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2019 CAA Atlantic Hackathon

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This weekend marked the first ever CAA Atlantic Hackathon. The Hackathon was a weekend-long event that invited people from multiple disciplines to work together to solve transportation issues in Atlantic Canada. Sponsors and partners for this event included CAA, DalTRAC, HotSpot, LiftoffCapital, Innovate Atlantic Inc., Flexwork, and Staples.

To start the event and inspire its participants, Dr. Ahsan Habib gave a presentation on research for the future of mobility that discussed connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles as well as traffic microsimulation model of shared autonomous fleets and their impacts on the Halifax Peninsula.

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In addition to networking and mentoring opportunities, event participants were given the chance to test an Amazon Web Services (AWS) DeepRacer by Deloitte. A DeepRacer is a fully autonomous miniature race car driven by reinforcement learning. The machine learns through a cloud-based 3D racing simulator.

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On Saturday, Next Ride, a not-for-profit low carbon transportation initiative supplied an electric vehicle and a plug-in hybrid for Hackahton participants to drive or ride in as a passenger. Next Ride tours Nova Scotia to help Nova Scotians experience an electric ride. To learn more, visit their website.

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The entrepreneurship and innovation seen at the event this weekend was phenomenal with business and software solutions that focused on active transportation, carpooling, car maintenance, city planning and design, and courier services. Prizes were given for best software or hardware, best business case, and best overall submission.

DalTRAC would like to say a big THANK YOU to CAA Atlantic, Arcacia Projects and Events Ltd., and all sponsors and participants who helped make this event a success!

Killam Celebration

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Congratulations to DalTRAC team members, MD Jahedul Alam and MD Asif Hasan Anik for being awarded the Izaak Walton Killam Predoctoral Scholarships! These scholarships awarded to outstanding students planning to enroll or already enrolled in thesis-based programs (at the Master’s or Doctoral level). The Izaak Walton Killam Predoctoral Scholarships are considered to be the most prestigious graduate awards administered by Dalhousie University.

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2019 TAC-ITS Joint Conference and Exhibition

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Earlier this week, Halifax hosted the largest Transportation Conference in Canada. The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) and Intelligent Transportation Systems Canada (ITS Canada) teamed up to organize the 2019 TAC-ITS Joint Conference and Exhibition. This conference saw over 400 presentations split up into 70 sessions, panel discussions, workshops and keynote presentations that touched on topics from road operations and safety to connected autonomous vehicles and other forms of new mobility. DalTRAC was fortunate enough to share our research in five different presentations and one panel discussion.

The panel session discussed the importance of emergency management, flood and evacuation traffic modelling, and evacuation preparedness. In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, it is clear that discussions like these are precedent in Nova Scotia. Speakers at this session included Dr. Ahsan Habib, Director of the School of Planning and DalTRAC; Dr. Kevin Quigley Professor and Director of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance; Erica Fleck, Division Chief Emergency Management with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency; And Emilie Pothier, a recent Bachelor of Community Design grad and Research Assistant at DalTRAC.

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That same morning, PhD Candidate MD Jahedul Alam presented his research on evacuation route determination based on a mass evacuation mircosimulation Model. Later that afternoon, DalTRAC hosted a seminar with guest Dr. Eric Miller who presented his and his student’s research on analyzing mobility service data in the city of Toronto.

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The next day was a busy one for DalTRAC. In the morning, Dr. Ahsan Habib presented his and his student’s, Pauline Laila Bela’s, research on the development of an urban transport network and emission model for the city of Halifax. In the same session, PhD Candidate, Nazmul Arefin Khan, presented his work on a microsimulation of mode choice decisions within an activity-based shorter-term decision simulator. That afternoon, Dr. Ahsan Habib presented two more presentations, the first discussing the research by Dr. Habib and Research Assistant, Stephen McCarthy on the relationships between travel behaviour and health and the second presenting the research by Dr. Habib and Project Coordinator, Katie Walker on the planning considerations and research needs of new mobility through a participatory approach.

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We would like to that all of those who came out to watch our presentations as well as the organizations that sponsored and hosted the event.

Successful Week for DalTRAC at WCTR in Mumbai, India

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It’s been a busy week for DalTRAC’s director Dr. Ahsan Habib, and PhD student Nazmul Khan, who are currently on the other side of the world in Mumbai, India. From May 26th to May 31st, prominent transportation experts from around the globe have gathered at the 15th World Conference on Transportation Research. This event represents an excellent opportunity for the exchange of ideas on topics ranging from transportation modelling, to disaster management, to urban goods movement.

Beyond going to learn about global transportation research, members of DalTRAC were recognized for their contributions to the field. On Thursday, DalTRAC’s own Nazmul Khan received the Young Initiative Prestige Grant Award for his work on a vehicle allocation model. This global recognition emphasizes both the importance and the quality of work that DalTRAC undertakes. Congratulations to Nazmul!

