements. While typically limited to entry transactions, it can be enhanced by algorithms to estimate alighting points and reconstruct origin-destination routes. This allows to calculate key performance indicators such as passenger-kilometers, occupancy rates and schedule adherence, which are essential for daily management and strategic planning of transport networks. In this context, destination estimation plays a critical role in obtaining a comprehensive view of passenger journeys. Over time, significant improvements have been made to destination estimation tools, particularly by incorporating criteria that use historical passenger transaction data, along with those based on stop sequences. These advancements have increased the number of destinations estimated. However, the probabilistic nature of some criteria, due to missing information for certain trips, can introduce biases into the results. To overcome these limitations, an enhanced destination estimation model is proposed. It combines traditional criteria with an optimized version of the "weighted random sampling" (WRS) criterion, leveraging both the transaction historical data and some external counting data. This approach aims to improve the accuracy and reliability of estimations, especially for complex trips. A detailed description of the WRS method will be presented in the submitted short paper.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
IUMs are large-scale models that simulate interactions between transportation, land use, and demographic systems. For example, the Simulator for Transportation, Energy, and Land Use for Regional Systems (STELARS) models demographic, vehicle ownership, and transportation dynamics. Making IUMs transferable across regions enhances computational efficiency and reduces recalibration costs. While transferability tests for individual components exist, full IUMs remain largely untested, emphasizing the need for comprehensive evaluation. Testing spatial transferability evaluates whether models developed for one region can predict outcomes in another, particularly in the presence of behavioral differences. For instance, data from the BC Activity Time Use Survey (BC ATUS) 2023 shows SUVs account for 37.22% of vehicle preferences in Vancouver compared to 24.22% in the Okanagan. This study evaluates the transferability of STELARS, developed for the Okanagan, to Vancouver by synthesizing Vancouver's population and generating components using BC Assessment dataset. Assuming similar behavior, initial transferability is assessed with metrics like Root Mean Square Error by comparing simulation results with Census and vehicle population from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. Ultimately, this study intends to determine whether large-scale integrated urban models are transferable across regions.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
In Canada, road freight transportation contributes 84% of GHG emissions within the freight transportation sector (De Bruycker, 2023). In cities, freight transport is also a significant source of noise emissions and road accidents. Cargo bikes have emerged as a promising alternative for urban deliveries, offering environmental benefits and cost-effective deliveries. Studies have shown that cargo bikes outperform vans in dense urban areas, excelling in delivery speed and reducing operational expenses (Nocerino et al., 2016; Conway et al., 2017; Sheth et al., 2019). However, research has predominantly focused on large cities, despite medium-sized cities exhibiting characteristics favorable to cargo bike use.
This study proposes a novel method to evaluate the feasibility of cargo bikes for freight deliveries in medium-sized cities. The approach leverages open data to analyze key factors such as land use, elevation, weather conditions, population density, and bike lane networks. To address diverse urban contexts, the analysis incorporates scenario-based modeling using dominant land-use patterns and land-use entropy. The findings support the strategic adoption of cargo bikes as realistic and efficient strategy for sustainable urban freight solutions in medium-sized cities.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
Through the process of privatization and commercialization, several entities were created in Canadian air transport which imposed user charges on air travel. COVID-19 highlighted a major flaw with this system: the difficulty of cost recovery with limited users. Subsequently, post-pandemic charges on air travel in Canada have increased upwards of thirty percent. With risks of future demand shocks, along with incentives to make more sustainable travel decisions the user-pay system risks reducing the contribution of air transport to Canada's socio-economic development and burdening air travellers through fewer travel options and higher prices. There have been several calls for reform to the Canadian air transport industry but with many entities in the aviation ecosystem, preferences and priorities for policy objectives differ greatly. To determine various stakeholder objectives of managing an air transportation ecosystem, a Value-Focused Thinking approach is used by interviewing experts and analyzing policy documents through a thematic and text-analysis. Though stakeholder preferences vary, findings suggest overarching objectives (ie. competition, viability and governance) overlap significantly. The elicitation of objectives through a robust research process provides a comprehensive framework that can assist air transport policy decision making, by working backwards from shared objectives that can yield agreed upon alternatives.
Job mobility is a critical factor in understanding long-term employment transitions and their interplay with transportation systems, residential choices, and urban planning. This study examines job mobility using data from the British Columbia Time Use Survey (BC ATUS), focusing on survey design, data accuracy, and the reliability of self-reported employment histories. The study evaluates the structure of job mobility-related survey questions and the challenges associated with recall bias and data consistency in longitudinal data collection. To analyze job mobility dynamics, this study employs a continuous hazard-based duration model, which explicitly accounts for individual and household life-cycle stages, including residential relocation, partner relocation, and retirement decisions. The model integrates socioeconomic and demographic attributes, such as age, marital status, education level, and homeownership, to examine their influence on job duration and transition likelihoods. The results indicate that job relocation is most frequent in the early years of employment and is significantly influenced by individual and household factors, particularly residential/partner relocation and retirement decisions.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Comprehensive 7-day data is crucial for capturing full spectrum of weekly and weekend travel behaviors which is often overlooked in single-day surveys. Direct methods like web-based surveys face challenges such as survey fatigue, biased responses, and data quality issues while collecting 7-day data. Passive data collection methods such as smartphone apps with GPS tracking offer an alternative, reducing respondent burden while providing detailed spatiotemporal data. However, GPS-based methods are not without limitations, including inaccuracies, app closures due to battery optimization, and missing data caused by user behavior or permission restrictions. The study uses a dataset from the British Columbia Activity Time-Use Survey (BC ATUS) which combines a 1-day web-based activity diary with a subset of 7-day smartphone app trip diary data. While the app data provides valuable insights, it is often incomplete, with missing trips and activity durations. To address this problem, this study employs a sequence of econometric and machine learning models to impute missing values by incorporating socio-demographic attributes, temporal patterns, and activity characteristics. This approach improves data completeness while addressing cost and quality concerns in 7-day smartphone data collection. By overcoming these challenges, our method supports more accurate travel behavior modeling and informed transportation policy decisions.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
As urban areas strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, bike-sharing systems emerge as a promising solution to decrease private vehicle reliance. This study presents a robust methodology to quantify the emission reduction potential of bike-sharing systems in Vancouver, focusing on three core steps: trip purpose classification, mode substitution simulation, and emission factor estimation. Trip purposes were classified using k-means clustering, distinguishing between commuting and leisure trips. Mode substitution was then simulated using a graph neural network trained on trip diary data, allowing for accurate predictions of traditional modes replaced by bike-sharing, such as cars, transit, and walking. Finally, emission reductions were quantified using MOVES, a comprehensive emission inventory model, accounting for road types, fleet composition, and temporal variations.
The mode substitution analysis revealed that bike-sharing systems predominantly replace car trips, with 54% of trips previously made by car, while 14% were from transit and 32% were walking trips. The results indicate significant environmental benefits, with each bike saving approximately 119 kg of CO2, 1.26 kg of CO, 0.08 kg of NOx, and 1.24 g of PM2.5 annually. These findings highlight the effectiveness of bike-sharing systems in reducing urban transportation emissions and emphasize their role as a cost-effective decarbonization strategy.
This study surveyed the port infrastructure needs of the 17 Canada Port Authorities (CPAs) over the next 15 years (until 2040). CPCS collected data and engaged with CPAs to assess their most pressing infrastructure needs, and the key themes which are likely to drive infrastructure investment over the long-term. Our analysis quantifies the magnitude of investment needed for capital projects, highlights funding gaps, and identifies the key challenges faced in regard to funding port infrastructure in Canada. Furthermore, we have reviewed how port infrastructure investment is approached in other jurisdictions (the United States, Australia and the Netherlands)._x000D_ Overall, our study expresses a clear need for port infrastructure investment and addressing the challenges faced by CPAs to ensure Canada improves its supply chain competitiveness. Canadian ports face strong competition and risk losing trade to US ports which also serve major trade gateways to the North American market. Canada also competes for investment capital globally and must demonstrate an appealing business case for attracting capital.
Effective pedestrian facilities are essential for promoting walking and supporting urban mobility objectives for municipalities. Conventional pedestrian level-of-service (PLOS) assessments rely on density as an indicator but fail to account for movement restriction, such as “shoulder brushing” or “bumping others.” This study introduces an innovative approach to real-time PLOS estimation that captures density and accounts for restricted movement. The system development consists of three phases: Detection, PLOS Modeling, and Application. Initially, a virtual camera within a game engine (Unity) replicates a real-world detection system to capture the trajectory of pedestrians on a second-by-second basis. Next, a traffic micro-simulation (Vissim) models pedestrian movement, deriving mathematical indicators to quantify density and restricted movement. These indicators are computed in real-time, offering enhanced PLOS measurement. Finally, the model is tested through a case study with countermeasures proposed to improve PLOS. The pilot study conducted on York Lane at York University, Toronto, Ontario, evaluates one base scenario and five alternatives. Under similar conditions, removing static obstacles improved restricted movement by 10%, while eliminating dynamic obstacles yielded a 15% improvement in comparison to the base scenario. The real-time virtual PLOS estimation system offers urban planners an effective tool to minimize restricted movement and enhance pedestrian infrastructure.
