Welcome to the end-of-year update from TransportLab at the University of Sydney.
We would love to meet you face-to-face, or you can follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Mastodon.
Events
Come find TransportLab members at the TRB Annual Meeting:
Workshop 1038: Transportation Big Data Sources and Equity
TRBAM-25-04439 Determinants of Speed Camera Location Choice
TRBAM-25-04374 The racial composition and volume of tickets at red light cameras
TRBAM-25-04193 Communications-free Distributed Control Algorithm for Autonomous Vehicles at Intersections
TRBAM-25-03523 How Equity of Electric-Vehicle Access Depends on Battery-Charger Interaction
TRBAM-25-00755 Game-theoretic Modelling of Integrated Longitudinal and Lateral Driving Maneuvers
TRBAM-25-04735 Autonomous vehicle control on lane-free roads: A level-k game approach
TRBAM-25-04804 Investigating Platoon Formation and Retention Using Reduced-Scale Mobile Robots with Established Car-Following Models
TRBAM-25-05757 Determinants of Crowdshippers Participation in Crowdshipping in Mumbai
TRBAM-25-03640 Integrated operator and user-based rebalancing and recharging in dockless shared e-micromobility system
TransportLab will be at the Women in Transport Knowledge Share Event on improving the implementation of public and active transport projects at UTS in early March. Stay tuned for more details.
TransportLab is supporting the local organisation of the Travel Demand Modelling Conference in Sydney on 9-11 December 2025
Jennifer Kent is the Chair of the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research’s (IATBR) Scientific Committee for the 2027 meeting hosted in Sydney.
TransportLab Seminars
In addition to presentations from our PhD students, the TransportLab Seminar series hosts speakers from all over the world. If you’d like to join the seminars in person or over Zoom, please contact Emily to join the list (emily.moylan@sydney.edu.au). Our recent speakers include:
Prof Kevin Krizek (University of Colorado – Boulder). Building networks for local travel: Can more analysis help?. 18/October/2024
A/ Prof Alexa Delbosc (Monash University). Protected bike lanes and the changing landscape of post-COVID cycling and scooting. 11/October/2024
Dr Nicole Badstuber (TfNSW). Towards integrated transport and land use planning in Western Sydney. 20/September/2024.
Prof Pushkin Kachroo (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). Travel time dynamics and applications in ITS. 19/August/2024.
Dr Jennifer Kent (University of Sydney). “To get people out of cars, we need to know why they drive” – the case for qualitative methods in transport research. 16/August/2024
Dr Shantanu Chakraborty (GHD). Integrated transport emission modelling framework to decarbonize Australian transport networks. 02/August/2024
Awards and Projects
The paper ‘Group-Based Distributed Auction Algorithms for Multi-Robot Task Assignment‘, co-authored by me with Xiaoshan Bai, Maximilian Kroenmuller, Luzia Knoedler, and Javier Alonso-Mora, has been awarded as the best 2023 paper published in IEEE T-ASE.
Andrés Fielbaum was awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career 2025-2027 "Next Generation of On-Demand Public Transport: Strategies and Algorithms"
Carolina Pantoja Mardones’ Masters Dissertation was awarded the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) Award for Best Planning Dissertation
Emily Moylan was recognised by the University of Sydney Faculty of Engineering for her “exceptional and sustained contributions to our education mission”.
Tim Xian won the iMove PhD Competition
Tim Xian won a stream prize for his presentation at the TRANSW symposium
Tim Xian received a Career Advancement Award
People
Congratulations to Dr Yang Gao for satisfying the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney.
Thesis Title: Exploring Throughput and Travel Time Reliability in Freeway Networks
Lead Supervisor: David Levinson
Congratulations to Dr Yue Yang for satisfying the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney.
Thesis Title: Management and operation of the supply side in on-demand mobility platforms
Lead Supervisor: Mohsen Ramezani
Shuyan Jiang from South China University of Technology has been visiting TransportLab. Omar Shahd has been visiting from Beijing University of Technology. Riki Kawase is visiting from Tokyo Institute of Technology.
