Travel Behavior

Navigating the Gig Economy: Transportation Labor Challenges Facing California’s App-based Ridehailing and Courier Drivers

Susan Shaheen
Wolfe, Brooke
Adam Cohen
2026

Given the dynamic landscape surrounding the classification of workers in California, it is important to consider how the existing legal and regulatory environment may impact app-based gig drivers, including transportation network companies (TNCs, also known as ridehailing) and courier network services (CNS). Using a multi-method approach, we conducted a literature review (n = 41 sources), expert interviews (n = 8), and case study analysis (n = 7) between October 2022 to May 2024 to better understand how California’s gig drivers are impacted by state legislation and regulation (i.e.,...

An Assessment of the Viva CalleSJ September 2025 Event in San José [Research Brief]

Kos, Richard M.
Adam Cohen
2025

Viva CalleSJ is an open-streets initiative where several miles of the City of San José’s streets are closed to vehicular traffic, allowing residents to walk, bike, scooter, and skate freely. This report evaluates the Viva CalleSJ event held in San José on September 7, 2025, which attracted more than 150,000 participants. Using a mixed-methods approach, this evaluation examines aspects such as attendance, activities, modal access, and economic impacts, utilizing data from participant surveys (in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese), interviews, and observational analysis. The findings indicate...

Pedal Power: Operational Models, Opportunities, and Obstacles of Bike Lending in North America

Susan Shaheen
Wolfe, Brooke
Adam Cohen
2025

Bike lending offers a service that enables individuals to borrow bicycles for short-term use (i.e., ranging from 2 hours to 36 months), typically from designated locations within cities, campuses, or communities. Unlike bikesharing systems that typically rely on automated kiosks and/or undocked and free-floating devices for public access, bike lending involves a managed program with staff, similar to a library model. These programs can be administered by community organizations, bike shops, public libraries, and other local entities. They are typically community- or membership-based, with...

An Assessment of the Viva CalleSJ September 2025 Event in San José

Kos, Richard
Adam Cohen
2025

Viva CalleSJ is an open-streets initiative where several miles of the City of San José’s streets are closed to vehicular traffic, allowing residents to walk, bike, scooter, and skate freely. This report evaluates the Viva CalleSJ event held in San José on September 7, 2025, which attracted more than 150,000 participants. Using a mixed-methods approach, this evaluation examines aspects such as attendance, activities, modal access, and economic impacts, utilizing data from participant surveys (in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese), interviews, and observational analysis. The findings...

From Taxis to Ridehailing: Examining Gender Issues for Female Drivers and Passengers

Susan Shaheen
Adam Cohen
Wolfe, Brooke
Champlin, Jacob
2024

This report analyzes gender issues for female drivers and passengers of transportation network companies (TNCs) and taxis. Between August 2023 and May 2024, the researchers conducted driver and rider focus groups (n=8 drivers and n=8 passengers); a driver survey (n=170); a TNC user/non-user survey (n=440, including n=217/440 taxi non-users, n=7/440 TNC non-users, and a subset of n=5/440 non- users of TNCs and taxis); and expert interviews (n=13). This research finds that both female drivers and passengers experience an array of safety concerns and challenges traveling with young children...

An Assessment of the Viva CalleSJ Event in San Jose [Research Brief]

Kos, Richard M.
Adam Cohen
2024

The assessment of Viva CalleSJ 2024 employed a mixed-method approach, collecting data through surveys of participants, interviews with businesses, and observational analysis during the event. An intercept survey was distributed along the six-mile route to capture participants’ demographics, reasons for attending, travel modes, physical activity, spending patterns, and perceptions of the event. The survey, available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, yielded insights into participant demographics and engagement. Semi-structured interviews with business owners and city officials explored...

Travel Behavior: Shared Mobility and Transportation Equity

Susan Shaheen
Bell, Corwin
Adam Cohen
Yelchuru, Balaji
2017

Shared mobility—the shared use of a motor vehicle, bicycle, or other low-speed transportation mode that allows users to obtain short-term access to transportation on an as-needed basis—has the potential to help address some transportation equity challenges. In an effort to categorize the myriad of transportation equity barriers facing transportation system users, this primer proposes a ‘STEPS to Transportation Equity’ framework including: Spatial, Temporal, Economic, Physiological, and Social barriers. For each barrier category, shared mobility opportunities and challenges are explored...

Activity-Based Human Mobility Patterns Inferred from Mobile Phone Data: A Case Study of Singapore

Jiang, Shan
Ferreira, Joseph
Marta Gonzalez
2017

In this study, with Singapore as an example, we demonstrate how we can use mobile phone call detail record (CDR) data, which contains millions of anonymous users, to extract individual mobility networks comparable to the activity-based approach. Such an approach is widely used in the transportation planning practice to develop urban micro simulations of individual daily activities and travel; yet it depends highly on detailed travel survey data to capture individual activity-based behavior. We provide an innovative data mining framework that synthesizes the state-of-the-art techniques in...

Using Large Scale GPS Data to Reveal EV Driver Activity Patterns Beyond Charging Sessions

Clark, Callie
Driscoll, Anne
Ren, Xiyuan
Salah, Salsabil
Marta Gonzalez
Chow, Joseph Y. J.
Yabe, Takahiro
2026

Accurate insights into electric vehicle (EV) driver behavior are essential for long-term infrastructure planning, grid management, and understanding downstream economic impacts, yet individual level data on EV mobility remains limited. Here, we develop a scalable framework to infer EV ownership and charging behavior from passively collected, high-resolution mobility traces covering over 760,000 drivers across four major U.S. metropolitan areas. We identify likely EV drivers based on distinctive visitation patterns to charging stations and gas stations, frequency of visits, and daily travel...

Compulsory Convenience? How Large Arterials and Land Use Affect Midblock Crossing in Fushun, China

Wendy Tao
Shomik Mehndiratta
Elizabeth Deakin
2010

Abstract: This study focuses on how street design and land uses influence pedestrian behavior in a medium-sized Chinese city, Fushun. In cities throughout China, the change from workplace-managed and assigned housing to market housing has had profound effects on pedestrians. Coupled with motorization, pedestrian trips are increasingly external, pushed out of the protected space of the gated block and onto massive arterials that now carry automobiles, trucks, and buses in growing numbers. Long blocks, unenforced zebra crossings, and inadequate green time at traffic signals do not equitably...