Dr. Ahsan Habib, DalTRAC’s director, was also on the ground in Mumbai. Building on research undertaken by DalTRAC, Dr. Habib gave a presentation on ridesourcing (which includes services such as Uber and Lyft). A highlight of WCTR was Dr. Habib’s involvement as a co-applicant for a Canadian effort to bring the conference to the great white north in 2022. After months of planning and coordination, it was announced that in 2022, WCTR will be held in Montreal – a momentous achievement.

With WCTR coming to a close, DalTRAC now is looking forward to continuing its important research, and to attending other transportation-related events such as the Transportation Association of Canada conference happening right here in Halifax in September.

New Mobility Scenario Planning Workshop

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On Friday the 22nd, DalTRAC hosted another successful workshop as part of the Connect2 program. The multidisciplinary group of participants collaborated to create four diverse scenarios regarding the future of new mobility in Nova Scotia. Participants also discussed potential implications and follow-up strategies for each scenario. The four scenarios generated are as follows:
i. Blue Sky Mobility
ii. Eagerly Prepared BUT Disappointed
iii. Evolution of the Status Quo
iv. The Great Atlantic Wheel-spin

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Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting

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Another successful year of DalTRAC students’ transport research – 10 full papers accepted for 98th Annual Meetings of Transportation Research Board, the most prestigious conference (12,000+ delegates) in this field. One of the paper is emerged from PLAN 6000: Independent Project report, and another paper is co-authored by a recent BCD student. Our presentations start Sunday, January 14-17. Good luck presenters and contributors.

 

Connect Smart Workshop

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Dear Sir/Madam,

We would like to invite you to attend the Connect Smart workshop on the 16th of February 2018. Join the Dalhousie Transportation Collaboratory (DalTRAC) for an afternoon of presentation and discussion about emerging technologies that are shaping the future of transportation. Help us develop a shared vision to plan for the future of mobility in Nova Scotia. The workshop is supported by the Nova Scotia Department of Energy through ConnectSmart project under the Connect2 program. Please feel free to forward the invitation to anyone interested in future technology and transportation.

Date: February 16th, 2018 (Friday)
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Venue: Dalhousie University, Exhibition Room, Ralph M. Medjuck Building (H building)

5410 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, NS
RSVP: daltrac@dal.ca

For more information and/or to RSVP by 14th February, please contact: Leen Romaneh (daltrac@dal.ca)

Connect Smart Workshop 2

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting: Day 2

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Today, some of DalTRAC’s students will be presenting at the TRB annual meeting.

From 8.00 am to 9.45 am (PST):

  • Urban Freight Network and Emission Modeling for Port City Halifax, Canada: A Spatial and Temporal Evaluation of Commercial Vehicles Movement by Pauline Laila Bela and Muhammad Habib, Session 513, Presentation 18-06689
  • The Relationship Between Neighborhood Characteristics and Emergency Health Services Vehicle Demand: A Poisson Hurdle Regression Modeling Approach by Babatope Olajide, Muhammad Habib, Mikiko Terashima and Sara Campbell, Session 517, Presentation 18-05049
  • Microsimulation of Life Stages, Residential Mobility, and Location Choice Processes by Mahmudur Fatmi and Muhammad Habib, Session 517, Presentation 18-06658
  • Investigation of Subjective Well-Being, Travel, Built Environment, and Attitudes: A Random-Parameters Ordered Choice Modeling Approach  by Stephen McCarthy and Muhammad Habib, , Session 713, Presentation 18-05015
Dr. Ahsan Habib with M.A.Sc Pauline Bela at the TRB Conference on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with M.A.Sc student Pauline Bela at the TRB Annual Meeting on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Ph.D student Nazmul Arefin at the TRB Conference on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Ph.D student Nazmul Arefin at the TRB Annual Meeting on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Ph.D student Jahedul Alam at the TRB Conference on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Ph.D student Jahedul Alam at the TRB Annual Meeting on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Post-doc Associate Mahmudur Fatmi at the TRB Conference on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Post-doc Associate Mahmudur Fatmi at the TRB Annual Meeting on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Post-doc Associate Jahedul Alam at the TRB Conference on the 9th of January, 2018

Dr. Ahsan Habib with Ph.D student Jahedul Alam at the TRB Annual Meeting on the 9th of January, 2018

SWITCH 2017: Spring Garden Road

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The DalTRAC team promoted the Thumbs Up! Share the Road Nova Scotia campaign during SWITCH Spring Garden on Sunday, September 25. This well attended event allows HRM residents the opportunity to explore streets by foot, bike, or other modes of active transportation. Spring Garden Road was closed off to traffic to encourage recreation activities, markets, and entertainment.

DalTRAC team members Samantha MacLellan and Sara Campbell promote the Share the Road campaign.

DalTRAC team members Samantha MacLellan and Sara Campbell promote the Share the Road campaign. (Photo by: Sean Dewitt)

SWITCH Spring Garden

SWITCH Spring Garden

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