TransportLab welcomes a number of new PhD students:
Iman Al Buwaiqi – Random violations and optimization of enforcement procedures in transport networks
Hamidreza Babaeighazvini – Predictive urban corridor control
Ruihao Zeng – Distributed intelligence in systems of autonomous vehicles
Isaac Mann - A Study on Urban Economics and Cost-Benefit Analysis
Publications
Beza, Abebe Dress, Zhuopeng Xie, Mohsen Ramezani, David Levinson (2025) From lane-less to lane-free: Implications in the era of automated vehicles. Transportation Research Part C. Volume 170, January 2025, 104898 [doi]
Cui, Mengying, Lijie Yu, Shaoyu Nie, Zhe Dai, Ying-en Ge, and David Levinson (2025) How access and spatial dependency shape metro passenger flows. Journal of Transport Geography. Volume 123, February 2025, 104069 [doi]
Emami, E., & Ramezani, M. (2024). Integrated operator and user-based rebalancing and recharging in dockless shared e-micromobility systems. Communications in Transportation Research, 4, 100155. [doi]
Fielbaum, A., Tirachini, A., & Alonso-Mora, J. (2024). Improving public transportation via line-based integration of on-demand ridepooling. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 104289. [doi] This paper includes a video.
Fielbaum, A., & Pudane, B. (2024). Are shared automated vehicles good for public- or private-transport-oriented cities (or neither)? Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 104373. [doi]
Fielbaum, A., Jara-Díaz, S. & Alonso-Mora, J (2024). Beyond the last mile: different spatial strategies to integrate on-demand services into public transport in a simplified city. Public Transport. [doi]
Kent, J. L., Alizadeh, T., Nasreen, Z., Werner, G., Astell-Burt, T., & Allen, K. (2024). Urbanism Discipline, University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning Submission to the Australian Government’s Draft National Urban Policy Urban Policy and Research. [online]
Kent, J.L. (2024) Parenting, care and the private car. In: Preston, V., McLafferty, S., Maciejewska, M. and Yeoh, B. (Eds.) Handbook of Gender and Mobilities (pp. 110-122). Edward Elgar Publishing Inc, Cheltenham. ISBN: 978-1-0353-0085-3 (Print) 978-1-0353-0086-0 (Online) [doi]
Levinson, David (2024) Connected Institutions: Using Platform Powers to Advance Transport. Urban Science 2024, 8(4), 245; – 4 Dec 2024 [doi]
Mann, Isaac and Levinson, David (2024) Access-based cost-benefit analysis. Journal of Transport Geography. Volume 119, July 2024, 103952. [doi]
Rashidi, Laya Hossein, Jennifer L. Kent, Emily Moylan (2024) Assessing the Impact of Distance Modelling Approaches on Active Travel Predictions. Findings [doi]
Rayaprolu, H. and Levinson, D. (2024) Transit Modal Complementarity: Measuring the Access Provided by Transfers. Transportation [doi]
Sarkar, S. Exploring socio-economic inequalities in cities through the lens of urban scaling in Urban Scaling, pp 111-117 [available here]
Sarkar, Somwrita, C Cottineau-Mugadza, LJ Wolf. (2024) Spatial inequalities and cities: A review. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science 51 (7), 1391-1407 [doi]
Sarkar, Somwrita (2024) Normative urban science. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science 51 (5), 1079-1081 [doi]
Shaer, Amin, Fielbaum, Andres, and Levinson, D. (2024) Choosing to Drive from Alcohol Serving Establishments Traffic Injury Prevention 25(8) 1013-1022 [doi]
Thompson, S.M., & Kent, J.L. (2024). Delivering a Health-Supportive Environment: A Key Role and Responsibility for the Construction Industry. In: Umeokafor, N., Emuze, F., Che Ibrahim, C.K.I., Sunindijo, R.Y., Umar, T., Windapo, A. and Teixer, J. (Eds.), Handbook of Drivers of Continuous Improvement in Construction Health, Safety, and Wellbeing (pp.17 - 29). Routledge. ISBN 9781032608723.
Wang, Haotian, Moylan, E. and Levinson, D. (2023) Ensemble Methods for Route Choice . Transportation Research part C. Volume 167, October 2024, 104803 [doi]
Xian, T., Chin, T. K., Marks, B., Nelson, J. D., & Moylan, E. (2024). Bus arrival and departure time updates in the Greater Sydney Area. Scientific Data, 11(1), 1034. [doi]
Xie, Zhuopeng, Ramezani, M., Levinson, D. (2024) Reduced-scale mobile robots for autonomous driving research. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems 25(11) 15367-15387 [doi]
Yang, Y., Umboh, S. W., & Ramezani, M. (2024). Freelance drivers with a decline choice: Dispatch menus in on-demand mobility services for assortment optimization. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 190, 103082. [doi]
Zhang, Y., Shao, J., Nelson, J.D., Kent, J.L. and Vardoulakis, S. (2024). Gender, Weather, and Time of Day: Active Travel Observations In Greater Sydney. Findings, December, [doi]
Zhang, Y., Kent, J.L, Harris, P., Nelson, J. D., Tong, M., & Vardoulakis, S. (2024). International experiences on active travel planning: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 28, 101259. [doi]
Zhou, Mingzhi, Lei, Shuyu, Wu, Jiangyue, Ma, Hanxi, Levinson, D., and Zhou, Jiangping (2024) Intentional Travel Group and Social Network: Identification and Dynamics during a Pandemic. Environment and Planning Part B [doi]
Appearances
Jennifer Kent gave a keynote presentation and panel on parenting and private car use at the Australasian Transportation Research Forum on 28 November 2024.