Accurate traffic data imputation is essential for transportation systems, particularly during social events that disrupt traffic patterns. This study introduces the Event-Aware Missing Data Imputation Network (EMDIN), a novel model designed to predict the impact of different types and sizes of social events by leveraging event-specific features, such as type, location, attendance, timings, and parking availability. EMDIN integrates advanced spatiotemporal learning techniques, including graph convolutional networks and long short-term memory (LSTM) layers, enhanced by a two-stage imputation decoder. The model features a dynamic forgetting mechanism in the LSTM layers that prioritizes recent traffic patterns as events approach, while the two-stage decoder further refines missing value predictions using attention-weighted spatiotemporal features. Applied to a one-year probe vehicle and social event dataset from Hamilton, ON, Canada, EMDIN achieved a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 6.5-7.5% and a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 6.0-6.5 km/h during events, significantly outperforming benchmark methods. This study underscores the importance of incorporating social event features to improve imputation accuracy and provides a robust framework for addressing dynamic urban traffic challenges caused by events.
Ali Ardestani is a doctoral candidate in the Civil Engineering department at McMaster University, specializing in Transportation Engineering. He obtained his master’s degree in civil engineering from TMU, Iran with a focus on artificial intelligence application in transportation... Read More →
This study aims to map on-road transportation emissions in various communities within the City of Surrey, British Columbia, using GIS and geospatial analysis techniques. Transportation is a significant contributor to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, making it crucial to analyze its spatial distribution to inform sustainable urban planning. The methodology employs methods to process and visualize emission data from multiple sources, including vehicle types, fuel usage, and road network characteristics. By integrating geospatial datasets, we associate transportation emissions with specific community boundaries, providing a detailed spatial representation of pollutant emissions and identify emission hotspots. Results highlight spatial disparities in emissions, with high-density traffic areas showing elevated levels of pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). These findings offer insights into community exposure to transportation-related air pollution, which is crucial for targeted mitigation strategies and mobilizing equity.
After presenting the significance of GHG emissions from locomotives as a proportion of total railway emissions, the paper will survey current developments by the North American railways to reduce and eventually eliminate GHG emissions from their freight locomotives. This involves three broad strategies - further fuel efficiency, the use of bio fuels and advanced technology for new locomotives - and how they might be adopted in light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty rail service.
sole proprietor, Malcom Cairns Research and Consulting
Educated in England and Canada, Malcolm earned a PhD at the University of Toronto in mathematical statistics in 1975. He worked for nearly twenty years with the federal government in a variety of positions and departments, including Statistics Canada, the Canadian Transport Commission... Read More →
This study examines the factors influencing work duration, shopping, and recreation time, along with their variability, with a particular focus on demographic characteristics, employment status, household composition, and the built environment. The study utilizes data from the 2022 Halifax Travel Activity Survey, which collected detailed 24-hour activity logs from the respondents. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models were developed using the survey data to analyze the relationships between various independent variables and activity durations. The results reveal that individuals aged 25-65 generally work longer hours, while part-time workers and students report significantly fewer hours. Retired individuals exhibit greater variability in work duration, suggesting more flexible schedules, while students and part-time workers show less variability due to fixed routines. In terms of shopping and recreation, retirees and the unemployed spend more time on leisure activities, while students and households with children spend less time. License ownership and proximity to mixed land-use areas are significant factors influencing the duration and variability of activities. The findings underscore the importance of considering both intrapersonal and interpersonal variability when modeling travel behavior and emphasize the need for models that account for increased flexibility in work and leisure activities post-COVID.
Evidence exists that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel behaviour was relatively stable, once one accounts for "conditioning factors" such as urban growth, labour force changes, etc. Expectations are that the pandemic disrupted this stable behaviour, creating a "new normal" going forward. This paper presents an investigation of this hypothesis by comparing travel behaviour as captured in two large-sample household travel surveys conducted in the GGH: the 2016 and 2022/23 Transportation Tomorrow Surveys (TTS). 2016 was the last pre-pandemic TTS. Approximately 70% of the post-pandemic survey was gathered in fall, 2022, while 30% was gathered in spring, 2023. While travel behaviour may not have fully stabilized, the 2022/23 TTS should provide clear indications of the general nature of regional post-pandemic travel behaviour. The analysis compares a range of metrics: out-of-home activity generation by purpose; activity start times and durations; trip mode choices; tour characteristics. Hypotheses tested include whether changes have occurred in: work-from-home (WfH) rates, transit and active (walk/bike) mode shares, off-peak travel patterns and household distributions in the region.
Hydrogen is emerging as a vital component in the transition scenarios of many hard-to-decarbonize sectors. For the aviation industry, the success of this decarbonization pathway hinges on the development of essential supporting infrastructure and a dependable hydrogen supply. The versatility of hydrogen production may hold the key to achieving the latter. Yet the case for a diversified and strategic procurement of hydrogen at airports is often overlooked in the literature. We present a model optimizing the design and operation of a hydrogen-based microgrid at airports. This microgrid will provide energy for aircraft, ground support equipment, vehicle refueling (including hydrogen for heavy-duty vehicles and electricity for light-duty vehicles), and heating systems for airport buildings. In this paper, we apply this model to the Toronto Pearson International Airport, exploring various hydrogen supply scenarios. In doing so, we assess the impact of different policy decisions and economic factors on the system's overall cost and carbon emissions.
For nearly 15 years, the Mobility Chair at Polytechnique Montréal has been conducting a robust research and development program, supported by numerous research partners, aimed at equipping decision-making in transportation and mobility. This presentation will offer an overview of the various open tools developed (and under development) to support informed decision-making in the field._x000D_ These tools, powered by the Transition platform (www.transition.city), encapsulate years of methodological advancements and are designed to democratize access to cutting-edge methods and functionalities. By making these tools widely accessible, the Chair contributes to fostering data-driven and evidence-based decisions that address current and future challenges in transportation planning._x000D_ Key tools to be showcased include Transition, a transportation network simulation tool; Évolution, a web-based survey platform; and a decision-support platform for location choice analysis. Each tool is tailored to specific needs and audiences, providing practical solutions to complex transportation issues._x000D_ This presentation highlights the Chair's commitment to bridging the gap between research and practice, empowering policymakers, planners, and researchers with state-of-the-art resources to improve transportation systems and mobility for communities worldwide.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
Working from home (WFH) has significantly impacted telecommuters' activity-travel behavior and urban transportation systems, with potential to reduce traffic congestion, peak-hour pressure, and emissions. Early studies in the 1990s, when WFH began emerging as a regular work setting, identified it as a sustainable strategy to alleviate congestion and emissions. However, as WFH became more common, later research suggested its benefits might diminish due to more dispersed home locations and increased non-work travel, both enabled by telecommuting flexibility. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted WFH from a choice to an obligation, profoundly altering its impacts on activity-travel patterns. While numerous studies examined WFH during the pandemic, research on the effects of the post-pandemic hybrid work environment remains limited. This study uses a week-long activity-travel survey to explore how the hybrid work model affects trip-making behavior. Preliminary findings reveal that the post-pandemic hybrid work environment influences activity-travel patterns differently than the conventional pre-pandemic WFH. Notably, regular hybrid workers, splitting work evenly between home and office, show higher trip rates than occasional telecommuters, who primarily work from home. However, in general, higher rates of WFH throughout the week are associated with fewer trips and reduced travel distances as expected.
Aviation demand in Canada continues growing, both passengers and freight, compromising Paris Agreement commitments, as well as 2050 Net Zero targets. For illustration, combined emissions from two transport sectors, civil aviation and freight trucking, are set to surpass those from electricity grids by early 2025, with both continuing to increase. The most important option identified by the aviation industry is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Technically a virtually identical "drop-in," SAF is manufactured using renewable inputs, including, prominently, oilseeds, like Canola.
Moving forward on SAF in Canada remains tricky. SAF will certainly cost somewhat more than conventional, but air carriers are constrained by bottom lines, and cannot afford excessive costs. Oilseed-based SAF is the most technically advanced and economically viable option for them, yet international standards, unfortunately, end up deferring away from and restricting such product. Potential domestic SAF producers face financing concerns and threats from excessive U.S. subsidies. They need certainty and supports. Canada's oilseed producers are caught in the midst of trade disputes, facing severe impacts. Canada overall risks losing this new industry altogether, associated value-add and jobs. This paper explores the urgency and challenges associated with SAF, as well as potential solutions to meet key stakeholder needs.
Accessibility - the ease of reaching destinations - is a promising tool for integrated land use and transport planning. Increasingly, various accessibility indicators are proposed in research and they are also gaining traction among practitioners. Yet, their implementation in planning and decision-making remains limited. This observed gap raises two questions: (i) To what extent and how are accessibility goals addressed in land use and transport plans? and (ii) How is the integration of accessibility goals associated with a higher adoption of accessibility indicators by practitioners?
This study aims to evaluate the extent to which accessibility is integrated in land use and transport plans, with the city of Montreal as a case study. First, we examine the transport plans from the regional transport planning authority and from the main public transport agency. Next, transport and land use plans from three levels of governance (regional, municipal, and local (e.g., boroughs)) are analyzed. This approach enables a comprehensive analysis across governance levels and across sectors (e.g., land use, mobility and public transport planning).
While focused on Montreal, this study contributes to the growing body of literature on the barriers and opportunities for a greater integration of accessibility in land use and transport policies.
