Principal Investigator

Alexandre Jacquillat

Status

Completed

Start Date

Sept. 1, 2017

End Date

May 31, 2019

Project Type

Research Applied

Grant Program

FAST Act - Mobility National (2016 - 2022)

Grant Cycle

2017 Mobility21 UTC

Visibility

Public

Abstract

The population of Lawrence County relies extensively on private modes of transportation in daily commutes and other trips. An important opportunity to reduce the costs of travel lies in technological solutions to better connect commuters and promote shared modes of transportation, for instance among employees of the same firm. This research proposes to develop a mobile platform to enhance information sharing and coordination among commuters, so public transportation and peer-to-peer ride-sharing opportunities can be identified and leveraged. Through the pilot deployment of this platform, it will assess its impact on travel behaviors and its overall efficacy. Ultimately, this research can contribute to the ongoing development of technological solutions to promote ride-sharing, reduce the costs of travel, mitigate transportation-induced emissions, and enhance access to urban areas.    

Description

Lawrence County is primarily a rural area, with local employees living across a wide geographic radius. An estimated 40% of commuters leave the County during their daily work-related commute. In this environment, transportation is a major driver of access to job opportunities, mobility, and quality of life. Current public transportation options consist of seven to eight daily bus trips from the County to Pittsburgh and back, and are highly utilized. On the negative side, they are concentrated at certain times of the day (e.g., 5-7 am from Lawrence County to Pittsburgh, 5-7 pm from Pittsburgh to Lawrence County) and lack flexibility. Widespread ride-hailing platforms (e.g., Uber, Lyft) have recently started service in Lawrence County, but few drivers are typically available there and the costs of transportation to Pittsburgh is very high. As a result, most of the population relies extensively on private modes of transportation. This may result in high costs of travel, negative environmental impact, added congestion costs, as well as limited mobility for households that do not own a vehicle, or only one vehicle.

An important opportunity to enhance mobility in the Lawrence County, and reduce the costs of transportation lies in information sharing and coordination among travelers to increase transparency regarding public transportation options and to promote peer-to-peer ride-sharing among travelers going in the same direction and/or to the same destination. First, a small number of organizations (e.g., Liberty Mutual, UPMC) employ a large number of the County’s inhabitants, thus contributing to a large number of daily trips with concentrated origins and destinations. Second, even among the other trips, the destinations may be clustered around a few hotspots. However, in the current system, most travelers do not have access to information regarding other travelers’ home location and travel patterns, and thus to opportunities to find appropriate ride-sharing options.

This project will develop and assess technological solutions to connect the population of the Lawrence County with fellow travelers to leverage existing public transportation options and create peer-to-peer ride-sharing options whenever possible. The first and major opportunity lies in the design of a car-pooling network among employees of the same organization who live in the same town. More broadly, this could also take the form of a peer-to-peer marketplace where each user could specify travel needs, access the requests of fellow users, and propose ride-sharing options. This process could be done both in advance (e.g., planning trips for the next day) and in real-time (e.g., looking for shared rides in the short term). Technologically, this can take the form of a web-based and/or mobile-based platform where riders can access this peer-to-peer marketplace as well as alternative options (e.g., public transportation options, Uber & Lyft options, etc.).

Specifically, the proposed research will comprise five steps:
-	Data acquisition and analytics for demand estimation: Residential and employment data can be obtained from the major employers and census results. They can be supplemented with online surveys to the Lawrence County population. From available data sources and data analytics techniques, we will identify the main patterns in origin-destination demand to/from the Lawrence County.
-	Network optimization and simulation: From the available information on typical origin-destination patterns, we will develop and implement a model of network transportation to identify the car-pooling options that can provide the greatest benefits (in terms of travel cost reductions) at the lowest costs (in terms of added travel times). This will ultimately inform the design of service options on the platform. 
-	Platform development: We will develop a pilot version of the web-based and/or mobile platform that will include peer-to-peer capabilities and list alternative options (e.g., public transportation, Uber & Lyft options, etc.). We will engage with the County’s leaders for continuous feedback and design improvements.
-	Field experiment: In collaboration with the County, we will deploy the pilot version of the platform in selected settings (e.g., in a few cities, for the employees of a few organizations). We will collect utilization data and report the effect of the platform on travel patterns and behaviors. These results will provide insights on the potential benefits of the deployment of a similar platform at a larger scale. These insights will be corroborated through triangulation with surveys and interviews of the platform’s users.

