Abstract

Emerging information and communication technologies provide desirable new opportunities for enhancing urban mobility. However, improved mobility tends to induce increased travel, burden transportation infrastructure, complicate urban growth management and sustainability efforts, and risk adverse distributional impacts. This talk outlines challenges and current research using, as examples, ongoing MIT work involving Boston’s MetroFuture planning process and ‘future urban mobility’ work within the Singapore/MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). The examples include ‘big data’ support for urban analytics and the use of data mining and activity-based modeling to illuminate the ripple effects of mobility improvements on land markets and urban activity patterns.

Joseph Ferreira is Professor of Urban Planning and Operations Research in the MIT Urban Studies and Planning Department. His undergrad and PhD degrees are also from MIT where he heads the Urban Information Systems Group and teaches analytical methods and computer-based modeling for planning and urban management. His research involves urban analytics and spatial analysis tools for modeling land use, transportation, and environmental interactions. Prof. Ferreira is past-president of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), the SMART Research Professor of Urban Information Systems, and a co-Principal Investigator of the “Future Urban Mobility” interdisciplinary research group at SMART .