By 2019, car sharing had become an important element of the urban transportation mobility ecosystem that enabled households to reduce their vehicle ownership levels. Car sharing companies had been well established in major cities for years, even decades, and by the late 2010s, car sharing had expanded to the suburbs. The COVID-19 pandemic brought an abrupt end to this expansion, and car sharing companies shrunk their sphere of operations, with several going out of business completely.
This study draws on three surveys of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) carried out in 2018, 2021 and 2023, representing near peak pre-pandemic, pandemic and post-pandemic conditions for car-sharing. Car-sharing fared quite differently in different parts of the region, with almost no drop in car share membership in Hamilton between 2018 and 2021, a modest decline in Toronto and a significant decrease in Peel and York. In addition to car-sharing, the surveys asked about teleworking and auto ownership, and we have estimated a joint model of car-sharing, telework and auto ownership, both a pooled model and one for each survey year, in order to tease out the different role car-sharing membership (and telework) played in reducing car ownership in each period.
Environmental protection initiatives in the air travel sector encourage passengers to consider their personal emissions footprint in selecting travel itineraries. These initiatives mainly rely on average emission factors (AEFs) whereby air passengers are anticipated to choose itineraries with lower AEFs. However, these AEFs cannot represent the marginal impact of changing demand on emissions, and thus, misinform travelers and policy makers. In order to capture this marginal impact, we estimate marginal emission factors (MEFs) on domestic U.S. routes that originate from different airports within driving distance and arrive at common final destinations. We do so by applying a Breguet Range Equation-based emissions model on publicly available air operations data for the selected routes. Compared to routes originating from large hubs, MEFs on routes originating from small and medium hubs are 63%-105% and 36%-65% higher, respectively. However, AEFs on routes starting from small and medium hubs are only 27%-50% and 18%-40% higher, respectively, compared to those starting from large hubs. These findings indicate that AEFs significantly underestimate the emissions savings of choosing itineraries that originate from large hubs over those that originate from smaller airports. Therefore, it is critical to incorporate MEFs in environmental initiatives in the air travel sector.
This study investigates factors influencing the ownership of various mobility tools, including driver licenses, motor vehicles, bicycles, scooters, shared micro-mobility (SMM) subscriptions, and transit passes. Understanding mobility tool ownership is critical for enhancing urban transportation accessibility and efficiency. A multivariate probit (MVP) model is employed to analyze socio-demographic, trip characteristics, built-environment, and attitudinal factors using data from a 2022 transportation survey in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The MVP model accounts for correlated error components across choice dimensions, enabling robust joint estimation. Key findings indicate that single-person households and younger generations (millennials and Gen Z) prefer bicycles and SMM services, favoring low-emission, affordable, and flexible options. Larger households and high-income individuals prioritize car ownership for convenience. Residents of attached housing rely more on transit passes, reflecting public transportation dependence. Shorter trips correlate with higher SMM subscriptions and lower car ownership, while longer trips align with increased vehicle and transit pass ownership. Built-environment factors, such as mixed land use and high bike-ability, encourage bicycle and transit use. Attitudes also matter; pro-car views increase car ownership, while sustainability-oriented attitudes promote bicycles and transit reliance. These insights inform strategies for more inclusive, efficient transportation systems.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the travel patterns within cities around the world and its long-lasting effects are still being studied. There has been research on some of COVID-19's long-term impacts on urban transportation systems, from public transportation ridership to commuting patterns, but the pandemic's long-term impact on on-street parking has not been investigated. This paper examines this through analyzing the spatial and temporal trends for parking in 938 paid on-street locations in Toronto. Two sets of parking transaction data were used for the analysis, one from May 2019 to July 2019 and another from May 2022 to June 2022. The results show that parking demand decreased by approximately 20 percent while parking duration increased by approximately 10 percent in the post-pandemic period. Furthermore, the daily patterns in parking demand and duration for weekdays and Saturdays are similar between the 2019 and 2022 scenarios. Finally, the spatial distribution of on-street parking duration within Toronto is similar between the pre- and post-pandemic scenarios. These findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly impacted on-street parking behaviour within Toronto in the long-term.
Climate change is a global challenge that will impact all aspects of society and the economy, including the transportation sector. In recent years, governments around the world have enacted legislation and regulations to address and mitigate the impacts climate change, with many more likely to do so in the coming decade. These government actions and changes in travel behaviour are expected to impact the demand for air travel in the future. This paper will examine some of the key risks and uncertainties facing aviation demand forecasting arising climate change adaptation policies, regulations, and their impacts on travel intentions and demand. The research will consider methods to incorporate climate change factors into existing forecasting techniques and highlight how climate change effects are could impact demand forecasts.
This study presents vehicle ownership (VO) simulation within the "STELARS' (Simulator for Transportation, Energy, LAnd use for Regional System) framework. VO is simulated as an event-based decision process adopting hybrid continuous-discrete time simulation techniques. In STELARS, each household agent subscribes to a list of events (e.g., child-birth) that makes them active to adjust their fleet. Being active, agents make two inter-connected decisions- vehicle transaction and type choices. In the vehicle transaction stage, for households never owning a vehicle, the first vehicle purchase timing decision is simulated. For households with vehicles, their decision to add, dispose, or replace a vehicle is simulated. In the vehicle type choice stage, agents' decision to choose vehicles by body, vintage, fuel, and technology type is simulated. Vehicle transaction is simulated as a continuous time decision using a hazard-based model. Once the timing of the transaction is determined, the vehicle type choice simulation transitions into a discrete time-step. This paper reports the micro-simulation of VO and multi-year validation for the greater Okanagan region in Canada for 2011-2021. Overall, the implementation of VOSim will assist in targeting the population groups and neighborhoods to develop equitable plans and policies to promote sustainable vehicle ownership.
PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia Okanagan
Md Shahadat Hossain is doing Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at University of British Columbia, Okanagan under the supervision of Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi. His research lies in developing statistical models to understand households’ vehicle ownership decisions and implementing those within... Read More →
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
While most studies have descriptively analyzed the effects of COVID-19 on travel behavior, a deeper behavioral analysis using econometric modeling is necessary to identify the factors influencing these changes. This research examines how perceptions of COVID-19 and health concerns shape travel behaviors and explores the attitudinal variables that explain the use of different transportation modes. Additionally, it investigates the role of these attitudinal variables as antecedents of teleworking and online shopping intentions. This study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, it develops econometric micro-behavioral models to examine anticipated post-COVID travel behaviors. Second, it identifies behavioral differences across individuals based on their characteristics. Third, it incorporates attitudinal variables related to virtual activities into the modeling framework to assess their impact on mobility behaviors. Our approach categorizes individuals based on their anticipated post-pandemic mode usage and models the determinants influencing these categories. Using data from our COVID Survey 2022, including new attitudinal variables, we employ a Hybrid Choice Model to explore travel mode preferences. By uncovering key drivers of travel behavior, this research aims to inform policymakers in creating effective long-term strategies to address evolving mobility needs in response to significant events that can fundamentally alter travel behavior trends.
This paper reports on a novel experiment to study air passenger willingness to pay for carbon offsets. In the experiment participants make an incentivized decision to purchase one of three trips involving air travel with real cash consequences, based on real flights and prices. A control group, with opt-in carbon offsets, is compared to three treatment groups: (1) mandatory carbon offsets, (2) opt-out carbon offsets and (3) opt-out carbon offsets under saliency conditions (pre-purchase information provision). The results suggest minimal competitive effects of a carbon offset while providing support for a significant default bias effect when comparing opt-in versus opt-out schemes. Information provision increases willingness to pay for offsets, but the effect is small and insignificant.
Integrated Urban Models (IUMs) are advanced simulations that encompass long-term (e.g., demographic shifts and residential patterns), medium-term (e.g., vehicle ownership trends), and short-term (e.g., travel behavior) decision-making processes within a regional population. A key challenge in developing these models is achieving computational efficiency, particularly as large regional areas. Traditional simulation using nested for-loops often struggle with scalability, and while parallel computing offers relief, it requires substantial computational resources. This paper explores "vectorization' as an alternative to iterative operations, aiming to improve efficiency through "batch processing'. We applied vectorization to the demographic dynamics (DYx) module of "STELARS', an IUM under development at The University of British Columbia. The results indicate that the vectorized computations reduced processing times by from 3 to 1,000 times, where high gains are observed in in complex models like marriage and mortality simulations. For a study area of ~200,000 individuals in 85,000 households, the vectorized DYx module completed a 10-year simulation in 90 seconds on a standard workstation, compared to 50 minutes using for-loop operation, i.e., a 33-fold improvement. This study highlights the potential of vectorization to transform IUM computational performance, particularly for large-scale simulations.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
Kim Baird is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for Tsawwassen First Nation and a former Chief who played a pivotal role as Chief Negotiator in securing the Tsawwassen Treaty, which came into force in 2009. This groundbreaking agreement is one of Canada’s first urban modern treaties and has become a model for reshaping relationships between Indigenous nations and the Crown. As a leader who has guided the transition from negotiation to the implementation of the Tsawwassen Treaty, Kim has over a decade of post-treaty experience, providing her with unique insights into the complexities of treaty implementation, federal engagement, and governance.