Jennifer Kent chaired a Fireside Chat about Streets for People with Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Lee Waters and Rob Stokes. Jennifer organised 100 signatures from Australian urban and transport academics in support of safe speed limits— Lee Waters presented those signatures to the NSW Minister for Roads.
Jennifer Kent spoke on a panel at ARUP’s Young Professionals Workshop on parenting and private car use.
Jennifer Kent spoke at University of Sydney’s Sustainability Summit on private car attachments.
Jennifer Kent’s work was presented at the Thredbo conference in October
David Levinson gave a keynote address at the New Zealand Transport Knowledge Conference on Wednesday December 11, 2024
David Levinson gave the WSTLUR Keynote on Access for Evaluation and Using Land Value Appreciation to Fund Investment:
David Levinson spoke to North Sydney Council’s Integrated Transport Online Forum:
Mohsen Ramezani gave a seminar at Sun Yat-sen University (2024) on Dynamic Modeling and Control of Transportation Networks
Mohsen Ramezani gave a seminar at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2024) on Urban traffic control, on-demand mobility, and autonomous vehicles: a tale of three topics
Elnaz Emami (and Mohsen Ramezani) presented “Virtual parking locations for micromobility sharing systems”, 51th International Conference in Computers and Industrial Engineering (CIE51), Sydney, 2024.
Alireza Soltani (and Mohsen Ramezani) presented “Estimating Traffic Signal Settings and Queue Lengths Using Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Data,'' in The 5th Symposium on Management of Future Motorway and Urban Traffic System, Crete, Greece, September 2024.
Alireza Soltani (with David Levinson and Mohsen Ramezani) presented “Communication-free Distributed Control Algorithm for Autonomous Vehicles at Intersections,'' Conference in Emerging Technologies in Transportation Systems (TRC-30), Crete, Greece, September 2024.
Somwrita Sarkar spoke at the National PowerHousing Conference, Canberra, 18-20 Nov, 2024, on Spatial segregation and city size.
Emily Moylan served as an expert panelist for the AITPM Reimagine our Cities Think Tank
Emily Moylan spoke about gender inclusion and the leaky pipeline on an AITPM NSW Panel for International Women’s Day
Media
Mohsen Ramezani spoke to ABC Radio Sydney’s breakfast show on 1 Oct 2024 on the etiquette of driving.
Somwrita Sarkar was interviewed for ABC’s Future Tense on the housing crisis
David Levinson was quoted by Matt Sullivan (Nov 4, 2024) in The winners and losers from Sydney’s most annoying train surcharge
David Levinson was quoted by Mathew Elmas (Sept 17, 2024) in Value for money? 50-cent public transport fares mean economic benefits but higher costs.
David Levinson was quoted by Yan Zhuang (August 23, 2024) in Sydney Metro Expands, Opening to Celebrity-Level Fanfare.
David Levinson commented on New South Wales’ Independent Toll Review in an interview on 2GB, an interview on ABC Sydney and in the AFR (Will changing Sydney’s tolls make them fairer? Depends who you ask.)
David Levinson was quoted by Jack Gramenz and Samantha Lock (July 22 2024) in Safety probe into train death of hero dad, daughter
Jennifer Kent spoke about lower speeds on local streets on Nightlife with Philip Clarke and Suzanne Hill on ABC Radio, ABC 7:30, ABC News Breakfast, ABC Overnights with Trevor Chappell, ABC Radio National PM with Linda Mottram, ABC News Bulletin ABC Evenings with Sarah Macdonald, and ABC Online.
Jennifer Kent spoke about City Liveability on the Solutionists Podcast with Mark Scott
Jennifer Kent spoke about children’s active travel to school with ABC Perth and ABC Adelaide Radio.
Emily Moylan wrote about weather impacts on Sydney’s transport system for the Sydney Morning Herald
TransportLab contributed to The Conversation:
Police stop more Black drivers, while speed cameras issue unbiased tickets − new study from Chicago
50 cents, 0 cents, 1 question: how much can fare cuts boost public transport use?
Journal Special Issues
The economics of platform-based mobility and logistics services - Transportation Research Part C [link]
Editors: Fielbaum, Zhang, Lehe, Vignon and Xu.
