Parking is a perennial concern in discussions about new residential development, but until recently there is little evidence about what the right number should be. In collaboration with MAPC’s Transportation department, I co-designed an ongoing research program to inventory residential parking supply and demand at multifamily housing in Metro Boston. I oversaw the analysis of data collected from 300 sites and the statistical modeling employed to explain patterns of parking demand. Our team developed engaging ways of visualizing the data and built an interactive website to showcase results. The research has figured prominently in subsequent municipal debates about reducing parking requirements. At the request of local officials, MAPC continues to expand the survey work to disparate parts of the region, informing decisions in both urban and suburban contexts. 

Micromobility services can provide useful information about traveler mode and route preferences I conceptualized and directed an effort to analyze data from over 300,000 trips taken using the Lime dockless bikeshare system operating in 15 municipalities in Metro Boston. With MAPC staff and academic partners, I co-designed methods for cleaning, mapping, and analyzing 26 million GPS points, including specification of a new bicycle level of stress metric for every roadway link in the region. The resulting data products, available  in a variety of formats, are useful for local planners, transportation modelers, and those researching bicyclist behavior. 

Lack of information about ride hailing trips, passengers, and impacts has impeded effective decision-making about the industry. In collaboration with MAPC’s transportation department, I co-designed  a research project to survey nearly 1,000 ride-hailing passengers in Metro Boston to collect information about demographics, mode choice, and trip characteristics. I oversaw the statistical analysis of results and the production of performance metrics related to GHG emissions, impacts on transit ridership, and traffic congestion. The research was also published in peer reviewed journals and has been cited more than 100 times. A subsequent phase of the research analyzed data reported to the Commonwealth by ride-hailing companies in order to estimate mode share and other metrics. MAPC’s research and advocacy led to the legislative adoption TNC data reporting requirements that are among the strongest in the nation. 

Municipalities seeking to improve conditions for walking and biking often have little objective guidance on what investments would serve the most users. I directed the creation of a new data resource to support prioritization of active transportation improvements. Drawing from stakeholder input and literature review, we defined a new measure of “active transportation network utility”; and then estimated this metric for every street segment in Massachusetts. MAPC continues to provide technical assistance to consultants and municipalities applying the data to local planning activities. MAPC’s Public Health team uses network utility as the sampling frame for the collection of pedestrian counts using automated sensors and the expansion of these counts to area-wide estimates of pedestrian miles traveled and corresponding health impacts. 

 In partnership with Walk Boston, I designed and implemented a research effort to estimate mode shift and GHG reduction impacts of Safe Routes to School programs. Our team created a new spatially-discrete survey instrument and directed the creation of a web application (masaferoutessurvey.org/) to collect survey responses and produce summary reports for school administrators. Since 2014, the site has collected over 50,000 survey responses across the state. MAPC’s Digital Team provided technical support for MassDOT contractors to use and eventually onboard the web application as the primary assessment and performance monitoring instrument for participating districts statewide.