Beyond her role at Tsawwassen First Nation, Kim advises Indigenous communities, governments, businesses, and other organizations on Indigenous matters through her company, Kim Baird Strategic Consulting. She is committed to improving the quality of life for Indigenous people, offering expertise in First Nation policy, governance, economic development, and consultation. In BC, where First Nations are recognized as rights holders, not stakeholders, Kim underscores that building strong, respectful relationships with Indigenous communities is essential for any business or government operation. This is especially crucial in the context of reconciliation and engagement in a province where Indigenous rights are constitutionally protected.
Kim is the Chancellor of Kwantlen Polytechnic University and serves on several boards, including the Canada Infrastructure Bank and FPX Nickel. Recognized for her negotiation, communication, and facilitation skills, she is a sought-after public speaker. Kim’s leadership and contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including membership in both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, an Indspire Laureate award, and the Institute of Corporate Directors designation.
InvestOttawa Area X.O is a R&D complex that helps accelerate time-to-market and commercial adoption of next-gen technology. Their facility has unique autonomous drone vehicle testing capabilities with 4G/LTE, LoRaWan, authentic pre-commercial 5G, multiple GPS & satellite systems, and a plethora of plug-and-play sensors.
NRC Centre for Air Travel Research, at Uplands near the Ottawa Airport, is the only facility in the world designed to study the full experience of travelling by air! The facility includes all the features found in modern air travel to simulate the process of checking-in, boarding and flying in an airplane.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) labs near the Ottawa Airport play a key role in investigating marine, pipeline, railway, and aviation accidents. The TSB determines if mechanical, electrical, material, structural or other deficiencies contributed to accidents by analyzing information from data recorders ("black boxes"), electronic equipment as well as field photographs and site surveys; this helps to piece together the sequence of events leading to an accident. Visitors can view items related to investigations such as equipment to examine materials, electronic systems, and the flight recorder analysis area.
This interactive session, led by the energetic Executive Director of Tech-Access Canada, and France Vaillancourt and Marius Ivan of NSERC, will help researchers understand how to make more impact (e.g., commercialise) with their research, AND to help organisations that could benefit from research, understand how to do so.
The workshop aims to help academics better understand how to commercialise / gain adoption of their research, and that also helps organisations understand how (and why) to work with researchers. It would cover topics such as how to identify and investigate pain points in the market, successful and unsuccessful examples of "journeys" of research through to commercialisation, and programs available to support researchers and "receptors".
The background to this workshop is that the CTRF was created to be a place of discussion and debate for transportation researchers and policymakers. Now we are aiming to bring researchers and industry problems closer together. We are doing this through research committees and other activities, such as this workshop.
Tuesday May 27, 2025 2:30pm - 5:30pm EDT Desmarais 114055 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5
This panel will explore the definition of "productive" people mobility as well as what are the emerging trends in personal mobility: Again, will technology present new opportunities and what challenges will arise in the future? And what new enabling policies, regulations and mindsets will we need to maximize the productive movement of passengers?
Panelists will include representatives from Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, OC Transport, the City of Ottawa, Motor Coach Canada, and the Centre for Living Standards.
City Councillor & Chair, Planning & Housing Committee, City of Ottawa
Jeff Leiper, first elected in 2014, is the City Councillor for Kitchissippi Ward. In this term of Council, he serves as Chair of the Planning and Housing Committee and is a member of Built Heritage Committee, Transit Committee, and Finance and Corporate Services Committee.Jeff studied... Read More →
President, Motor Coach Canada, Ontario Motor Coach Association
Vince's career has been spent working with like-minded professionals who are passionate about building a competitive and vibrant tourism and transportation sector in Canada. He is an accomplished tourism and transportation industry professional with comprehensive experience in association... Read More →
Executive Director, Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Andrew Sharpe is founder and Executive Director of the Ottawa-based Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS). Established in 1995, CSLS is a national, independent, non-profit research organization whose main objective is to study trends and determinants of productivity, living... Read More →
Wednesday May 28, 2025 8:15am - 10:00am EDT Desmarais 116055 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5
Understanding the route choice behavior of truck drivers in urban transportation delivery networks is essential for enhancing freight mobility and optimizing route planning strategies. This study introduces a data-driven method that integrates route choice set generation with discrete choice modeling (DCM) to identify the key factors influencing truck drivers' route selection. Based on the truck GPS trajectory data in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, route choice sets are generated using Monte Carlo Labeling (MCL) and Accelerated Monte Carlo (AMC) methods. By using the generated choice sets as inputs and considering the influencing factors of road grade, route distance, number of turns, and route size, a Path Size Logit (PSL) model is established to estimate the impacts of different factors. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of truck route choice behavior and offer practical insights for the development of smart route recommendation systems for logistics operators.
As personal mobility devices (PMDs) gain popularity, their coexistence with other path-users in off-street shared spaces is becoming a concern. Past studies show that path-users perceive lower comfort towards motorized types of PMDs. However, the underlying factors affecting the perceived comfort of sharing the path with PMDs require further investigation.
The objective of this study is to identify the primary considerations of non-automobile travelers when sharing a path with PMDs. We analyzed 1232 open-ended comments from a survey conducted on non-automobile paths in Vancouver, Canada, in which travelers rated their comfort sharing the path with different types of PMDs. Structural topic modeling was used to identify topics spontaneously discussed by participants when explaining their comfort ratings and investigate the underlying factors affecting the topic prevalence.
Results show that the primary overall considerations affecting comfort when sharing paths are facility design (e.g., pathway width), PMD characteristics (e.g., motorization and speed), and rider behavior (e.g., rule compliance). The topic most distinctly associated with motorized devices is "Safety risks associated with PMD design and speed attributes". Efforts to integrate PMDs into urban transportation systems without degrading the non-motorized travel experience should focus on riders' cautious behavior, riding skills, and compliance.
Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Alex Bigazzi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on non-motorized and lightly-motorized travel – in particular, the intersection of physics, physiology, and behaviour for active travellers... Read More →
On-street parking can have considerable impacts on traffic congestion and road safety within cities. In order to manage on-street parking, an in-depth understanding of on-street parking behaviour is required. This paper examines how land-use impacts two critical components of on-street parking: parking location occupancy and parking duration. This paper uses parking transaction data from paid on-street parking locations throughout Toronto to examine the influence of the following five land-uses: low-density residential, high-density residential, hospitals, offices, and universities. The results show that for on-street parking occupancies, locations adjacent to universities generally have the highest occupancies while locations adjacent to hospitals have the lowest occupancies. Contrary to the differences observed in parking location occupancy, parking duration is similar for all the land-uses during weekdays and Saturdays. Further examination of each land-use's impact is discussed within the paper. In addition, it is observed that on-street parking occupancies are significantly lower during weekdays versus weekends but parking duration is similar throughout the week. The results show the importance of location and time dependent parking pricing.
Advances in battery and charging technology have made heavy-duty battery-electric vehicles (HDBEVs) a viable pathway for decarbonizing heavy-duty vehicles (HDV). Predicting electrical charging profiles for HDBEV fleets is critical to supporting Canadian energy system reliability. This study leverages high-resolution telematics from the American Transportation Research Institute for Ontario HDVs in 2019 to produce annual HDBEV fleet charging profiles under various technology and operator charging scenarios. _x000D_ _x000D_ The project has two phases: data processing and charging demand modelling. First, converting real-world HDV travel data into schedules, identifying driving and charging periods and summarizing travel statistics. Second, estimating the charging demand for randomly sampled HDBEV fleets using government-reported HDBEV battery sizes, charging rates, and selected charging strategy. Strategies include immediate charging (start charging once stationary), delayed charging (fully charge just before next departure), or minimum-power (charge at lowest constant power)._x000D_ _x000D_ Preliminary findings using August 8-14 data generated 1960 HDV schedules and highlighted the impact of charging strategy. Immediate charging increases afternoon peak electrical demand by over 30% compared to delayed and minimum-power charging, while minimum-power charging minimizes daily electrical demand variation. These results offer energy system decision makers valuable insights into HDBEV load profiles and power demand variations across operator charging behaviours.
Promoting viable alternatives to motorized trips is crucial in moving away from car dependency and reducing the number of vehicle-kilometers travelled. Among these alternatives, cycling has proven to be an effective mode of transport to replace motorized vehicles for certain trip types, provided that adequate bicycle infrastructure is in place to support this modal shift._x000D_ _x000D_ However, many bicycle networks are either too sparse or poorly connected, resulting in unsafe or inefficient routes that deter potential users. Budgetary constraints also limit the amount of new infrastructure that can be built to improve existing networks._x000D_ _x000D_ This study addresses these challenges by proposing an algorithmic approach to cycling investments prioritization, aiming to maximize network productivity. The methodology focuses on identifying currently infeasible trips on a given network due to safety concerns or excessive detours. The network is then strategically expanded such that it minimizes these downsides and enhances overall connectivity and usability. Montreal's bicycle network is used as a case study, leveraging publicly available network data and trip data from the region's origin-destination survey. By systematically optimizing infrastructure investments, this research offers a practical framework for improving bicycle networks that can be used by city planners to support a modal shift towards cycling.
This paper aims to define a methodology to infer off-street parking at the scale of a municipality in the province of Quebec. Firstly, a database structure is proposed which allows the storage of estimates coming from multiple inference methods for a given lot, at multiple points in time_x000D_ A first estimation method using the parking requirements laid out in municipal zoning codes is proposed. A database structure is put forward to represent the variety of parking requirement formulations (based on square footage, seating capacity, etc.) present in zoning codes. Then an inference method using Quebec's municipal tax assessment database is tested. The results are discussed within the context of Quebec City._x000D_ Additionally, a web interface is presented allowing practitioners to complete the calculations, visualize the results and to override the proposed estimate manually or through other automatic estimation methods._x000D_ Finally, an Application Programming Interface (API) is proposed to access the results as part of other travel behaviour studies. The proposed API would allow the extraction of parking capacity within a geopolitical boundary or within a given isochrone of a point of interest.
