Interested in CR2C2 activities and engagement opportunities?
12:00 - 1:00 PM
Zoom Link: https://ncat.zoom.us/j/95054900423?pwd=XWIiMVovdoa4xlMjiTmO540GpWuQNu.1 (Registration not required)
Part 1: Strengthening Rural Transportation Through Community and Regional Strategies
Speaker: Abhay Lidbe
Abstract: Rural communities across the Southeastern United States face persistent challenges in accessing reliable, and efficient transportation. Dispersed populations, limited public transit, and growing economic and healthcare needs make mobility a pressing issue that affects quality of life, workforce participation, and community well-being. This presentation introduces a set of innovative approaches designed to address these challenges through both community-driven and regionally coordinated strategies. One approach explores how local residents, organizations, and institutions can leverage their own resources—such as volunteer drivers, shared vehicles, and nonprofit partnerships—to build grassroots mobility systems that are sustainable and responsive to local needs. The other examines how technology, collaboration, and system integration can connect existing services into a seamless regional network, reducing inefficiencies and expanding access across county lines. By combining local participation with system-wide coordination, these approaches move beyond incremental improvements and offer a vision of rural mobility that is adaptable, comprehensive, and future-ready. The goal is to ensure that residents with limited transportation options are not left behind but instead become active participants in shaping solutions that expand access and livable opportunities.
Part 2: Modeling Ride-Hailing Demand for Any Census Tract in the United States Using Open Data
Speaker: Greg Erhardt
Abstract: In this research, we assessed the expected efficiency and affordability of automated vehicle (AV) passenger services, such as Waymo and Cruise, in rural communities. Our methodology involved developing and applying an innovative model capable of predicting the human-driven ride-hailing demand (Uber and Lyft) for every Census tract in the United States. We assessed the potential for AVs to reduce the cost of providing equivalent service, and predicting how the demand would change in response to cost reductions. We previously developed the predictive model, and via a CR2C2 grant, we quickly scaled it up for large-scale application and tested its spatial transferability against observed data in rural Massachusetts. Validating the model against observed ride-hailing data in Massachusetts shows that it reasonably estimates demand in rural counties, although under-estimates demand in urban counties. These results suggest that the model is capable of providing a reasonable first-order estimate of ride-hailing demand in the vast majority of the United States where data are not available.
By applying the model to a series of scenarios in Kentucky, we estimated that only about 2% of ride-hailing trips in Kentucky originate in rural areas. Further, we found that cutting the fares to half of their current level would result in approximately 50% more trips, and cutting the fares to a quarter of their current level would result in approximately twice as many trips. The modest number of rural trips also opens an opportunity to directly subsidize rural ride-hailing trips by drawing revenue from the much larger pool of urban trips, which are already well-served by ride-hailing. Such a scheme applied to human-driven vehicles could be more cost-effective than fully developing AV technology for rural areas.
Dr. Abhay Lidbe is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at The University of Alabama. His research focuses on community-based transportation services that address the needs of transportation-disadvantaged populations. As PI or Co-PI on funded grants and also through research publications, he has been laying the groundwork for the proposed research by investigating the impacts of accessibility barriers on the quality of life of the population from disadvantaged communities. He is a HEREP scholar at the University of Alabama Birmingham's MHERC. Additionally, Dr. Lidbe was recognized as an Emerging Community Engagement scholar by the Center for Community-Based Partnerships at the University of Alabama. Driven by a commitment to addressing transportation challenges faced by rural populations with limited mobility options. His research aims to strengthen personal well-being by advancing safe, reliable, affordable, and convenient mobility and by expanding access to quality-of-life opportunities, ultimately improving livability and fostering broader participation and opportunity across populations with limited transportation.
Greg Erhardt is Raymond-Blythe Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Kentucky, a Hans Fischer Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich, and a Senior Advisor to Bay Area Metro. He brings more than 20 years of experience in both research and practice developing and applying metropolitan and statewide travel demand models, including 8 years in California.
Dr. Erhardt is the recipient of the 2024 Zephyr Foundation Leadership Award, and his research on ride-hailing has been covered in publications including The Boston Globe, The Economist and NPR’s Science Friday.