15 AUG 2018 (WED) | 19:00-20:00

THE INTERPLAY OF VIRTUAL ACCESSIBILITY AND PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY IN SHAPING ACTIVITY TRAVEL BEHAVIOR

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SPEAKER:

PROFESSOR CHANDRA BHAT

Director, US DOT Center on Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning (D-STOP)

University Distinguished Teaching Professor

Joe J. King Chair in Engineering

Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Department of Economics (Courtesy Appointment)

The University of Texas at Austin

DATE:

15 AUGUST 2018 (WEDNESDAY)

TIME:

19:00-20:00

VENUE:

ROOM LG.59, LG/F, CENTRAL PODIUM LEVELS,RUN RUN SHAW TOWER, CENTENNIAL CAMPUS, HKU

ENQUIRIES:

MR. KEVIN LEUNG (hkits@hku.hk)

JOINTLY ORGANIZED BY:

Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong

Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong

ABSTRACT:

In this study, we propose a conceptual and analytic framework anchored on the concepts of physical and virtual accessibility (the “ease” with which opportunities or activities can be reached in the physical and in the virtual space, respectively) to investigate the rich interplay between virtual and physical activity engagements in multiple activity purposes, while controlling for information and communication technology (ICT) use measures, physical accessibility measures, and demographics. Our framework considers that activity-travel choices are consequences of individual, household, and work characteristics that are mediated by virtual accessibility and physical accessibility. As part of our analysis, we also analyze activity chaining characteristics during travel to study any fragmentation impacts caused by ICT use on activity engagement and scheduling. We use data from the 2011 and 2012 National Travel Survey in Great Britain to jointly model multiple activity and travel outcomes. Our results provide important insights for social welfare, work-life balance, and equity policies, and suggest that decisions regarding virtual activity participations and in-person out-of-home activity participations are determined as a package. Ignoring this package nature of choices can lead to misleading inferences about the effects of virtual activity participations on in-person out-of-home activity participations.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr. Chandra R. Bhat is the Director of the Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning (D-STOP) Tier 1 USDOT University Transportation Center and the Joe J. King Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has a joint appointment between the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) and the Department of Economics. Bhat is a world-renowned expert in the area of transportation and urban policy design, with far reaching implications for public health, energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and societal quality of life. Methodologically, he has been a pioneer in the formulation and use of statistical and econometric methods to analyze human choice behavior. His current research includes the social and environmental

aspects of transportation, planning implications of connected and automated smart transportation systems (CASTS), and data science and predictive analytics. He is a top-cited transportation researcher in the world and his students have won many national and international awards for their MS theses and PhD dissertations. Last year, he received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement in Transportation Research and Education Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).

20 JUL 2018 (FRI) | 18:00-19:00

TRENDS IN ON ROAD TRANSPORTATION ENERGY AND EMISSIONS

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SPEAKER:

DR. H. CHRISTOPHER FREY

Glenn E. and Phyllis J. Futrell Distinguished University Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

DATE:

20 JULY 2018 (FRIDAY)

TIME:

18:00-19:00

VENUE:

ROOM 6-12B, HAKING WONG BUILDING, HKU

JOINTLY ORGANIZED BY:

Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong

ABSTRACT:

Globally, 1.3 billion on-road vehicles consume 79 quadrillion BTU of energy, mostly gasoline and diesel fuels, emit 5.7 gigatonnes of CO2, and emit other pollutants to which approximately 200,000 annual premature deaths are attributed. Improved vehicle energy efficiency and emission controls have helped offset growth in vehicle activity. New technologies are diffusing into the vehicle fleet in response to fuel efficiency and emission standards. The global vehicle fleet will experience tremendous growth, especially in Asia. Although existing data and modeling tools are useful, they are often based on convenience samples, small sample sizes, large variability, and unquantified uncertainty.  Gasoline and diesel are likely to persist as key energy sources to mid-century. Adoption of electric vehicles is not a panacea with regard to greenhouse gas emissions unless coupled with policies to change the power generation mix. Depending on how they are actually implemented and used, autonomous vehicles could lead to very large reductions or increases in energy consumption. Numerous other trends are addressed with regard to technology, emissions controls, vehicle operations, emission measurements, impacts on exposure, and impacts on public health. Without specific policies to the contrary, fossil fuels are likely to continue to be the major source of on-road vehicle energy consumption. Fuel economy and emission standards are generally effective in achieving reductions per unit of vehicle activity. However, the number of vehicles and miles traveled will increase. Total energy use and emissions depend on factors such as fuels, technologies, land use, demographics, economics, road design, vehicle operation, societal values, and others that affect demand for transportation, mode choice, energy use, and emissions. Thus, there are many opportunities to influence future trends in vehicle energy use and emissions.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr. Frey conducts research on measurement and modeling of the activity, energy use, and emissions of onroad and nonroad vehicles, and regarding human exposure to air pollution.  He chaired the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and currently serves on the EPA Science Advisory Board.  He has also served in expert and advisory roles for the National Research Council, the World Health Organization, and the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, and contributed to a report to the U.S. Congress on Transportation’s Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions.  He is a Fellow of the Air & Waste Management Association and a Fellow and past president of the Society for Risk Analysis.  He is a visiting professor in the Division of Environment and Sustainability at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.  His degrees include B.S. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia, Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.

04 JUL 2018 (WED) | 18:00-19:00

DESIGNING AND TESTING THEORY BASED ROAD SAFETY MESSAGES

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SPEAKER:

DR RICHARD TAY

Vice Chancellor Senior Research Fellow in the School of Business IT & Logistics, RMIT University, Australia

DATE:

04 JULY 2018 (WEDNESDAY)

TIME:

18:00-19:00

VENUE:

ROOM 6-12B, HAKING WONG BUILDING, HKU

JOINTLY ORGANIZED BY:

Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Institute of Transport Studies, The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies

ABSTRACT:

Road safety education campaigns had been widely used in many jurisdictions to raise public awareness of traffic safety issues, modify drivers’ behaviours and improve safety. Despite their prevalence, relatively few studies had been conducted to examine their efficacies and few messages were designed using behaviour change theories. In this research program, we developed several key message characteristics from well-established psychology, health and communications models, including perceived severity of threat shown, response efficacy, self-efficacy, cost and benefit of preventive strategies, realism and credibility. These constructs were used to design and test several different road safety communications and messages. We found that the key message characteristics were positively correlated with self-reported changes in behavioural intentions using road user survey from several different countries.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr Richard Tay is currently the Vice Chancellor Senior Research Fellow in the School of Business IT & Logistics at RMIT University in Australia. He was the Chair in Road Safety Management in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at La Trobe University, the AMA Chair in Road Safety in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary in Canada and the Associate Professor in Road Safety in the School of Psychology at Queensland University of Technology.

He has published extensively in road safety and currently serves on the editorial board of several journals, including Accident Analysis and Prevention, Journal of Transportation Safety and Security, Journal of Advanced Transportation, International Journal of Transportation, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Urban, Planning and Transportation Research, Journal of the Australian College of Road Safety, and Analytic Methods in Accident Research.

He has completed many research and consultancy projects for businesses, not-for-profit organisations and government agencies. He has been invited to serve on many technical committees, expert panels, advisory boards and task forces on transportation policy and road safety in Australia and around the world. He has also been invited to speak at and chair technical sessions at many transportation and safety conferences around the world. He has also been invited regularly comment on road safety issues by the New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, London Times, Los Angeles Weekly, as well as news media in Singapore, UK, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Canada, USA, New Zealand & Korea.