Poor hazard anticipation skills play a main role in truck collisions, and Canadian truck drivers have identified a need for more exposure to hazardous scenarios as part of their mandatory entry level training. The aim of this study is to develop an evidence-based truck driver VRU hazard anticipation training module and to test its effectiveness on novice truck driver hazard anticipation skills in a simulated environment._x000D_ A video-based training was developed and truck driver trainees and novices (less than 5 years of truck driving experience) were recruited through invitations to several Ontario truck driving schools. A quarter cab truck simulator and a head-mounted eye tracker were used. The experiment consisted of 4 simulator drives including 8 hazardous scenarios, half of which were completed by participants before taking the hazard anticipation training (or "placebo" training for the control group) and half were completed after training. 26 novice truck drivers' glance and driving behaviour was recorded throughout the drives. Results are expected to highlight drivers' improved scanning of the environment, earlier detection and reaction to hazards, and overall improved safety after training for the experimental group, compared to the experimental group's performance before training and to the performance of the control group.
Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) systems are expected to operate in high-tempo, high-density urban environments. AAM airframes, made of primarily composite materials, are susceptible to impact damage. In addition to hail, dropped tools, and bird strike, AAMs are also subject to other sharp and blunt impact sources in busy urban environments, such as drones, ground vehicles, golf balls, and other objects which previously were not considered as threats to conventional commercial aircraft. It is well-known that impact damage in composites materials may not be readily detectable due to viscoelastic behaviour. This work provides a preliminary examination of impact damage scenarios with a focus on damage threat types from the perspective of damage severity and damage detectability. The study features a combined experimental and numerical investigation of impact damage from a range of impactors, from sharp to blunt, and the post-damage load-carrying capabilities of composite laminates. High-fidelity impact modelling and compressive residual strength modelling provided a physics-based understanding of damage evolution and residual strength performance with excellent experimental agreement.
Trucks' illegal parking results from parking shortage and policies that do not consider the parking requirements of trucks. Understanding trucks' parking behaviour is needed for the design of adequate infrastructure and the development of effective policies. For truck parking, data is limited, incomplete, and of variable quality. This results in decision models with unreliable predictability and transferability, yet these models are needed to inform policy questions. In this study, we synthesize the attributes of truck activity and parking, including attributes of the tour, parking location, industry sector, and commodity type for the purpose of developing a parking location choice model. This is done through the fusion of four data sources to construct a record of observed parking behaviours of trucks, mainly location choices and corresponding attributes. GPS data are used to construct truck trip diaries across the City of Toronto, including stop location, duration, frequency, and trip time of day and length. Business establishment data are used to infer the industry sectors associated with each tour. Data from the Ontario Commercial Vehicle Survey are used to predict the commodity types associated with each tour. Lastly, parking characteristics are inferred from spatial data representing the features of parking infrastructure.
This paper introduces a novel framework for optimizing delivery systems incorporating remotely piloted aircraft (RPAS), integrating advanced task allocation and routing loops to address key operational challenges in urban logistics. Inspired by studies on RPAS integration with public transportation networks for dynamic resource optimization, this work builds on a dual-loop structure: one dedicated to the spatiotemporal allocation of delivery tasks and the other to identifying optimal routes under complex urban conditions. Using public transit systems extends RPAS range, reduces energy consumption, and minimizes operational costs by utilizing existing infrastructure. The framework incorporates two independent optimization approaches, Monte Carlo simulations are employed to account for transit time variability, providing robust data for a multi-objective genetic algorithm that optimizes cost, time, and reliability, the cost model considers diverse components, including operational expenses, infrastructural investments for RPAS charging stations, and the potential economic impact on public transportation revenue. By comparing the results of the two approaches, the study evaluates their relative effectiveness in achieving significant delivery cost reductions and improving logistical performance. These findings underscore the potential of the dual-loop design to support practical decision-making in large-scale delivery network design.
A scoring index is developed to analyze the attractiveness of bike routes in urban areas for last-mile logistics using electric cargo cycles (ECCs). Existing bikeability scores tend to focus on infrastructure and operations-based attributes of a route. Comfort and safety attributes become more critical for ECCs due to the increased weight of a conventional bicycle when transporting goods. This report develops the ECC scoring index using a survey with participants riding on four routes within the York University Keele Campus. A literature review is conducted to identify twelve variables for the score. Data is collected using devices such as a GPS-connected smartphone, a Gyroscope, and a GoPro camera. Participants are asked to rate specified variables on infrastructure, safety and behaviour. The analytical hierarchy process is used to compute the weights for each factor using pairwise comparisons. It was found that cyclists prioritized collision risk, cyclist visibility and pavement condition the most when choosing a cycling route. Variables with the highest weights out of 100% include collision risk (24.3%-25.5%), visibility (11.1%-13.0%) and pavement condition (9.9%-12.4%). A simplified scoring index is derived using variables that could easily be applied to other routes to test its transferability.
Talk to me about public transit, rail transit, active transportation, transportation planning and freight transportationI would also like to learn about Marine Transportation and High-Speed Rail more.
Enhancing shared mobility can enable carsharing companies to optimise their services, improve user experiences, and increase adoption rates. Research on carsharing also informs urban planning and policy development. The adoption of carsharing services can help alleviate traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and address the challenges of limited parking in urban areas by providing viable alternatives to personal vehicle use. This research, which primarily focuses on station-based system, aims to understand how people use carsharing reservation systems. These insights are essential for improving carsharing services. Communauto, Canada's largest carsharing company, has users who frequently modify their reservations, occasionally causing logistical challenges. Using the company's reservation database and R software, statistical analyses link social and temporal variables"”such as modification dates, number of modifications, age, gender, day of the week, and time of day"”to observed behaviours. One notable finding is the phenomenon of "fake cancellations," where 41% of cancelled reservations lead to another honoured reservation on the same day. To identify the key variables that determine whether a reservation will be cancelled or honoured, a decision tree has been constructed. Based on these findings, recommendations will be developed to minimise reservation modifications.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
Julien Lépine is an Associate Professor at the Department of Operations and Decision Systems at Université Laval in Québec City and a member of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT). Formerly, he was a Research Associate... Read More →
Emeritus Associate Professor, Sauder School of Business at UBC
Garland Chow is Emeritus Associate Professor in the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. He has published over 200 articles and reports in the supply chain and transportation field. In 2012, Garland was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee... Read More →
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi is a transportation professor at UBCO. He has started as an assistant professor at UBCO since July 2018. Dr. Fatmi contributes by developing advanced econometric modelling methods and agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques to assist in making effective... Read More →
The rapid expansion of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) operated over densely populated urban areas necessitates structured airspace management to ensure safety and efficiency. This study addresses the limitations of free-routing and proposes risk-based RPAS corridors as a solution to enhance operational control in congested urban environments. The main objective is to evaluate the capacity and safety implications of both static and dynamic RPAS corridors using a simulation model incorporating parameters like failure rates, navigation accuracy, and environmental conditions. Through this model, we assess the ground and air risks associated with RPAS operations, considering factors such as ground population density and weather variations. The results indicate that under optimal conditions, RPAS corridors can accommodate up to 92 flights per hour while maintaining the Target Level of Safety (TLS). However, increased traffic density or adverse weather can elevate collision risks, underscoring the need for dynamic capacity adjustments. The findings suggest that implementing adaptable separation standards and integrating real-time monitoring could effectively mitigate risks, enhancing safety and public acceptance. This study offers a detailed framework for designing RPAS corridors that balances safety and efficiency. Predictive analytics and risk-based methods enable safe RPAS integration, advancing sustainable urban air mobility.
Municipalities increasingly use GPS and IoT data to enhance freight analytics and inform policy. E-commerce activities, driven by connected vehicles, improve visibility yet complicate distinguishing e-commerce vehicles from other freight. Freight impacts the neighborhood's emissions, safety, noise, and traffic, underscoring the need to precisely identify e-commerce activities. Current traffic flow modeling and data lack granularity for neighborhood-level vehicle movements. As such, this study proposes a predictive framework to classify e-commerce vehicle trajectories using integrated datasets such as vehicle configuration, customer metadata, GPS trajectories, and duty cycle data. Capitalizing on Artificial Intelligence (AI), we first developed a large language model (LLM) to filter e-commerce fleets from non-e-commerce vehicles with similar configurations. Second, feature engineering on duty cycles and trajectories supports training machine learning models, including XGBoost, logistic regression, k-nearest neighbors (KNN), support vector machines (SVM), and random forests (RF). The proposed AI-driven model is tuned through cross-validation and oversampling to address class imbalance. Our AI model achieves nearly 80% precision, effectively distinguishing e-commerce vehicles with similar configurations. These results enable huge potential for municipal freight analytics across multiple domains.
