Project Title: Enhancing Transport Planning Models Using Emerging Big Data Sources
Supervisors: Dr. Charisma Choudhury, Prof David Watling, Prof Tom van Vuren
Project Summary : This collaborative research project between ITS Leeds and Mott MacDonald aims to develop novel methodologies for combining mobile phone and GPS data with data from traditional sources (household surveys, census, roadside interviews and sensor counts) .
Transport and mobility models have traditionally relied on manually collected survey data which are expensive to obtain and thereby generally have limited sample sizes and lower update frequencies and are prone to biases and reporting errors. On the other hand, over the last decade, passively collected big data sources have emerged as a very promising source of mobility data for researchers and practitioners. These include GPS tracts, mobile phone records, card transactions and geo-coded social-media data which have been used successfully for human travel pattern visualization, route choice modelling, traffic model calibration and traffic flow estimation. Despite the obvious opportunity to reduce survey costs and improve information availability in a transportation planning context, methodological limitations and practical issues have reduced the applicability (and acceptability) of these passively collected data in practice. The proposed project aims to develop robust transport models that utilize the strengths of the mobile phone and GPS data to complement the traditional data sources and vice versa. In particular, measures to account for the sampling bias, coarse resolution, discontinuities and lack of user info in the data will be investigated and modelling solutions will be formulated. Both empirical and simulation based methodologies will be explored in this regard.
Funding: Full awards will cover UK/EU academic fees and a maintenance grant paid at standard Research Council rates (£13,863 tax free in Session 2014/15) for full-time study (part-time study will be pro-rata) together with other allowances if appropriate. EU applicants will be eligible for an award paying tuition fees only, except in exceptional circumstances, or where residency has been established for more than 3 years prior to the start of the course.
In addition to access to the research and training facilities at the Institute for Transport Studies, the student will have the opportunity to work in close collaboration with Mott MacDonald and get valuable insights on issues associated with the hands on application of the research, which is generally a rare opportunity for a PhD student.
Eligibility: The minimum requirement is a UK Upper Second Class Honours or equivalent in a Quantitative Discipline. Strong numerical aptitude, some experience in computer programming and interest in transport modelling and Big Data will be a definite plus.
Details: http://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=61196&LID=751
Informal Queries: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Application Deadline: 13 March 2015
Charisma F. Choudhury, PhD
Lecturer, Institute for Transport Studies
Deputy-Director, Choice Modelling Centre
University of Leeds
http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/people/c.choudhury
The Institute for Transport Studies has received royal recognition by winning the prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its sustained excellence and 40 years of impact in transport research and teaching.
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