Overall, this project will aim to provide technological solutions to enhance mobility in a rural community, and reduce the costs of travel associated with fuel expenditures, car ownership, traffic congestion and emissions.

Timeline

This project will be organized in four phases:
1. Exploration (November – December 2017): Collection of employment and census data, and descriptive analytics. Insights on origin-destination demand and ride-sharing opportunities.
2. Solution development (January – May 2018): Identification of the major buckets of opportunity for ride-sharing and other transportation changes based on patterns of origin-destination demand
3. Platform development (June – August 2018): Development of a web-based and/or mobile technological platform for peer-to-peer transportation collaboration 
4. Pilot deployment and field experiment (September – December 2018): Implementation of the platform in Lawrence County, in collaboration with local agencies, and collection of quantitative data (e.g., platform utilization, impact on travel behaviors) and qualitative data (e.g., user interviews) throughout the process; analysis of data for insights and impact assessment

Strategic Description / RD&T

Deployment Plan

The data analytics, modeling and platform development will be led by Prof. Alexandre Jacquillat and Prof. Vibhanshu Abhishek from CMU’s Heinz College. It will involve a postdoctoral associate, Dr Sang Jin Kweon, who will be responsible for the data analytics and network optimization informing the development of the platform’s content. A team of two Master’s students over the Summer will focus on the development of the platform itself. Computing expenses were budgeted to support the platform development efforts.

The initial data collection, the platform deployment and the pilot data collection will be managed by the Lawrence County. On the initial data collection side, this involves engaging with employers and administering surveys to the population. On the pilot deployment side, this includes the marketing of the platform, the training of its users, and any ongoing management issue that needs to be addressed. The research team at the Heinz College will provide technical support and strategic guidance regarding the deployment plan, and will be engaged through the data collection and analysis efforts for impact assessment.

Expected Outcomes/Impacts

The overall objective of the proposed research is to develop technological solutions to enhance transparency across travel options and impact travel behaviors in a way that enhances quality of life, reduce travel costs and externalities, and improves mobility within a population. The goal of this project is to lay down the analytical foundations toward that objective and demonstrate its impact in a real-world setting within the Lawrence County. Specifically, this will be quantified through three major performance metrics:
1. Platform utilization: Adoption rate of the platform, and user engagement (e.g., number of users over time; average daily usage)
2. Travel impact: Effect of the platform on travel behaviors, e.g., ride-sharing frequency, number of cars on the road, estimates of travel cost reductions
3. User mobility satisfaction: Impact of the platform on population satisfaction with the surrounding mobility systems and accessibility options, measured through surveys and interviews. 

Expected Outputs

TRID

Individuals Involved

Email	Name	Affiliation	Role	Position
vibs@andrew.cmu.edu	Abhishek, Vibhanshu	Carnegie Mellon Heinz College	Co-PI	Other
ajacquil@andrew.cmu.edu	Jacquillat, Alexandre	Carnegie Mellon Heinz College	PI	Other

Budget

Amount of UTC Funds Awarded

$88420.00

Total Project Budget (from all funding sources)

$88420.00

Documents

Type	Name	Uploaded
Project Brief	Data_Management_Plan.pdf	Nov. 16, 2017, 8:15 a.m.
Publication	n/a	March 29, 2018, 6:58 p.m.
Presentation	Peer-to-peer ridesharing options for enhanced mobility in rural areas	March 29, 2018, 6:58 p.m.
Progress Report	57_Progress_Report_2018-03-30	March 29, 2018, 6:58 p.m.
Progress Report	57_Progress_Report_2018-09-30	Sept. 29, 2018, 7:11 a.m.
Final Report	57_-_Final_Report.pdf	July 16, 2019, 4:56 a.m.

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