Accurate predictions of on-street parking availability are vital for enhancing parking guidance systems, reducing drivers' search times, and alleviating traffic congestion and CO2 emissions. Traditional methods for predicting parking occupancy often fail to account for both the spatial dependencies between parking blocks and the impact of exogenous factors such as weather, nearby amenities, and traffic conditions._x000D_ This paper presents a novel simplified spatio-temporal graph neural network (SST-GNN) model that addresses these limitations by integrating exogenous data and leveraging a graph-based representation to capture spatial relationships between parking locations. The model also incorporates a temporal mechanism to account for the dynamic evolution of parking demand. By combining intrinsic and contextual factors, the proposed approach significantly improves prediction accuracy._x000D_ Experimental results on a real-world dataset demonstrate that the (SST-GNN) model outperforms traditional benchmarks in forecasting on-street parking occupancy, showcasing its potential to revolutionize smart parking systems.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
This paper examines Canada's new national Origin-Destination Survey, an initiative led by Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada in collaboration with Statistics Canada. The survey is designed to address a long-standing gap in Canada's understanding of transportation and mobility patterns, providing critical data to inform policy and infrastructure planning.
The paper outlines the methodological framework and design considerations underpinning the survey, including sampling strategies, key metrics, and approaches to capturing data on transit behaviors, modal choices, vehicle-kilometers traveled, and travel patterns at household and individual levels. It discusses the inclusion of demographic data to understand the mobility challenges faced by equity-deserving populations, ensuring the survey addresses issues of accessibility and inclusivity.
Furthermore, it explores the anticipated utility of the survey findings in addressing national priorities, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing public transit access, and supporting evidence-based initiatives like Canada's Permanent Public Transit Fund.
Additionally, the paper highlights the timeline for data collection (scheduled for late 2025 or early 2026) and discusses the implications of the expected 2027 data release. The survey aims to drive transformative advancements in transportation planning by providing a comprehensive framework for leveraging large-scale data to inform sustainable, equitable mobility solutions and infrastructure policy across Canada.
Director of Data and Analytics, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
Eiad El Fateh is currently the Director of Data and Analytics within the Policy and Results Branch at Infrastructure Canada. Prior to Infrastructure Canada, Eiad held a variety of positions in economic policy across the federal government, most recently at Environment and Climate... Read More →
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) remains in its early stages and the electric vehicle market share has become significant only recently. As a result, assessments of vehicle energy usage-influenced by everything from economic activity to fleet composition to charging behaviour-have relied on assumptions that are undergirded by limited empirical evidence. However, these assessments are crucial for electricity system operators, investors, and policy makers as they make long-term investments in electricity system supply. Here, we develop an analytical framework that integrates publicly available data and makes few assumptions to generate hourly load profiles of electric vehicle charging loads across the power system. The model is developed for the Canadian province of Alberta but employs economic and transportation data that are compiled routinely by other jurisdictions, making it broadly applicable to other locations. Results show that electric vehicles (EVs) will represent 16% of the current Alberta electricity consumption on an annual basis, with peaks that reach as high as 2.5 times the current demand peaks. With the growth in electric vehicles accelerating, the generalizable framework proposed here can be used by analysts in other jurisdictions to investigate the impact of light duty electrification on the electricity system, including to prioritize investments.
Understanding cyclists' route preferences is crucial for designing equitable and accessible urban cycling infrastructure. While previous research has examined the influence of network, contextual, and individual factors, energy expenditure remains an underexplored but critical determinant. Despite its recognized importance, energy costs are typically inferred rather than directly quantified in utilitarian cycling analyses. This study introduces the marginal rate of substitution between energy and time (MRS_{et}) to measure cyclists' willingness to exert physical effort to save travel time. Using a Mixed Path-Size Logit (MPSL) model with latent segmentation, this research empirically demonstrates that energy preferences significantly shape route choices. High-MRS cyclists"”more sensitive to exertion"”experience greater disutility from distance and steep grades but prioritize minimizing travel time over explicitly conserving energy. Low-MRS cyclists"”more willing to exert effort"”strongly avoid disruptions such as intersections and high-crash areas, favoring a smoother ride. These findings highlight behavioral heterogeneity in energy sensitivity and its impact on route selection. Designing infrastructure that accommodates diverse energy preferences"”through flatter, more direct routes, expanded e-bike access, and energy-efficient wayfinding"”can improve cycling inclusivity. Future research should refine energy expenditure quantification and develop integrated models that jointly consider route, speed, and mode choices, advancing sustainable urban mobility solutions.
Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Alex Bigazzi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on non-motorized and lightly-motorized travel – in particular, the intersection of physics, physiology, and behaviour for active travellers... Read More →
Labour disruptions are a recurring theme in Canada's supply chains. In 2023, more than 230,000 days of work were lost to work stoppages in the transportation sector. In 2024, this number increased to more than 1.3 million._x000D_ _x000D_ Modern supply chains are complex. When a work stoppage occurs at any transportation link, the effects are felt widely by workers, consumers, and businesses alike. Each work stoppage affects Canada's economy, workers' earnings, and the country's reputation as a reliable trading partner. _x000D_ _x000D_ Over the past several decades, Canada has experienced more than five times the OECD average for work days lost from stoppages. Opinion surveys demonstrate that most Canadians want governments to proactively step in and act to prevent the devastating impacts of work stoppages. Canada needs a solution._x000D_ _x000D_ This paper models the macroeconomic impacts of work stoppages in Canada's transportation sector. Whether it's rail, ports, truck, or air, transportation industries provide essential supply chain services that keep the economy moving. It is critical that policy makers recognize the impacts of labour disruptions on the country's economy to develop effective legislative solutions._x000D_
Encouraging parents to adopt more sustainable commuting modes remains a persistent challenge for transportation planners. A critical yet often overlooked barrier is the impact of "service trips", such as driving children to school, on parental mobility choices. These trips, driven by time constraints and logistical demands, frequently lead to increased car ownership. This, in turn, reinforces car use for commuting and other daily activities, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of car dependency.
Using data from Origin-Destination travel surveys conducted in the Montreal and Quebec regions, this presentation examines the complex relationship between school-related service trips and parental transportation behaviors. It highlights the potential of improving transportation options for children to travel independently to school as a lever to reduce car dependency among parents. The analysis estimates the positive impacts of such changes, including shifts in mode share, reductions in kilometers traveled by car, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the study explores the broader benefits, such as improved health outcomes for children and enhanced family mobility flexibility.
This research underscores the need for integrated planning approaches that address the role of school trips in shaping mobility patterns, paving the way for more sustainable urban transportation systems.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has surprised and delighted many professionals for its potential to revolutionize the way we work and live. There are many AI applications in the transportation sector, and many of these help us learn at an accelerated rate. This accelerated learning helps us more accurately predict futures such as people and goods movements and asset condition, under new climate, social, and technology scenarios. Our ability to better predict helps us make decisions that better prepare us for the future. But there is also great awareness of the risks AI can pose and the computing power it requires. Further, each AI application requires substantial data governance efforts and other risk mitigation measures. It can therefore be difficult to know where to start. This paper will review the criteria necessary to evaluate AI initiatives, and provide practical guidance to urban and provincial transportation professionals on where to start with their AI journey, and how to prioritise and set a roadmap for their AI applications.
Executive Director, Research & Innovation, WSP Canada
Passionate about designing a built environment that creates wealth and improves quality of life for all.Civil Engineer and Economist with a Asset Management backgroundMentor in the IBET program (Indigenous Black Engineering Technology)Adjunct Professor at UNB
To increase the productivity of public transit networks, we need a comprehensive way to study it from various perspectives, particularly in conjunction with the built environment of cities. Traditionally, the approach toward public transport interventions is to study ridership data without unpacking the underlying urban form and context of the transit network. We present the concept of didactic cartography-an approach to teach complex systems through clear and engaging spatial data-in relation to public transit and their built environments. We propose a transdisciplinary and interactive platform - CAMMM Atlas web application - that aggregates data and disseminates information in an accessible manner. The Atlas points to areas of opportunity to increase the productivity of the transit system and improve spatial equity in the urban space. Through this tool, understanding the gaps in public transit systems will enable local transit authorities, decision makers, and other stakeholders to collaborate on spatial equity issues like multimodality, connectivity, safety, accessibility, proximity to services and amenities, etc. The multidisciplinary approach of the Atlas allows policy makers and transportation professionals to obtain concrete recommendations to improve the productivity of public transit.
Developing an optimal on-route charging network for long-haul electric vehicles (LHEVs) is a complex task. The varying nature of LHEV driving ranges further complicates this challenge. Using current LHEV operational ranges may produce misleading results especially when planning the future of the charging infrastructure. This is likely to be the case as newer LHEV models with longer ranges become available in the future, while older models remain in use. This study simulates various scenarios to optimize on-route charging locations in Ontario, Canada for 2040. The scenarios account for advancements in battery technology, long-term battery degradation, ancillary energy use, and seasonal variations. Results suggest that summer and winter seasons reduce ranges by approximately 3% and 8%, respectively, necessitating more charging during these seasons. Other factors like varying utilization rates and maximum space capacity constraints are found to have noticeable effects on the number of required charging locations in the province. Lastly, estimated energy demands suggest the need for substantial infrastructure upgrades, particularly during winter season, with a projected daily demand reaching about 67 GW.
