| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 7, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 7, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1739413 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
David Corman
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,439,999.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,439,999.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4200 FIFTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH PA US 15260-0001 (412)624-7400 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
123 University Place, B21 Pittsburgh PA US 15213-2303 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | S&CC: Smart & Connected Commun |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
The growth and expansion of cities since the mid 20th century has led to a strong dependency on private automobiles. During the last years, urban planners have started rethinking the mobility modes in a city and have finally realized that a truly sustainable transportation and urban environment in general, requires a shift to multimodal transportation. In the PittSmartLiving project, we view the shift to multimodal transportation in a holistic way. In particular, we will design, develop, deploy, and evaluate a platform that will integrate information from and align the incentives of all involved stakeholders (commuters, transport operators, and local businesses) towards increasing the utilization and quality of public transportation. The resulting Cyber-Physical system will (1) provide commuters with real-time information of arrival and utilization of all relevant options of public transit (e.g., bus, subway, shuttles, bikes, etc.), and (2) build a marketplace around multimodal mobility, where businesses can offer time-sensitive incentives connected to this transit information to nearby commuters (e.g., the next bus is too full, come in and enjoy $1 coffee). This has the potential to improve not only the overall ridership experience by balancing utilization across public transportation networks (e.g., shifting some of the demand away from the peak hours), but also to optimize customer flows in local businesses. Significant emphasis will be given to the development of mechanisms that will be able to deliver the required services while respecting the privacy expectations of the commuters. As part of this project, an unprecedented experimental infrastructure will be deployed (in the Oakland and Downtown areas of Pittsburgh) that will allow the PIs to identify a set of incentive mechanisms that can shift commuters to public transportation in a real urban environment. This is the first time that an urban core truly becomes a laboratory, where scientists and engineers can run experiments aimed at improving the quality of life of city-dwellers.
The main expected technical contributions of this project can be summarized as follows. (1) Development of a holistic urban transportation system that balances utilization across both public transportation networks and local businesses, thus improving not only public transit but also general urban living. (2) Design and evaluation of the market mechanism that integrates and aligns the incentives of various stakeholders. (3) Shift of attention from temporal efficiency (i.e., fastest route) to more sustainable commuting (e.g., public transit, biking etc.) as well as commuting options geared towards the well-being of dwellers (e.g., "beautiful" routes, "clean" routes, "accessible" routes etc.)
Additional information about this project can be found at http://PittSmartLiving.org
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The primary goal of the PittSmartLiving project was to encourage bus riders to adjust their travel plans to avoid getting on a crowded bus. Such encouragement would come in two forms: (1) high-quality live information about bus arrival times and expected bus capacity and (2) economic incentives in the form of discounts for nearby businesses. For example, an alert would appear on a bus rider's smartphone, notifying them that their bus would come in 5 minutes but would be crowded. It would then offer $2 off coffee at the coffee shop around the corner if they were to take the bus 20 minutes later. Of course, not everybody has the flexibility to alter their plans like that and may rely on taking the bus at specific times (e.g., to pick up children from daycare before they close). But even if a few people change their plans, everybody would benefit.
Early in the project, we identified the importance of high-quality information in people's decision-making. So we have installed public digital signage screens that share up-to-the-minute bus arrival and capacity information with passersby. We developed custom software to do that, and we are making it available for others to use. Using a public screen instead of a smartphone app democratizes this information. Everybody can see it, even if they don't have a smartphone or know which app to use. Most of these screens continue to operate past the expiration of the funding.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, getting on a crowded bus nowadays is avoided by those with flexibility. So no monetary incentives are needed except for the information.
In addition to the infrastructure created and deployed, we have made multiple scientific contributions. We have developed ways to predict bus fullness levels from historical data. We have designed new algorithms for "matching" users with coupons provided by businesses in a way that considers multiple stakeholders. We have developed new approaches to create digital signage schedules to handle time-critical and non-time-critical content on the same screen. We have utilized social and behavioral theories and machine learning frameworks to examine the relationship between events and their social and geographical contexts using data. We have also investigated how different factors influence shared bike usage in cities and what incentives can be used to redistribute bikes across stations. During the 2020 supply shortages caused by COVID-19, we pivoted from our original project to create a crowdsourcing data platform (got-toilet-paper.org) to aggregate information about shortages and congestion across supermarkets in Pittsburgh. Finally, we are releasing our scientific findings and software developed through our project website, https://PittSmartLiving.org.
Last Modified: 01/26/2023
Modified by: Alexandros Labrinidis
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