Event Date
Event Overview
Impedance functions measure the relative difficulty of travel, primarily through travel time. They play a crucial role in deciding which transportation infrastructure projects get funded, yet there is little research on how to measure cycling impedance. Existing impedance functions are insufficient because they don't consider cycling on hills, with high-speed traffic, or on dedicated cycling infrastructure.
In this webinar, Ph.D. candidate Reid Passmore of Georgia Tech shared his dissertation research on developing cycling-specific impedance functions — which measure the relative difficulty of travel — using cycling trajectory data for the BikewaySim calculator. These impedances are applied to a 250-square-mile Metro Atlanta study area network to assess the impact of 38 planned bicycle facilities on 3.6 million trips from the Atlanta Regional Commission Activity-Based Model. Planners, engineers, and advocacy groups can utilize the framework to evaluate proposed cycling infrastructure and prioritize projects that stand to reduce the most cycling impedance.
Learn more about BikewaySim here
View Reid's presentation slides
Speakers
Reid Passmore is a Ph.D. candidate and researcher at Georgia Tech, where he earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering. Inspired by the Atlanta Beltline project, Reid chose to pursue a Ph.D. in transportation engineering to support cycling for transportation across the U.S. He has previously worked on studying user preferences for bicycle infrastructure, research for a walking bus smartphone app, analyzing bike-transit accessibility. Some of his current work includes capturing how cyclists navigate street networks and terrain using machine learning models. Reid has been honored with the Dwight David Eisenhower Fellowship, Georgia Tech President's Fellowship, and Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions, and Dollars Student Thesis/Dissertation Scholarship.