The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure launched an e-bike purchase rebate program in June 2023, with income-conditioned incentives of $350, $1,000, and $1,400. The objective of this study was to determine how rebate recipients' travel behaviour changed following their e-bike purchase, and up to a year later. We recruited 1,069 rebate recipients to participate in a 3-wave panel survey. The study participants answered a range of questions related to their sociodemographic attributes, e-bike purchase decisions, typical travel behavior before and after the purchase, and experience using the e-bike. We find that 12 months after purchase most participants still regularly use their e-bike, with 37% of e-bike trips substituting for auto travel. Average e-bike usage increased by around 50 km/week, while auto usage decreased by half that amount. We also examine the impacts of socio-economic, demographic, and contextual factors on usage of and experience with the purchased e-bikes. The study findings provide insights on the benefits and design of future e-bike incentive programs.
Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Alex Bigazzi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on non-motorized and lightly-motorized travel – in particular, the intersection of physics, physiology, and behaviour for active travellers... Read More →
Since most COVID-19 restrictions were eased in early 2022, labour disruptions in the transportation sector have come in "waves", beginning with a two-day lock-out by CP._x000D_ _x000D_ Despite government interventions, there seems to be no enduring labour peace. For example, the unions are challenging the Minister's referrals and the CIRB's decisions that led to binding arbitration being imposed on rail and port workers._x000D_ _x000D_ This paper will track the major labour disruptions in the past 2 years, reviewing the issues, developments and key impacts on the nation's goods movement, trade, supply chain and economy, It will include references to the existing Canada Labour Code (CLC) and the Canada Industrial Relations Board which is an independent administrative tribunal responsible for resolving workplace disputes and certain appeals that arise under the CLC, for federally regulated sectors including transportation._x000D_ _x000D_ In looking for potential solutions, the paper will consider the broader picture and some upcoming key developments including the federal transportation supply chain strategy under develo(to be released end of 2024) and the federal Industrial Inquiry Commission on longshoring disputes at Canada's West Coast ports, which is expected to present its findings and recommendations in a report to the Minister in Spring 2025.
Encouraging greater public transport usage and reducing automobile dependency requires making public transport systems more competitive and appealing. To achieve this, transit networks must address the mobility needs of diverse population segments with varying travel needs throughout the day. Providing a high-quality transit system requires an in-depth understanding of users, their habits, and their route-choice decision-making process.
This presentation focuses on the various types of travelers among public transit users when it comes to choosing which route to use to travel between two points. Decisions regarding route choice are closely tied to factors such as age, gender, occupation, and household characteristics. Additionally, some users may prioritize minimizing walking distance, while others may seek to reduce the number of transfers or minimise total travel time. Using observed transit routes from an Origin-Destination travel survey of Montreal, we develop a typology of traveler based on transit route choice strategy.
This approach sheds light on user preferences and travel habits, enabling transit planners to design systems that better align with the needs and expectations of diverse traveler groups.
There is growing need for human-centered geographical methods to understand how urban systems, like transportation, are differently experienced by different urban inhabitants and how those differences are imprinted in the territory. Under this premise, this paper presents a method for a human-centered classification of urban transport flows, focused on gender. The objective is to unveil if men and women produce distinct spatial patterns to inform gender-equity aware transport planning. Using an origin-destination survey for the metropolitan area of Montreal, it applies a Hierarchical Link Clustering algorithm to produce communities of flows with similar characteristics based on geography, distance and number of trips. Then a K-means classification is applied to the resulting communities to derive movement types. Results show a distinct geographical pattern between genders, where women move predominantly in round, local types of communities, whereas men tend to move in elongated, movement types of communities. These results can be used to introduce more targeted interventions to transport systems, and further, it can be applied to other dimensions of equity beyond gender.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
Canada's transportation sector is rapidly transitioning to electrification, raising concerns about the strain on electricity grids during peak electric vehicle (EV) charging times. This increase in electricity demand has raised concerns about heightened peak demand, fluctuations in wattage and frequencies, increased transmission loss, compromised grid reliability, and the risk of power line overloads. Mitigating these concerns can be accomplished through demand management programs. As an initial exploration into understanding charging demand patterns this research aims to study the demand behavior patterns at electrical charging stations within the City of Ottawa. The research develops a multiple variable regression model using publicly available data from the City of Ottawa to model the gap times between charging events. The regression model aims to identify temporal/seasonality variations in EV charging behavior and the significance of the presence of rapid transit, and arterial roads. The regression model will also utilize data from the 2020 census to study the impact of site-specific dissemination area characteristics such as median income, median household sizes, and average travel times. The findings provide foundational knowledge to develop more resilient and efficient integration of EV charging infrastructure into urban grids.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a serious impact on residents' work and travel around the world. China and Canada, as two typical countries with two social systems, have imposed different restrictions on travel and social interactions in the face of COVID-19. This paper conducted a questionnaire survey on travelers in China and Canada, recording personal travel and social and family attributes. The survey content included life satisfaction, travel satisfaction indicators, sociodemographics, travel patterns before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and social interaction patterns during the pandemic. Latent class analysis was used to analyze travel choice behavior dynamics before, during, and after the pandemic, and to compare the travel choice behaviors of residents in China and Canada. Finally, a comparison was made to explore which factors and how much they contribute to the well-being of residents in different countries. These findings help formulate appropriate travel and social strategies to improve residents' well-being in response to similar public health emergencies such as COVID-19.
Grain elevators are a crucial part of the agricultural supply chain of Manitoba, and they have played a historic role in the economic success of the province. Motivated by a desire for enhanced efficiency and productivity, grain companies have been consolidating elevators in Canada, and this has resulted in the closure of less viable grain elevators located in rural parts of the country. This shift has presented significant challenges for farmers, who are now required to transport their grains over longer distances. This study investigates the economic and environmental impacts of these closures from a supply chain sustainability perspective. Economically, farmers are burdened by rising transportation costs, while environmentally, the increased travel distances contribute to higher greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate infrastructure degradation. A conceptual framework is proposed to examine the interconnections between economic and environmental sustainability within agricultural supply chains, drawing on principles of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). The study emphasizes the need for policy interventions, community-driven solutions, and sustainable practices to balance economic viability with environmental stewardship, fostering resilience in Manitoba's agricultural supply chains.
In most metropolitan areas, a diverse array of transportation modes is available to travelers, each serving specific travel needs and shaping distinctive usage patterns. This research focuses on analyzing these patterns across a wide spectrum of transportation options in the Greater Montreal Area. While traditional transport surveys are valuable for modeling individual behaviors during an average weekday, they fail to capture the variability in the use of different transportation modes over time.
This study addresses this gap by leveraging a diverse set of operational data from transportation systems and services. Clustering approaches are applied to identify typical daily and weekly usage patterns. Six relatively independent data streams are analyzed: vehicle road counts, bicycle counters, transit validation records for subway and bus, GPS data for taxis, BIXI bikesharing usage data, and Communauto carsharing data. These datasets collectively cover a common area in the central part of the Island of Montreal for the years 2019 to 2023.
The four years of continuous data enable an analysis of how usage patterns have evolved over time, offering insights into shifts in mobility trends. Additionally, this research highlights the methodological challenges of integrating multiple data streams to model usage at varying spatial and temporal resolutions.
Regional fare integration is critical for the growth of robust and attractive urban transit systems, allowing for seamless travel and improving accessibility for urban populations where municipal boundaries are increasingly blurred or irrelevant in public perception. Examples of fare integration approaches globally provide insight into success factors and commonalities between successful regional fare integration models. This paper considers global best practices in fare integration, focusing on governance models, pricing schemes and operational strategies that facilitate effective implementation. Case studies from Canada including ARTM in Montréal and TransLink in Metro Vancouver, Europe including Switzerland's nationwide fare network and the Berlin-Brandenburg public transport association, and Sydney (Australia) Metro are analyzed to identify key drivers of success. _x000D_ _x000D_ This paper incorporates findings from a detailed desktop review of publicly available reports, academic sources, and transit agency websites, supplemented with interviews with individuals at transit agencies and consultations with a panel of transit industry professionals. This multifaceted approach aims to provide a thorough understanding of the governance structures, technology, fare schemes and operational strategies conducive to successful fare integration._x000D_ _x000D_ The analysis underscores the potential for Canadian regions to increase transit ridership, reduce congestion, and support sustainable, equitable, and user-friendly transit through effective fare integration strategies.
A productive public transit system is one that serves everyone's access to places that matter. Access to grocery stores is an essential destination that matters to all, and accessibility measures can be used to quantify this idea. However, how the public transit system provides access to destinations is a question of equity: what populations are better-off, from before- and within the COVID years, and how does accessibility compare across urban regions is an important task in benchmarking public transit service and identifying areas that fall short. In this study, we apply balancing factors (similar to those used in trip gravity modelling) to calculate public transit spatial accessibility in the 12 most populous CMAs in Canada and benchmark how accessibility has changed between 2019 and 2023. This work is done using an open and reproducible database, with methods based in R. Additionally, the methods applied are more interpretable than conventional accessibility measures, making them better suited for temporal and spatial interpretation. Our hope is that this approach will facilitate the mainstreaming of open and reproducible practices and accessibility analysis in transportation planning practice in Canada.
Transportation is estimated to account for roughly one-quarter of Canada's annual greenhouse gas emissions. As Canada transitions toward a greener future, zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) are being promoted in support of the 2030 climate reduction targets. Indeed, Canada's accelerated ZEV target is 100% for new light-duty car and passenger truck sales by 2035. Therefore, understanding how public charging infrastructure aligns with ZEV adoption is critical to inform policymakers and industry stakeholders. Moreover, there is some evidence to suggest that geographic disparities in ZEV ownership and charging infrastructure are potential obstacles to achieving the target. _x000D_ _x000D_ This research examines the factors driving ZEV adoption across Canada, including public charging infrastructure, incentive programs, and other factors such as income and location. Drawing on data from Statistics Canada and other agencies, the study examines patterns of ZEV adoption, charging infrastructure provision, and disparities in coverage. Public charging infrastructure is assessed by forecasting ZEV adoption rates under three scenarios. Next, Canada is divided into urban, and rural & small-town areas to quantify any geographic disparities that may be emerging. The study concludes by discussing next steps including related work involving the heavy-duty vehicle fleet.
Cities are facing growing issues related to the effects of GHG emissions, air pollution and congestion. To induce mode shift towards more sustainable transportation modes, planners need to provide highly attractive transit networks. One way to do this is to improve their accessibility.
Enhancing walking accessibility to public transportation starts with something crucial: assessing the current level of walking accessibility. This study introduces a walking accessibility assessment using GIS functions and open-source data. It also proposes new accessibility indicators of the quality of access to transit. The Montreal metro network is used as a case study. We generate walking catchment areas and test indicators of accessibility by studying their geometric properties and by comparing them with ideal ones. We use census data to further develop indicators accounting for the population
This methodology identifies stations with low accessibility and estimates potential accessibility gains. In Montreal, some 406,375 people could benefit from accessibility improvements, representing a 46.5% increase.
Based on the diagnostic, scenarios were developed to address specific barriers such as infrastructure and land-use constraints. These scenarios involve bridging physical barriers to maximize accessibility gains. These measures aim to improve walking access equitably and enhance transit network attractiveness.
The decline of grain elevators in Canada has increased reliance on local truck-based grain transportation, raising concerns over economic costs, environmental impacts, and rural sustainability. This study explores the potential of shortline rail as a sustainable alternative for grain transportation from farms to elevators, adopting the triple-bottom-line sustainability framework"”economic, environmental, and social sustainability. The research aims to develop a comprehensive sustainability assessment framework tailored to shortline rail networks, integrating quantitative sustainability indicators and qualitative stakeholder feedback. The proposed framework includes indicator forecasting, stakeholder analysis, engagement strategies, and case studies to evaluate the current grain transportation system and the viability of shortline rail networks in improving sustainability. By assessing cost efficiency, carbon footprint reduction, logistical feasibility, and socio-economic benefits, this study highlights shortline rail's potential to enhance rural economic development, reduce transportation bottlenecks, and strengthen community resilience. Findings will contribute to evidence-based policy recommendations for optimizing Canada's grain supply chains while fostering long-term sustainability in the agricultural transportation sector.
The urban street sits at the centre of policy attention looking to redress the injustice of the car domination of the urban landscape, which contributes to unhealthy cities, pollution, high rates of fatal crashes between automobiles and other travellers, and other maladies. Much of the contestation around the street focuses on the space allocated to different transport infrastructures, which overwhelmingly is dedicated to cars. While some recent research has begun to closely examine the distribution of street space to transport infrastructures, another under-explored angle is dynamic street space consumption: how much space does a trip occupy in the city, over time, considering movement dynamics. In this paper, we use mobility survey data to analyze how the street space used by different travellers and households varies according to trip, personal, and household characteristics. In this way, we examine inequities in how people use city space according to travel mode, gender, race, income, and household composition. In addition to the spatial dimension, we also consider the carbon emissions of trips, to understand how space consumption and carbon emissions are related, and how different personal and household characteristics relate to the environmental cost of travel.
It's well known that the cost of flying through Canadian airports remains relatively high. This paper will examine the influence of government policies on airfare affordability, delve into how airlines navigate these regulations and explore potential collaborative solutions for achieving more affordable air travel.
Incorporating in-motion charging into Battery Electric Bus (BEB) transit systems offers a practical approach to overcoming key challenges of stationary charging, including limited resources, long charging times, and higher battery costs. This study introduces a comprehensive optimization framework that combines conductive Overhead Catenary Charging (OCC) technology with overnight depot charging to minimize overall BEB system costs, both capital and operational. Capital costs are effectively reduced by strategically determining the optimal placement of OCC segments, battery capacity, and depot charging configurations. Simultaneously, operational costs are optimized through refined charging schedules that account for electricity time-of-use (ToU) pricing, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity (measured in tCo2e), and BEB battery degradation costs. _x000D_ Applying this optimization framework to a real-world transit network reveals significant findings, including a 56% reduction in peak electricity demand, a 13% drop in GHG emissions, and a 27% decrease in overall charging costs. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis underscores the influence of OCC infrastructure costs on total system costs while increasing OCC charging power further enhances cost savings by up to 28%.
I received a B.Sc. degree in the Electrical Power and Machines Department from Tanta University, Egypt, in 2014 with distinction (honors). In January 2021, I received a master's degree in engineering mathematics from Tanta University. My research areas of interest include optimization... Read More →
Canada relies heavily on international trade for its economic growth and success. The total trade in 2024 was worth 1.52 trillion dollars, 64% of which was with the U.S. Around 58% of total trade between the two countries took place by trucks through key Ontario land borders. The COVID-19 pandemic led to unexpected supply-chain interruptions and that included the health care sector. Part of these interruptions included the inability to move pharmaceuticals to Ontario across the border. Shortage of certain medicine supplies can have detrimental impacts on the Canadian health Care sector. To date, studies on the cross-border movements of pharmaceuticals between the U.S. and Canada are lacking. The work in this paper will fill the existing gap by characterizing these movements to understand where in the U.S. pharmaceuticals originate, and which routes and land borders are normally used to bring them into Ontario. The analysis will be based on a variety of data sources to provide a clear picture of the key U.S. markets that Ontario trades with. Scenario analysis will examine the impacts of land border closures which will cause diversion in the truck flows through alternative land border crossings to ensure uninterrupted supply-chain of pharmaceuticals to Ontario.
In a previous study, we identified eight distinct carsharing reservation types in Montreal, characterizing a wide range of usage patterns. Among them, the ""20-minute Trips'' cluster represents nearly 50% of all reservations but accounts for only 10% of the total distance traveled and 4% of the total duration. This cluster consists exclusively of one-way single-stop trips with an average duration of 20 minutes and average distance of 7 km. In this study, we document the context in which users chose carsharing for these short free-floating trips. To assess alternatives, we calculate public transit travel times, evaluate bike-share availability at trip origins and destinations, estimate the cost of an equivalent taxi ride, and calculate walking times. We further incorporate historical weather data to refine our evaluation of bike-sharing and walking feasibility and our understanding of the spatial-temporal context. Finally, we conduct spatial analyses to identify problematic blind spots in public transit and areas with limited access to bike-sharing infrastructure. Based on findings from previous research, we anticipate that these trips predominantly occur in areas with limited access to public transit and bike-sharing infrastructure. This work aims to provide insights into improving transportation equity and enhancing sustainable mobility options in urban areas.
Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal and CIRRELT
Martin Trépanier is a civil engineer and professor at the department of mathematics and industrial engineering of École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated to the Université de Montréal. He is the titular of the Chair in the transformation of transportation... Read More →
Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are a growing component of sustainable urban mobility, but their reliance on grid-based charging and logistical inefficiencies, such as rebalancing, contribute to operational emissions. This study evaluates the feasibility of solar-powered charging stations in Vancouver, Canada, analyzing energy production, emissions reduction, and economic viability. Using bike-share data, e-bike energy demand was found to be 538 kWh annually per station, met by a 4 m² photovoltaic (PV) system with 2 kWh of battery storage._x000D_ _x000D_ The proposed system can fully replace grid-based charging while eliminating rebalancing-related emissions (23.38 kg CO₂e per station annually). Despite solar PV having a higher lifecycle carbon intensity (40 g CO₂e/kWh vs. BC Hydro's 14 g CO₂e/kWh), cumulative emissions are lower over a 25-year lifespan due to improved operational efficiency. However, economic analysis indicates a payback period of 26 years, exceeding the system's lifespan, highlighting the need for financial incentives._x000D_ _x000D_ This study considers a worst-case scenario, yet the system proved sufficient, suggesting scalability across a bike-share network. Findings provide insights for city planners and policymakers seeking to integrate renewable energy into urban transportation, improving sustainability while addressing practical deployment challenges.
The relative importance of cross-border trade in Canada has been changing for quite a long time, particularly in Ontario which borders the five U.S. states in the south: Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. With the growth of e-commerce, there has been a tremendous increase in products that cross the 5,500-mile border between Canada and the U.S.
According to some experts in transportation research, "cross-border transportation involves the activities, infrastructures, and flows that ensure the passage of passengers and freight across an international border". As a result, "cross-border transportation can be facilitated, monitored, controlled, and even prevented".
As such, this paper will present a descriptive account of Canada-US cross-border freight transportation along those lines, with relevant background, details or examples (e.g. regulatory and operating requirements, border crossings and infrastructure, customs and trade facilitation, developments and data including technological advances and commodity flows) and with particular reference to land freight transportation and trucking services.
The intent is for the paper to provide an overall picture of shipping goods between Canada to the U.S. via cross-border freight transportation especially trucking, which is required for considering the current situation as well as issues and challenges facing the industry involved in cross-border trade.
